Feeling optimistic about "My Name Is Earl"

Cafe Society
1

This has been on my “Must See TV” list since I first heard about it.

Of course, I assumed it would last about 8 episodes and break my heart. I love the single camera, no laugh track sitcom. Scrubs and Arrested Development are my two favorite shows.

And those are such ratings bonanzas! One has to beg every year to get renewed and the other is on hiatus until midseason!

But I am starting to think Earl may catch fire and stick around.

NBC is really putting a LOT of energy into it. I cannot open a magazine without getting an eye full of Jason Lee’s filthy mug and that pornstache.

Every time I turn on NBC, there is an Earl commercial. I don’t think I can name another series that NBC has been trumpeting. They know they have quality here and they are trying to get it out there. I guess the Martha Stewart show has gotten some publicity, but mostly free media. Earl is getting the promos.

NBC is weak, so maybe they’ll give Earl more time to grow.

But the clincher was yesterday when I was at my parents home. A preview for Earl came on, DURING THE NIGHTLY NEWS! I thought to myself that it was odd that a show that I figured was targeted the 18-35 demographic would get promoted during the evening news.

And then mom (53) said that she and my dad (61) were really excited to see it. They said they laughed just seeing Jason Lee face (no comparison of his mustache to a porn star, though). They thought the idea of him trying to make right all the stupid stuff he did was hilarious.

They even recalled humorous situations from the promos! That’s saturation, people!

I cannot name one shared program that both my dad and I watch. So maybe Earl has some crossover appeal.

So, I am excited. I can’t wait until next Tuesday.

[sub]I hope it doesn’t suck.[/sub]

2

According to IMDB, the guy who created it was involved with Family Guy, so maybe it has potential.

On the other hand, he was also the executive producer of Yes, Dear.

3

It was on my list of Shows To Catch, until I remembered that Jason Lee is a Scientologist.

Scratch that show.

4

I’m not a sitcom fan but Earl does look promising. Hell, I’ll watch anything that’s not full of beautiful people. I’m really tired of beautiful people.

Entertainment Weekly said this about Jason Lee, the star:

“Lee had zero interest in doing TV. But when his manager handed him the script, ‘it read like a short film’, says Lee. ‘It felt like its own world.’”

I’m taking “it read like a short film” to mean that it’ll be more natural – not written around commercial breaks or with a strained joke every 2.5 minutes.

I’m really hoping there won’t be a laugh track. The EW article didn’t say.

5

I’m not a sitcom fan but Earl does look promising. Hell, I’ll watch anything that’s not full of beautiful people. I’m really tired of beautiful people.

Entertainment Weekly said this about Jason Lee, the star:

“Lee had zero interest in doing TV. But when his manager handed him the script, ‘it read like a short film’, says Lee. ‘It felt like its own world.’”

I’m taking “it read like a short film” to mean that it’ll be more natural – not written around commercial breaks or with a strained joke every 2.5 minutes.

I’m really hoping there won’t be a laugh track. The EW article didn’t say.

6

I’ve never seen a single camera show with a laugh track. They aren’t filmed before a live studio audience.

7

Cool. I don’t know a single camera show from a triple camera show. :slight_smile:

How can you tell if a show is single camera?

(Sorry for the double post – I waited for a few minutes and then previewed before hitting Submit a second time.)

8

MAS*H used a laugh track for earlier episodes. See the article from the Museum of Broadcast Television here.The series also made innovative uses of the laugh track. In early seasons, the laugh track was employed during the entire episode. As the series developed, the laugh track was removed from scenes that occurred in the operating room. In a few episodes, the laugh track was removed entirely, another departure from sitcom conventions.

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EW also had this to say:

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In the three (or four) camera setup, there will be one angle at which the camera cannot point (toward the live studio audience).

Think about the Cosby Show. We always saw them sitting on the couch looking toward a wall we NEVER saw (until the last episode when the Huxtables danced into the audience).

At dinner, there is always the chair that no one will sit at because they have their backs to the camera and block out the others at the table.

But in a single camera show, there is ONE camera man who can move around and get at different angles. If someone is sitting at the other end of the dinner table, the director can call cut, and move the camera man to another spot and get footage of someone else.

And if there is an outdoor scene, they can film it outdoors. In a studio auidence show, they have to make a sad little effort to recreate the outdoors indoor.

In short, it allows for more imagination and looks more like a movie than television.

I have no problems WITH the three camera/laugh track show if it is GOOD.

But these days, they are making the type of shows that I enjoy as single camera jobs.

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I thought the title of this thread was “feeling optimistic about ‘My Name Is Ear!’”

<shrug>

12

Single camera shows use locations.

Three camera shows use sets.

Seinfield is the only sitcom I can think of right now that used both formats regularly although it stayed predominantly three camera.

13

The only sitcoms I like are single-camera, non-laugh track shows: Arrested Development, Scrubs, and both versions of The Office. I will be trying Kitchen Confidential and My Name Is Earl, two more in that vein.

14

The premiere episode of My Name Is Earl is hilarious. I found it laugh out loud funny at several points. I’ve now watched it three times. I keep having friends over and saying, “Hey, you gotta check this out.”

Jaime Presley is, in addition to being ridiculously hot, excellent as the vindictive ex. And Ethan Suplee kills as the “Dumber” to Jason Lee’s “Dumb”.

Even the overall premise is great. Specific enough to give the show a point, general enough to leave lots of room for whatever they want to do.

This and “Everybody Hates Chris” have given me renewed hope for the US sitcom.

thwartme

15

Ack, was it on last night!? Or did you get the episdoe through “other means”? I want to see this show and I wouldn’t want to have missed the premier.

16

Umm… other means. I’ve actually seen thirteen season premieres so far, all of new shows.

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But we won’t be discussing that here! :slight_smile:

liberty3701, I am sorry I teased you about my excited aural nomenclature.

18

Most promoted NBC debut three years ago? Coupling.

19

Yeah, but this one might actually be good!

20

Just looking at the show’s List of Earl’s wrongs cracks me up.