My Name is Earl: BuddyTV Fall 2007 Preview

Premiere Date and Time: Thursday, September 27, 8pm (one-hour premiere)

Network: NBC

Time Slot Competition: Ugly Betty, Survivor, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Smallville

Cast: Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, Jaime Pressly, Eddie Steeples, Nadine Velazquez
My Name is Earl returns with its highly anticipated third season on September 27 with a special hour-long episode at 8pm. The show is NBC's lead-in for its respected Thursday night comedy lineup. The next week, the show returns to its regular half-hour installments from 8-8:30pm.

It's hard for fans to forget the final image from the season2 finale of My Name is Earl, when it's titular hero (Jason Lee) was sentenced to two years in prison. This clearly changes the larger dynamic of the series, with the main character in jail and no sign of escape or parole. Will Earl discover some fellow inmates who just so happen to be on his list? It's likely, and frequent guest star (and Emmy nominee) Giovanni Ribisi will play his cellmate, though it's unclear what will become of Earl's hapless brother Randy (Ethan Suplee) on the outside.

My Name is Earl is still a young show, but this kind of dramatic shift could either make it jump the shark or sail into greatness, but the jury is still out on that one. Either way, putting your main character in jail for two years is an original way to get people talking.


-John Kubicek, BuddyTV

Original article at http://www.buddytv.com/articles/my-name-is-earl/my_name_is_earl_buddytv_fall_2-9927.aspx