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The
second season of the surprise ratings hit delivers more of the same -
and is just as funny, if not more entertaining, than the first season.
Which, especially in the land of TV comedy, is a real rarity.
The aforementioned Jason Lee (Vanilla Sky, Clerks II)
stars as Earl Hickey, a trailer trash southern simpleton whose
continued attempts to
correct the wrongs from his past (thanks to a twist of fate involving
a lottery ticket and a car accident) thrusts his life into a
tailspin of comic events. In short, crossing off all the bad things
he's ever done off a list (literally) in order for karma to throw some
luck his way.
The
first season worked well in more ways than one, the major factor being
that the series and it's episodes are largely self contained. Unlike
the continued storylines that ultimately brought the downfall of the
equally quirky Arrested Development, Earl
is quick and easy to swallow - at any point of the series. While the
second series does try to develop running jokes a little more
regularly, it still sticks to it's guns and enables you to chuck in one
of the four discs (theres a monster 26 episodes included) randomly
and not miss a beat.
You will find that while the comedy is consistent, My Name Is Earl
isn't a comedy of 'laugh-out-loud' moments. Far from it. You will often
struggle to watch more than a few episodes at a time due to the
'sameness' which plagues self contained episodes like this, House or even Murder She Wrote. However, the character development and relationships are on par with any good drama series (only with a few more Jerry Springer
references!) which makes the show easily digestible without ever really
being boring - simply because the audience becomes so invested with
Joy, Crabman (whose continued non-subtle clues that he is in the
witness protection program get funnier each time), Earl and Randy.
The
producers have also upped the anti with inventiveness as well - the
standout being an episode which not only guest stars Christian Slater,
but uses claymation and slips in a few eco-friendly messages in there as well. And all the while, most will still be laughing at the phrase "Dung Hut".
Perhaps
it's the cast, perhaps it's the flawless formula, perhaps it's
Jamie Priestley's hot bod - who knows - whatever it is, it's still
working.
EXTRAS
Quite
a few extras on offer - although, they are spread out over the four
discs. Which, I guess is a good way of ensuring people actually watch
them (as opposed to clunking them all together on a fifth Special
Features disc that you'll only ever watch once).
There's plenty
of commentaries (and for once, they are pretty worthwhile), plenty of
deleted scenes, bloopers (which are surprisingly average considering
the sort of situations that are filmed) and some very cool featurettes
which take a look at the creative process of the show.
All up, quite an impressive collection. Conclusion:
Movie 75% Extras: 70%
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