Weblogs: My Name Is Earl

My Name Is Earl: "This may be the virus talking, but I really like the new NBC show My Name is Earl. It's about a loveable lowlife named Earl, in a small town remarkably similar to Outer Podunk. Earl wins, then loses a Lotto fortune -- quite painfully, I might add -- and in the 'Why me?' aftermath, he has a metanoia moment while watching Carson Daley on TV discussing the law of karma. Earl decides that he needs to make amends with all the people he's ever hurt in his life; he draws up a list and proceeds to do just that. In this initial episode he tries to help a lonely neighbor whom he'd tormented as a child find love -- a task complicated by the revelation that the guy is gay, which necessitates some additional consciousness raising on Earl's part.

Witty and sweet -- two adjectives that usually don't go together when discussing a television show, but this one manages to be both."