«5 star season marred by weak extras»
Season 3 of My Name is Earl (MNIE from here on) is where a lot of people will tend to agree the series starts to wane in quality. After a VERY strong second season that featured some of the greatest comedic chops on television, I would be inclined to also say the third season isn't quite as balls-out hilarious as season two. Even so, season 3 ably holds its own. There are some spoilers for seasons 2 and 3 in the next paragraph; skip past it if you'd rather not see them.
For starters, Earl isn't in the happy place he was before. Following a big sacrifice for Joy and taking her place in a prison cell (Joy had naturally accumulated two strikes already), he tries to continue his list despite being jailed. There are lots of twists and turns including Randy becoming a security guard to see Earl more, Earl giving up on karma, Earl dying, and even Earl getting a wife.
Despite being a fair bit darker in tone than the last couple seasons, MNIE still has all the slapstick, crude humor, and heart that we've all come to expect out of the series. There's even some deeper meaning to be had with Earl having to cope with the fact that making up for his past misdeeds does not completely absolve him from everything (and let's face it...he committed some pretty heinous crimes). Some standout episodes include:
The Gangs of Camden County
Creative Writing
Randy in Charge: Of Our Days and Our Nights
Early Release
Bad Earl
No Heads and a Duffel Bag
Killerball
The only 'weak' episode that didn't appeal to me was 'Our Other Cops is On: Parts 1 and 2,' as it's a cheap attempt to copy the exact format of season 2's 'Our Cops is On,' only to a much lesser effect.
As for the DVD, season 3 is somewhat of a let down when compared to the first two seasons. There are no audio commentaries, limited deleted scenes, a gag reel, and a couple other benign featurettes. Thankfully, all 18 episodes (or 22 if you count the two-parters as one episode each) are presented with all the original music intact.
If you're looking for another fantastic season of MNIE, you will not be disappointed with season 3. It's occasionally dark and surprisingly poignant, but always hilarious. And of course, if you haven't yet, get to watching seasons 1 and 2!
Note: These DVD sets are ridiculously expensive on Amazon (shocker). You can get a 2-pack containing seasons 3 and 4 from Target for only 19.99, about half the cost of a single season.
[Sunday, August 08, 2010]
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«Earl»
I fell in love with this show when I saw it
in sidication. It is so off the wall and different
from anything else on tv.
[Tuesday, July 06, 2010]
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«dvd for My Name is Earl»
The only complaint I would have is it took a very long time to get here. I ordered the 4th season the same way and got it in a couple of days. Season 3 came in a month!
[Monday, February 08, 2010]
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