Parents' Guide to

My Name Is Earl

By Elliot Panek, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Offbeat, heartfelt comedy, but not for young kids.

TV NBC, Syndicated Comedy 2005
My Name Is Earl Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 8 parent reviews

Summertime2828
Summertime2828 Adult
December 19, 2020
age 14+

Amazing show

This show is great for people with teen or adult children or couples. Wholesome and heart warming. It is also hilarious and well written.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Bradley K.
Bradley K. Adult
January 17, 2017
age 14+

Adult situations

Great show not kid appropriate. Alot of adult situations.
See all 8 parent reviews

What's the Story?

After winning the lottery, redneck bully/thief Earl (Jason Lee) suffers a series of unfortunate events. He loses his winning ticket, gets hit by a car, and his wife makes him sign divorce papers while he's in a full body cast. Then, while watching TV, Earl sees Carson Daly discussing karma and has an epiphany: His own bad luck could turn into good luck if he made amends with the people he hurt. So Earl creates a list of all the bad things he has done to others; each episode chronicles his attempt to cross one entry off the list by setting things right. In the process, he confronts his own biases, ending each episode with a heartwarming conclusion.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (8):
Kids say (24):

Like so many other modern TV comedies (the fast-paced, funny Scrubs comes to mind), MY NAME IS EARL does away with sitcom conventions like studio settings and canned laughter, providing a voice-over from the main character to guide viewers. The humor is fairly broad -- some gross-out gags, a bit of slapstick violence, and plenty of jokes about how dumb some people can be. If anything sets this show apart, it's the premise, and Lee's appealingly affable turn as the dumb-but-good-natured Earl.

While Earl may be a moral individual, the show possesses a very simple view of morality, preaching forgiveness while cutting through the sap with another politically incorrect joke. Still, since the show is generally able to maintain its steady stream of laughs, it's worth watching for teens and their parents.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about forgiveness. Do Earl's good deeds warrant forgiveness from his victims?

  • Although it's clearly a comedy, the show does take the idea of karma and morality seriously. How can these concepts be applied to our everyday actions?

TV Details

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