Jason Lee, the former professional skateboarder who glided to movie fame with roles in such cult favorites as
Kevin Smith's
Chasing Amy, was the star of the NBC sitcom
My Name Is Earl. Lee, of course, played the title character, a small-town redneck and petty crook who wins 100,000 dollars in the local lottery. As he prepared to celebrate his good fortune, Earl was hit by a car, losing the lottery ticket in the process. Reviving from this double catastrophe, Earl awakened to see TV personality
Carson Daly waxing poetic about "karma" on a talk show. Instantly, Earl experienced an epiphany, convincing himself that he could replicate his good luck of a few hours previous by helping out a deserving soul each week -- and, in so doing, he would make up for the many sins (258 by his own count!) that he had committed in his lifetime. Assisting Earl on his do-gooding mission was his brother, Randy (
Ethan Suplee), while throwing the occasional roadblock in his path was Earl's trailer-trash former wife, Joy (Jaime Pressley). Created by Greg Garcia, the weekly, half-hour
My Name Is Earl premiered September 20, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide