When families
gather to watch television together, they expect the broadcast networks to
supply them with family-friendly entertainment during the first hour of prime
time. Unfortunately, the networks continually fall short. The May 10th
of My Name Is Earl is a perfect example of how the networks have failed
to bring family-friendly programming to the prime time hour. Instead, the season
finale contained foul language, blatant sexual references, and criminal
behavior. The episode’s blatant disregard for decency earned My Name Is Earl
our pick for Worst of the Week.
Throughout the
episode, the characters show vagrant disregard for the legal system, the deaf,
and anyone who values sex as a personal bond between two people who love each
other. Earl’s ex-wife Joy constantly makes blatant sexual references about
Earl’s crush on her lawyer, Ruby -- “My stupid ex wants to do you. Well, it’s a
good thing you won’t be able to hear his sex sounds. ‘It’s happenin’! It’s
happenin’!’” -- while thrusting her pelvis up and down and gyrating in her
chair. Later, Earl and Ruby lie in bed together discussing how many orgasms Ruby
had during sex.
The episode also
included crude language and attempts to thwart the legal system. Darnell brings
Joy and Ruby’s interpreter two plates of lemon squares. In one batch he had put
razor blades. When the interpreter cuts his tongue on a razor blade, Joy turns
to Darnell and says, “Damn it! How am I supposed to keep my legs smooth? And cut
bitches?” Is the viewer supposed to champion Joy as the maternal figure in this
show? This kind of language is completely inappropriate for kids; but
unfortunately not only Joy’s children but the viewers’ as well must witness such
escapades.
My Name Is Earl
is a two-faced program. Some weeks, it is fairly clean and entices parents to
watch it with their children. However, other weeks feature episodes like this
one, with a complete and total disregard for the children who might be watching.
What makes My Name Is Earl so dangerous is its deception. One minute the
viewer’s children are watching a screwball comedy; the next, they’re seeing a
woman gyrating in her chair and swearing up a storm. My Name Is Earl
should be put on at the latest prime-time hour in order to prevent exposing
children to the grotesque humor the writers have deemed as “funny”. This episode
again demonstrates why My Name Is Earl has so often been our Worst of
the Week.
