EVERY once in a while, a dynasty crumbles and, if it is very lucky, is slowly rebuilt. Look at pro basketball's Chicago Bulls, for instance. A laughingstock in the years after Michael Jordan's final departure, the team gradually reconstructed itself with fresh players and now is in the playoffs for the third season in a row.
So went NBC's "Must-See-TV" Thursday night prime-time lineup. Not too long after the powerhouse block of programming lost its mainstay sitcom "Seinfeld" in 1998 and then "Friends" in 2004, the night was soon a black hole of comedy for the network.
Many forgettable programs were rushed in to fill the black hole, such as "Joey," "Jesse," "Cursed," "Stark Raving Mad" "Good Morning Miami" and, of course, "Coupling," but they got swallowed up by sitcom history and helped send NBC to the bottom of the network ratings.
Then, in 2005, a light shined for NBC. It debuted a few quirky sitcoms that appealed to both critics and viewers, saw the positive feedback and moved them to the nearly legendary Thursday night spot. "My Name Is Earl," one of its great white hopes, followed the more contemporary studio audience-less sitcom format and cheerfully served up a comedic style that was both warmhearted and politically incorrect. (How can a show with illegal immigrants who work as strippers, redneck sluts, "daytime" prostitutes and a one-legged, hopping-mad woman go wrong?)
"Earl" was blessed with a unique, clear-cut setup. It wasn't just another program about some neighbors or a group of friends or a family and the things they do. Earl Hickey (Jason Lee, formerly known to many audiences as "that guy" from many Kevin Smith films) was a former small-time criminal who realized that if he wanted his life to improve, he'd have to right his wrongs, and every episode he'd attempt to do just that, aided (or hindered) by his dimwitted brother, Randy (Ethan Suplee), and his gleefully amoral ex-wife, Joy (a role seemingly made for actress Jaime Pressly). The foundation was then laid for a show with plenty of room for playful flashbacks and new, oddball characters.
Despite (or maybe because of) its initial promise, "Earl" is hitting a sophomore slump, however. Ratings are down, and the critics seem to have fallen out of love as well. What gives?
Perhaps it's that "Earl's" clever setup is actually its downfall. Watching the show, it's easy to see just how nicely it would run in syndicated reruns. Like "Law & Order" (the original is the best, as they say on TNT), a viewer can drop in on any episode and not feel lost, as each installment is a single capsule.
