Being Hoodwinked By 'My Name Is Earl' Not that I don't dig 'My Name Is...', 'fact is it's one of the few thangs I actively look forward to on the box, but I gotta say when I'm watching it I sorta get the feeling that I'm being hoodwinked, albeit in a very gentle, Earl-y type way. The show's lovely an all, a thoroughly enjoyable half hour, probably racks up maybe half a dozen really good gags an episode, but the writers & cast are awful adept at convincing you that it's way better than it actually is, and the tactic goes like this: "It doesn't matter what the content of the show is, 'cos EARL IS THE COOLEST TV CHARACTER EVER, and as long as we have Earl rocking an awesome Smokey & The Bandit '70s 'tash and pulling that beguiling wonky grin evey five minutes and styling his super-trailer trash redneck chic and sitting around his apartment drinking beer & watching buildings being demolished on TV and driving his hipster automobile around we can pretty much do whatever the hell we like, 'cos who's gonna argue with that? Nobody." And they're absolutely right; I could happily watch Earl wander round being cool all day. Like, there was an episode a couple of weeks back where his ex-wife got married to Crab Man, the whole episode was pretty much a bust, but with less than 30 seconds of the programme left they pull A MIND RE-WIRING 'EARL MOMENT' out of the bag and totally re-adjust your memory of the show; "Jeez, didn't think too much to this week's show, might give it a miss next wee...OH MY GOD! EARL IS DOING 'THE ROBOT'! THAT'S THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN IN THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION! AND NOW HE'S ACTUALLY BREAKDANCING! THIS WAS THE BEST EPISODE OF EARL YET!"

There really isn't much of a point to this post except to make the thoroughly obvious observation that the success of the show rests almost solely with it's central protagonist, p'raps more than any show I've ever seen. (Interestingly, this bucks the general trend of 'main characters' being the worst thing about the show, otherwise known as The Dawson Theory.)

Any suggestions for more 'TV Characters Better Than The Show They're In' ?  ¶ 2:15 AM