Is “Earl” the new “Seinfeld”?
It might be premature to ask that question since “My Name is Earl” is only four months old.
But on Jan. 5, 2006, “Earl” will assume the 9 p.m. Thursday time period that was for years the most storied time slot on NBC and the home of its most legendary comedies – “Cheers,” “Seinfeld,” “Frasier” and “Will & Grace.”
With an average of 12.5 million viewers per week, according to Nielsen, “My Name is Earl” is the highest-rated new comedy on NBC and the second-highest-rated new sitcom on network TV.
While the producers of “Earl” say they’re happy about next month’s move to Thursdays, they insist the shift does not put them under any additional pressure.
“We’re excited. We just hope people will come and find us there,” says one of the show’s executive producers, Bobby Bowman. “The pressure is already on us just to make sure we have good stories no matter what time slot we’re on, so it doesn’t make us behave or feel any different.”
“My Name is Earl” – currently airing Tuesday nights at 9 – is about a small-time criminal named Earl Hickey (Jason Lee) who begins to believe in the concept of karma after he wins $100,000 in the lottery, loses the winning ticket and then finds it again after performing a good deed.
So he makes a list of the people he has wronged over the years and sets about making it up to them, whether they like it or not.
From now until it assumes its new time period, “Earl” will be in repeats, starting with this week’s episode in which Earl tries to arrange a wedding for his ex-wife Joy (Jaime Pressly) and her new beau Darnell (Eddie Steeples) after previously ruining their nuptials.
In other episodes, Earl has helped a closeted gay man, who Earl picked on when they were children, to gain confidence; confessed to a criminal friend that he framed him for a crime Earl actually committed; and tried to get his father (Beau Bridges) elected mayor of their town after undermining his previous campaign and costing him the election.
For Bowman and the other “Earl” producers, the move gives them a chance to play a role in the rebuilding of NBC’s Thursday lineup, in which comedies once played such an important part.
NBC’s new slate will consist of “Will & Grace,” at 8 p.m., the new “Four Kings” at 8:30 p.m., “Earl” at 9 p.m., and “The Office” at 9:30 p.m.
“Being part of a four-comedy block is a good thing, but it’s always scary when you’re making a move,” Bowman says. “So we hope that viewers hang in there.”
MY NAME IS EARL
Tuesday, 9 p.m., NBC