"My Name Is Earl"
The Bounty Hunter (2006)

Director:

Marc Buckland

Writers:

Gregory Thomas Garcia (creator)
Hunter Covington (written by)

TV Series:

"My Name Is Earl" (2005)

Original Air Date:

6 April 2006 (Season 1, Episode 21)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Plot:

The girl Earl dumped for Joy years earlier becomes a bounty hunter and tries to track Joy down. Earl feels responsible for the mess, until Joy tells him how they really hooked up.

Plot Keywords:

Gold Tooth | Turtle | Bounty Hunter | Witness Protection | Divorced

Cast

Jason Lee	...	Earl Hickey
Ethan Suplee	...	Randy Hickey
Jaime Pressly	...	Joy Turner
Nadine Velazquez	...	Catalina
Eddie Steeples	...	Darnell Turner
Juliette Lewis	...	Jesse - Bounty Hunter
Don Swayze	...	Bail Bonds Man
Dana Cuomo	...	Bobbi
Tiffany Haddish	...	Robin
Joon Lee	...	Instructor
Maxie J. Santillan Jr.	...	Sparky (as Maxie Santillan Jr.)
Jackson Bond Jr.	...	Man

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Amigos de Garcia Productions

Trivia:

The first episode where Earl does not complete even one item from his list. He attempts to, but is relieved of it by Joy, who took responsibility for the item in question, and subsequently crossed it off of Earl's list herself. ("Ditched Jesse and Married Joy").

Quotes:

Darnell Turner: [sitting on the couch, watching "Wonderbug" on television] I like that Wonderbug. I wish we had a car that flew.
Joy: I wish we had a car that didn't have to start with a spoon.

Movie Connections:

References "Wonderbug" (1976)

Soundtrack:

Lunatic Fringe

Juliette, oh, Juliette, wherefore art thou, Juliette

"My Name is Earl" is a wrong-headed, ill-conceived mess of a show and the episode, "The Bounty Hunter", misuses the extraordinary acting talents of Juliette Lewis.

It seems as though Juliette Lewis can play any type of character with great skill and almost always elicits sympathy or even empathy for her characters. Few actors can achieve this.

Unfortunately, being the professional that she is, she takes on the most challenging of roles and has been overused playing one trailer trash role after another.

Yes, she is good in these roles. Her performances in "Too Young to Die?" and "Kalifornia" were mesmerising, just like when watching James Dean in "East of Eden" for the first time. You forgot about the actor, and yearned for the character trapped in her sorry lot in life. But writers and directors should tap into her ability to play a diverse range of characters.

"My Name is Earl" obviously has its fans who probably appreciate its irony, but that doesn't change the fact it is a trashy, noisy, poorly-made, half-smart, half-funny show that will date quickly.

Juliette graces "The Bounty Hunter", but she should sidestep stuff like "My Name is Earl".