My Name Is Earl-Season 2 (2005) |
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My Name Is Earl-Season 2 (2005) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | TV Series |
Deleted Scenes Audio Commentary Featurette-Making Of-for Robed a Stoner Blind episode Featurette-Blooper reel Featurette-Web Cam skits Outtakes |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2005 | ||
| Running Time | 487:41 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
RSDL (23:36) Multi Disc Set (4) |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By |
Marc Buckland Chris Koch Michael Fresco Eyal Gordin |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Twentieth Century Fox |
Starring | None Given |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | $54.95 | Music |
Danny Lux Mark Leggett |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English for the Hearing Impaired English Audio Commentary |
Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | Yes | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Trailer park do-gooder Earl Hickey (Jason Lee) and his dim-witted brother Randy (Ethan Suplee) return to continue Earl's quest for karmic redemption. Rather than a simple retread of the formula that made the first season so successful (for a bit of history, check out our full review of the first season), this season introduces an overarching plot arc that sees Earl's ex-wife Joy (Jaime Pressly) facing criminal charges of theft and kidnapping when she steals a truck from a local bargain store when they refuse a return from her. Earl lends a hand in keeping Joy out of trouble as he goes about crossing more past wrongs from his list. This arc also see Marlee Matlin join the show as an occasional character, as Joy's deaf lawyer.
Like the first season before it, season 2 of My Name is Earl was given a pretty rough ride when aired on television. The season was only partially shown, with several episodes held back to screen with the third season, and several episodes were shown out of order - which occasionally confused the plot arc. This DVD set presents all the episodes of the season in their intended order.
The episodes in this season are:
While trying to cross off number 183, "never took Joy's side", Earl attempts to help joy offload a truck she had stolen from a local bargain store that would not accept a return from her. Things get complicated when it turns out that a clerk had been trapped in the back of the truck for the several weeks Joy had been hiding it.
Earl persuades Catalina to return to her life as an exotic dancer at a club run by the richest man in town, Chubby (Burt Reynolds), in order to secure bail money for Joy.
Earl discovers a town of circus freaks whilst trying to locate a rather hairy girl he made fun of at school.
Earl attempts to return a former show cat that he had stolen to its owner (Amy Sedaris) but things are made more difficult when Randy falls in love with the owner despite having terrible cat allergies.
Whilst trying to make amends for number 50 on his list, "kicking an old guy out of our band", Earl finds himself having to make amends for number 51, "Slept with Ralph's mom", at the same time for fear of retribution from his old friend Ralph (Giovanni Ribisi).
Earl's attempts to do right for Millie Banks (Roseanne Barr), a cranky old woman he made believe she was getting messages from God, backfire when he finds his past mischief may have done more good than bad.
Earl's attempts to make amends for using a mailbox as a trash can stir up all kinds of trouble for Darnell, the crab man, when Randy accidentally digs up evidence of Darnell's past life. Meanwhile Earl tries to reunite two potential lovers he kept apart when a love letter got stuck to the trash-can mailbox.
Earl and Randy join a commune in order to help a stoner (Christian Slater) whose they had previously robbed of all his worldly possessions. While Earl frets about global warming, Randy freaks out (in claymation!) after eating some herbal medicine.
Earl becomes a gambling addict while trying to teach Kenny to be a manlier man. The spiral of events that ensue wind up getting Catalina deported to Mexico.
A double length episode. Earl and Randy head to Mexico to try and bring Catalina home, but wind up in trouble with Catalina's brother Diego (John Leguizamo). Ultimately, Randy must prove himself to Catalina's village in order to marry her and bring her back to the USA.
The gang remember their 15 minutes of fame as they watch the Camden County episode of the show "Cops".
In faux Rashomon style, Earl listens to several sides of a story to find buried "treasure" that he wants to return to its rightful owner.
With the assistance of specialist mortician Walter (John Waters), Earl plans the perfect funeral for a man he recently wronged. Meanwhile, Randy and Catalina go apartment hunting as they try to keep up the appearance of a newly married couple.
Earl attempts to help a Frenchman that he had made fun of when he was a foreign exchange student by setting the Frenchman up with the girl he had a crush on in high school.
Earl makes amends to Joy's long-time nemesis and winds up turning Joy into a surrogate mother in the process to gain extra sympathy from her jury.
Earl's birthday party celebrations backfire when everybody remembers the bad he's done more so than his recent good deeds.
Joy's new pregnancy causes Earl to reflect on his experiences during her previous pregnancy.
Randy tries to forge his own miscreant identity when Earl tries to make amends for repeatedly harassing a roving reporter on air.
Chubby's empire is inherited by his son Little Chubby (Norm McDonald), whose anger issues have calmed down since Earl had inadvertently lowered his testosterone levels.
Earl returns to school to get his G.E.D. and realises the trouble he caused when he was originally at school. In an effort to make good with karma, Earl helps the teachers stand up for themselves against troublesome students.
Earl gets a real job in the storeroom of a department store, but longs to make it as a salesman.
Just as Earl seems to have his life on track, Joy finally goes to trial and Earl prepares to give testimony.
The video is presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio and is 16x9 enhanced.
The image is sharp and clear. The shadow detail in dark scenes is generally good. A moderate level of grain can be see in some of the darker scenes, though it is not particularly distracting.
Like the first season, this series employs a fairly basic colour scheme that gives a slightly cartoonish feel. The colours are generally quite bold and natural.
There are no MPEG compression artefacts noticeable throughout the episodes. There are no film artefacts visible at any point.
Each disc is RSDL, but the layer breaks are in-between episodes and not noticeable even when all the episodes on a disc are played together.
The English subtitles for the hearing impaired seem accurate and well timed, but look quite blocky.
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Each episode features one English language Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 Kbps) soundtrack.
The dialogue is clear throughout the series and in good sync. Dialogue sits at a good level in the mix and is never overpowered by music or effects.
The music in the show is largely inspired by the bouncy theme tune and its hillbilly twang, which fits the show to a tee.
The use of the surround channels is fairly basic, only really music and a few environmental effect, but it is quite adequate for a comedy series. The same goes for the subwoofer, which is rarely used for anything but the bottom end of the music but doesn't need to be used any more.
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The dreaded forced anti-piracy ad precedes the menus on each disc. Following that heinous startup, the menus are identical to those on the first season - a fairly amusing menu animation of a scratchie with the some of the funnier clips from the show.
Audio commentaries are available on the episodes, Sticks & Stones, Larceny Of A Kitty Cat, Van Hickey, Our ‘Cops’ Is On!, Kept A Guy Locked In A Truck, Foreign Exchange Student, Guess Who’s Coming Out Of Joy and The Trial featuring a variety of cast members and guest stars including creator Greg Garcia, various writers, directors and actors Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, Beau Bridges, Giovanni Ribisi, Eddie Steeples, Amy Sedaris and Nadine Velasquez. These commentaries are occasionally a case of too many cooks in the kitchen (although that does mean there is rarely a break), but mostly laugh along with the show and rattle off a few good anecdotes.
The first three discs each feature a handful of deleted scenes and a spoken introduction from show creator/producer Greg Garcia. Each set of scenes can be played together or those from each episode played. There are lots of good gags here, most of which were cut for timing reasons rather than not being funny!
A reasonably funny reel of bloopers. It certainly doesn't hurt that there are some naturally funny guys and gals on camera the whole way. The reel works its way through each of the main characters in the show, giving a minute or two of bloopers for each of them and a handful of fluffs from guest stars.
A "Making Of" featurette that concentrates on the making of one of the season's most creative, not to mention funny, episodes. Starting with the general concept, and episode featuring Randy tripping where everything he sees is in claymation, through the writing process, guest star casting, a read through (this is TV - there are no real rehearsals!), filming, editing and the development of the claymation segments. This is a very thorough and thoroughly interesting featurette, although the producer and director try a little hard to get their own laughs at times.
A mock trailer that makes the show out to be a steamy Latin soap opera about the trials and tribulations of Catalina, the sultry maid in America. Funny stuff.
6 short featurettes that feature each of the main characters reaching out to the wide world of webs on a web-cam the Crab Man has set up.
A weblink to www.foxmovies.com.au.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Region 1 and Region 4 versions of this season are identical in terms of content, but the Region 1 edition features Spanish and French subtitles not found on the Region 4 release.
Season 2 of My Name is Earl lives up to the high standard of hilarity set by the first season. An ongoing plot arc is introduced to the show this season that helps keep the formula fresh.
The extras are plentiful and each thoroughly worthwhile. The video and audio are both excellent.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Sony Playstation 3, using HDMI output |
| Display | Samsung 116cm LA46M81BD. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL). |
| Audio Decoder | Pioneer VSX-D512. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Pioneer VSX2016AVS |
| Speakers | 150W DTX front speakers, and a 100W centre and 2 surrounds, 12 inch PSB Image 6i powered sub |