My Name Is Earl: Season 1
  • Network: NBC
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 20, 2005
  • Season #: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4
Metascore
77 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 30
  3. Negative: 3 out of 30
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  1. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Hinckley
    100
    One of this season's most tasty and twisted TV treats.
  2. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Tim Goodman
    100
    The fall's funniest sitcom.
  3. Detroit Free Press
    Reviewed by: Mike Duffy
    100
    Brimming with cockeyed echoes of everything from "Raising Arizona" to "King of the Hill," NBC's best new comedy since "Seinfeld" is that rare chucklehead treat: it's both wildly irreverent and blessed with a cheerful, endearingly upbeat nature.
  4. Orlando Sentinel
    Reviewed by: Hal Boedeker
    100
    Jason Lee excels as scruffy Earl -- he's a Jed Clampett for the new millennium.
  5. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Glenn Garvin
    100
    My Name Is Earl rampages like a bull in a politically correct china shop.
  6. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Storm
    100
    One of the best comedies in years.
  7. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Nancy DeWolf Smith
    90
    Watching "My Name Is Earl" unfold is like taking a hydrofoil ride and flying so fast above the ordinary surface of television life that when the show ends you feel dazed and amazed for hours afterward.
  8. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    90
    The NBC sitcom is so unpretentious and original, it will probably win you over on its own sweet merits.
  9. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Barry Garron
    90
    The buzz is that "My Name Is Earl" is good, and the truth is that it's better than the buzz.
  10. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Doug Elfman
    88
    The casting is for awesome, flat-out too-good-for-TV acting.
  11. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Robert Bianco
    88
    Earl shares the look and heavily narrated sound of Arrested Development, but it has its own scruffy comic tone.
  12. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Kristen Baldwin
    83
    Lee may be a tad too smart to embody this reformed dimwit, but his smooth charm makes Earl go down as easy as a tallboy. [23 Sep 2005, p.82]
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.6 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 164 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 89 out of 104
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 104
  3. Negative: 12 out of 104
  1. Mr.Furley
    10
    Very funny show. Love all the guest stars and zany plots. Incomparable. Ralph is one of my favorite characters.
  2. Justinavery7074
    8
    Funny. NBC is starting to seem like a better network than ABC, CBS or even Fox. Along with the brilliant take on poverty and makeshift **** they create better characters than that goddamned Two and a Half Men. They're even more memorable than the kid in that show… Full Review »
  3. MichaelD
    7
    Very original idea and great plots and jokes makes this a great show.
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