Can My Name is Earl Be Saved?

NBC has been making some bad decisions lately and the decision to cancel My Name is Earl is the worst. Well, okay, it's only my favorite show in the world, so maybe I'm a little biased.

I'm not so sure writing to NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman will work. First, NBC didn't tell Earl creator Greg Garcia about the cancellation until 30 minutes before it released its fall schedule.

Then, to add insult to injury, Silverman pretty much slapped the show in the face by claiming they canceled the show because it didn't get the write-in support that Chuck did.

Meanwhile, Garcia said it was hard to be upset about being thrown off the Titanic. Clearly, there's no love lost between those two.

So we may want to rely on the other networks that have considered picking up Earl.

What can we do to help? I'm not quite sure, but I did sign all the petitions I could find. I Googled "My Name is Earl petitions" and came up with this list:

http://www.google.com/search?q=my+name+is+earl+petitions&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS177US228

If you do want to write to Ben Silverman and tell him what a knucklehead he's been, here's the address:

Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC
3000 W. Alameda
Burbank, CA 91523

You can also write to

Angela Bromstad
NBC president of prime-time programming
100 Universal City Plaza
Bldg 1320, 4th Floor
Universal City, CA 91608

Thanks to Chicago Tribune writer Maureen Ryan's excellent article on how to save Chuck for those addresses!

One last thing you can do. If you Twitter, follow EarlTwitition (although I've been disappointed at the infrequent postings).

If I find out more we can do, I'll let you know. I'd like to write to Fox and other networks to encourage them to pick up Earl.

Mumford

In 1999, the same year Jason Lee played evil demon Azrael in Dogma, he had one of his best roles: naive computer billionaire Skip Skipperton in Mumford. Sweet Skip is the polar opposite of Azrael.

For the longest time, I could find absolutely nothing on this movie, but someone posted a trailer on YouTube fairly recently:



There's not a whole lot of Lee in this minute-long video, but that's because the movie boasts a wonderful ensemble cast.

Do watch out for the skateboarding computer genius (when you see a guy skateboarding, that's Skip/Lee). And wait for the end - Skip has the last line and it's one of the funniest in the film (although it's funnier when you see it in the movie).

The movie itself is entertaining and enjoyable if you can ignore the ethical questions it raises, then tosses aside. If you're a Lee fan, it's definitely worth renting.

Dogma

In 1999, Jason Lee played the demon Azrael in the Kevin Smith film Dogma. Here's a deleted scene that many viewers, including me, think should have stayed in the film:

Enemy of the State

In 1998, Lee had a small but significant part in the action adventure Enemy of the State, which starred Will Smith and Gene Hackman.

Here's a clip featuring Lee's character, Zavitz:



Next up: The 1999 movies Dogma and Mumford - stay tuned.

Janet

Cuisine Americaine

Besides Kissing a Fool, Lee made two other movies in 1998.

He had a starring role in a French film called Cuisine Americaine. Here's a trailer:



This is not an easy film to get a hold of, and I have not seen it yet.

Janet

Kissing a Fool

A year after making Chasing Amy, Jason Lee made the movie Kissing a Fool. Playing Jay Murphy, Lee got to be the kind and gentle best friend to David Schwimmer's shallow, obnoxious Max Abbitt.

This was a nice change of pace for both of them. Schwimmer, of course, was playing lovable nerd Ross on Friends, while Lee was best known for playing the obnoxious best friends in Mallrats and Chasing Amy.

After the bad reviews this film got, I had avoided watching it. What a mistake!

It wasn't perfect (hey, what is), but it was a pleasant little comedy, especially if you're a fan of any of the actors.

I thought Mili Avital was wonderful in this. She has the grace and charm of the actresses of the 30s and 40s. It's easy to believe that both Max and Jay fell in love with her.

Here's a trailer:



Hope you enjoy it.

Janet

Jason Lee Proves Himself in Chasing Amy

In 1997, Kevin Smith cast Jason Lee as comic book creator Banky Edwards in Chasing Amy. While the story is about the relationship between Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), Banky figures in what could be called a weird love triangle.

Banky has a lot in common with Lee's Mallrats character, Brodie Bruce; both are argumentative and obnoxious. But Banky is both nastier and more vulnerable.

Banky's crankiness is evident from the very first scene in Chasing Amy, in which he's accused of being a mere "tracer" for the comic book he draws and writes with Holden (be forewarned, there's a lot of swearing):



One of the things I love about Jason Lee is his ability to make you like a character who, by all rights, should not be likable. Banky is one of those characters.

I think you'll also like this seen (also featuring way too much of the "f" word) featuring Dwight Ewell, who's a lot of fun as Hooper X, a gay black comic book artist who needs to put on a macho black pride persona to sell his comic books.



Chasing Amy is an original and thoughtful, albeit infuriating movie. I wanted to bang Holden and Banky's heads together as I watched them mess things up. But it's definitely worth a watch.