We watch... so you don't have to.
Yes, Dear, We Like Earl
When I reviewed "Yes Dear" lo these many years ago, I capped the whole thing by writing:
In the hands of a deft writing team, this might actually work -- the sisters could reflect on how their different personalities and common upbringing have shaped their own mothering styles and we could all have a good laugh at how capriciously shaped one's parenting philosophies are. Unfortunately, we're at the tender mercies of Alan Kirschenbaum and Greg Garcia, and the show stinks. It's not even fun to heckle -- that's how flat the writing is and how poorly the actors react to each other.
What I should have done was put a number by that. Because today, I am crossing off that ding against my critical karma.
It turns out the same man who inflicted "Yes, Dear" on an unsuspecting public, Greg Garcia, is the guy behind this season's gift to comedy, "My Name Is Earl." Despite my esteemed colleague's mixed reaction to the show's pilot, I think that darn near everyone on this show is excellent: until now, I considered Ethan Supplee a necessary evil in Kevin Smith movies, but here, he's sweetly amusing. And I had previously referred to Jaime Pressley as "the poor man's Amy Smart," but I think she's finally come into her own on this show as the ferocious, amoral, erroneously-named Joy. Also, Jason Lee's moustache needs its own credit, it adds so much to the visual tableaux that unfolds.
So my prior assessment of Garcia was unfair: he's capable of doing very funny things. Moreover, he's shown me the virtues of admitting wrongdoings in order to iron out one's karma. And I didn't even have to suffer a Carson Daly viewing to do so!
Oh, crap. Here I go again ...
