Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: "My Name is Earl", Crabman
Likes: Jason Lee, Catalina
Dislikes: Joy
Hates: White trash "culture," decreasing extras

The Story So Far...
Earl Hickey (Jason Lee) was a small-time hood, until, with the help of Carson Daly and the force of a large automobile, he discovered the concept of karma and was rewarded for good behavior with a lotto jackpot. Taking advantage of his new-found resources, he began work to make good on a list of things he's done wrong, with the assistance of his brother Randy (Ethan Suplee.) Each episode reveals more about Earl's past as he completes another task, and reveals more of the trashy town he lives in and the people who live there. Season One of the series was released on DVD in September 2006, followed a year later by Season Two. DVDTalk has reviews of both sets: Season One: Aaron Beierle | Francis Rizzo III; Season Two

The Show
With such a defined concept (Earl makes amends for his past sins, crossing them off his list one at a time) the challenge for the series is to keep the show fresh and interesting, while not straying too far from what makes the series what it is at its core. But after the finale of Season Two, where Earl is sentenced to prison for taking the blame for Joy's crimes, things would have to change. A sudden lack of freedom will have that effect.

By putting Earl behind bars for almost half the season, the series proved it was bigger than its concept, as the situation let him be the man he's been for two seasons, while changing him organically, as he adapts to prison life. Admittedly, his time in jail isn't too different for him, with the warden (a marvelously inept Craig T. Nelson) taking Karma's place, as Earl helps him out in exchange for an early release. But the warden isn't quite as generous as his cosmic benefactor, so life isn't quite as rewarding, which pushes Earl back toward the dark side. Not to spoil anything, but Karma's not a big fan of Bad Earl, and let's him know so, quite forcibly.

Things aren't all bad for Earl though, as his pals, including his dense brother Randy and Joy's husband Crabman, help him out when he really needs it, which this season is for an extended period of time that sets up one of the show's more unique conceits, as Earl finds himself in a fantasy sitcom world that's genuinely amusing to enjoy. Earl also meets a special new lady in his life, when he falls for Billie (Alyssa Milano) the girlfriend of his prison pal Frank (Michael Rappaport.) Though we've seen Earl on the short end of the relationship stick, this new girl tests Earl's patience, as well as what he believes he is all about. To say that Billie is a bit on the confusing side, is a massive understatement, as her mood swings and mindset change with the breeze. That said, we have rarely seen Earl under these conditions, it makes for some genuine comedy. The two-part season finale, which pits Billie against Earl's list brings everything back to center after an upside down season, even if the ending is a bit pat. You can only mess with formula so much.

One of the best parts about the show is the world in which these characters live, which has been enhanced by repeat guest stars and unique episode concepts. In addition to Nelson as the warden, new arrivals to Camden County include Vincent Pastore, Jane Lynch, Paris Hilton, Jon Hader, John Henson and Shawn Hatosy, some of whom fit in better than others (I'm looking at you Ms. Hilton.) Meanwhile, will returning this season as guests are Giovanni Ribisi, Tim Stack, Beau Bridges and DJ Qualls, who help make Camden County feel real. Thus, when the show goes back to the well for a two-part "Cops" episode, this time titled "Our Other 'Cops' Is On," it just makes sense that this town could be captured twice by the cameras of the popular police show, and feel no shame about it.

Though the unique situations in this season make for some great episodes, the best would have to be "Creative Writing," which finds Earl taking part in a creative writing class in prison. Though Earl struggles with the inspiration to write, it quickly spreads to his friends and family, which results in ridiculous fantasy scenes, including an animated sequence, Randy's spy fantasy, a telenovela starring Catalina and, best of all, a smooth R&B jam from Crabman. It's the show's ability to bounce between the more realistic adventures of Earl and pals and sequences like these that makes it such a treat to watch a show on a regular basis, because you never know what you're going to see next.

The DVDs
Yay for consistency. The 22 episodes of Season three are packaged in the same two-ThinPak set-up as the previous two seasons, with two discs per case and episode descriptions on the back. The thin packs are held in a cardboard slipcover. The discs feature animated anamorphic widescreen menus built around a mug shot of Earl which starts out appropriately with his eyes closed, but he opens them and blinks which doesn't make much sense since he never takes about with his eyes open. The menus offer a choice to play all episodes, select individual shows, adjust languages and check out the special features. There are no audio options, though subtitles are available in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese, along with closed captioning.

The Quality
The anamorphic widescreen transfers on these episodes look terrific, checking in a hair under the quality of the HD broadcasts on NBC. The colors are bright, and the level of detail is outstanding, which is important when you consider the unique look of Earl Hickey's Camden County. There are no issues with dirt or damage, and there are no obvious issues with digital artifacts.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks deliver the dialogue of the show just fine, without any distortion, while the side and rear speakers kick in during the show's frequent use of pop hits. There's nothing dynamic about this network TV comedy's sound mix, but it does the job just right.

The Extras
Unlike last time, when we had eight audio commentaries to enjoy, this time we get absolutely none. Considering how enjoyable the commentaries were on season two, this is a massive disappointment. Now that will hopefully get their television season without a strike, there are several shows that owe us DVD fans next time around. This time, we start out with almost 10 deleted scenes, culled from six episodes. Honestly these are more like extended scenes, and nothing here is too impressive.

A 14-minute featurette, those guys from those episodes: creating the characters, looks on the side characters in the series and the actors who play them. It's actually a pretty good piece that points out one of the show's greatest strengths, the unique world in which Earl lives. Getting to hear from these actors is also a nice touch.

I'm not sure who decided this would be a good idea, but the longest extra on this DVD set is a 19-minute video commentary on select scenes by Crabman's pet Mr. Turtle. Given the voice of an acerbic old man, Mr. Turtle is not all that funny, and has too many joke crutches that wear thing quickly. That we got this instead of the quality commentaries provided on previous sets, makes it all the harder to accept this.

The final extra is a nearly eight-minute gag reel, which once again is very funny, as the cast breaks up often and in hilarious ways, but like everything else in this set, it's shorter than last time out. When you look at everything we got last time, we have to wonder what we did to piss off karma for season three.

The Bottom Line
Season three was the season we finally got to discover whether the series was a one trick pony, as the creators changed things up, yet the show remained as funny as it's ever been, even throwing in an instant classic in "Creative Writing." The DVDs look and sound as good as they ever have, but with less episodes and barely any extras in comparison to previous sets, this is a disappointment for Earl fans, as it hardly improves on a quality recording off TV.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.