My Name Is Earl

10 Best Episodes of My Name Is Earl - Season 1

When petty criminal Earl Hickey wins the lottery, he sets off on a quest to repair his questionable karma.

Written by Sophie and last updated on feb 02, 2023.

PS: The following content contains spoilers!

PPS: I will admit that parts of this page was written with the help of AI - it makes my work so much easier to not start from a blank page!

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My Name Is Earl - S1E7

#15 - Stole Beer From a Golfer (Season 1 - Episode 7)

Earl attempts to help Scott (guest star Johnny Galecki) get over his preoccupation with golf--an obsession caused when he and Randy started fixing Scott’s golf game to get free beer. But after becoming so thoroughly entangled in Scott’s personal life that he drives Randy away, Earl realizes that he may be the one with the obsession.

The episode was rated 7.74 from 354 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E6

#14 - Broke Joy's Fancy Figurine (Season 1 - Episode 6)

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In order to replace a fancy figurine that he broke, Earl lends a hand to help Joy's former adversary and her daughter win a mother/daughter beauty pageant . However, Joy enters the pageant also with her "dead" mother trying to win that same figurine, hoping to trade it for a hot tub. Recap: The episode begins with Randy sitting down at the bar. Earl walks in and hands a cereal box to Randy. He looks very happy. Earl tells Randy no more generic cereal for him. He only gets the best now. When Earl and Randy get back to the apartment, Joy is there digging through all of their stuff. Earl tells Joy she isn't getting any of his money. She tells him that all she really wants his a hot tub. Earl looks on his list and sees that Joy his on it. He tells her that he will fix that so she'll leave him alone. It says that he blew up Joy's Trophy but he can't really remember what it was for. Later that night he dreams about it. Randy and him are using firecrackers to blow stuff up. They run out of things so Earl brings Joy's trophy. It is a little girl sitting on a lawnmower with the companies name on it. The next day Earl goes to the company and asks if he can have one of the trophies. The lady there tells him that the trophies are given out to the winners of the Lawn Mower companies Mother and Daughter beauty pageant. The lady remembers when Joy won. The next year a new mother and daughter entered and that family has won every year since. Their name is the Stokers. Earl goes to the mother and daughter and asks if he can have one of their trophies. They make a deal that if Earl helps them win this year, they will give him the trophy. Earl tells Joy he is going to enter and win her a trophy. She doesn't want him to so she is going to enter, too. The beauty pageant is also has a talent show part. The reason this family has won every year is because they have a "gift" in which they can throw knives with amazing accuracy. Earl is placed on a large circle which spins ar

The episode was rated 7.74 from 351 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E14

#13 - Monkeys in Space (Season 1 - Episode 14)

Earl tackles number eighteen on his list when one of his old friends is arrested. Remebering that he told an inappropriate story at his birthday party he must give him one great day to make up the the terrible one before he was sent to prison.

The episode was rated 7.75 from 271 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E10

#12 - White Lie Christmas (Season 1 - Episode 10)

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As the holiday season comes under way a few secrets are exposed when Earl attempts to cross number seventy-four off of his list: "always ruined Joy's Christmas." Earl, Randy, and Catalina enter a radio contest to win a brand new car for Joy to make up for all of the thoughtless Christmas presents Earl gave her while they were married. While Randy and Catalina vie over the car, Earl finds out that Joy's parents believe that he's still their son-in-law and that he's just returned from the war in Iraq. Joy is afraid to tell her father, an alleged racist, that she is now married to Darnell, so Earl plays the part, afraid of ruining another one of her Christmases. Recap: Of course this episode is again about doing things right, but with a little difference: This time there are other people too who, well didn't do all bad things BUT they all have secrets. This episode begins with a contest. The contest consists of the following. You have to keep at least one hand on the Car which you can win at all times. (I think it's a Dodge Neon.. but I am not sure), Why does Earl want to win the contest when he got a perfectly fine '73 Al Camino with nice '77 Door and a 1987 Camero Transmission.? Of course! It's for the List! Number 74: 'Always ruined Joys Christmas'. You see a few examples. 2002: He gives her something that looks like empty shell casings and gets asked: What shall I use them for? And he says: Whatever you like. 2003: She gets flavored condoms 2004: She gets Keys and says: "Wait, these are my keys?" and he says: "Yes, I found them" (Very funny moment in this episode). Well, we are back at the contest. His brothers asks: "What does she need a new car for, she already has one" After that you see a extremely funny scene (and a little sad) where she and Darnell get out of the car .. and you see the two children in the back in the middle of the rain. And that kinda makes the point for earl. Back at the contest. Just when it began Earl shakes Randy's hand, and a

The episode was rated 7.76 from 306 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E12

#11 - O Karma, Where Art Thou? (Season 1 - Episode 12)

When Earl and Randy try to return a stolen wallet they find out taking the money had cost two newlyweds their honeymoon. In an attempt to make things right Earl takes over for the groom at his fast food restaurant. After time Earl finds out the boss is a jerk and Earl wonders how such a man with a luxurious house and beautiful wife could not be affected by the only thing he believes in, Karma. Recap: Earl and Randy wake up one cold morning at the hotel, Catalina alludes to the fact that they may be being carbon monoxide poisoned and leaves the room. Randy discovers that Earl was right when he said Randy "wasn't ready for a pet" after discovering dead "Mr. Fishy" (the goldfish) in a sealed plastic bag in his pocket. Earl however discovers number 202 on his list, "stole a wallet from a guy at a gas station." We flash back to "a few years ago" when Earl was "hanging out in a gas station bathroom, waiting for some guy to drop his pants and provide me with an opportunity." Earl screams a little too loud and a little too enthusiastically when he discovers just how much money is in the wallet and has to cover by announcing to the bathroom that "they have my favorite brand of toilet paper in here, soft stuff." Earl admits to having stolen a lot of wallets in his day, but also admits that this particular one was the mother load. And, it seems when you find yourself with a lot of money you go to Jasper's. What is Jasper's you may well ask? "Jasper"s is kind of like the mall, only it's in a storage unit and everything there was stolen from the mall." The gang spends the thousand dollars they had on many things that day and according to Earl, they were living like kings. But back to today, when faced with the reality of having to give up his helmet bought that day long ago, Randy asks Earl why he can't just give the guy back his wallet with a thousand dollars of his lottery money stuffed in it. Earl explains to Randy that the items were bought with stolen money a

The episode was rated 7.77 from 278 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E21

#10 - The Bounty Hunter (Season 1 - Episode 21)

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Number forty-five "Ditched Jessie to Marry Joy" is next on the list when Jessie, Earl's ex-girlfriend returns to town seeking revenge. Earl must protect Joy in a lakeside retreat while Randy fights not to reveal their location to Jessie.

The episode was rated 7.77 from 261 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E4

#9 - Faked My Own Death (Season 1 - Episode 4)

When Earl meets a tough biker chick at a Halloween party, it looks like a match made in heaven--but when the costumes come off, the mismatch becomes apparent and Earl takes drastic measures to get out of the relationship. Now, years later, Earl must find a way to make amends for deceiving the girl.

The episode was rated 7.78 from 388 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E23

#8 - BB (Season 1 - Episode 23)

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Earl attempts to cross out number 147 on his list "Shot Gwen Waters with a BB Gun." To make things right he must reunite Gwen with her estranged father which Earl finds increasingly difficult.

The episode was rated 7.78 from 260 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E13

#7 - Stole P's HD Cart (Season 1 - Episode 13)

Earl crosses another number off the list when he returns Pops’ Weiner Hot Dog cart he and Ralph (Giovanni Ribisi) stole in his youth. The good deed does not last long as Ralph, who works for a competing franchise sets fire to Pops cart. Earl now must set things right with a bizarre plan while recruiting Randy, Joy, Catalina and Darnell to assist him. Recap: After going out to eat, Earl remembers that he and Ralph stole Pop's Wiener Hot Dog cart because the competing fast food restaurant manager pay then to do it. So he decided to take it of his list. Earl when to the place where he hide the cart and went to Pop's house to returned and ask for forgiveness, Pop agree to forgive him. But it was not enough because now people are used to go to the fast food restaurant and nobody goes to Pop's anymore. Earl decided to advertise Pop's to get him back to business and he succeeds. But after Pop's got back to business Ralph burns Pop's cart because once again he got paid by the competing franchise. Earl decided that now he owe Pop a new cart so now he had to get money to buy one. He decided to get the gang together once more to plan for a new hit. While planning Ralph came up with the idea of cutting his finger and put it in the food of a restaurant and sue them, Earl dismiss the idea. He planned to get them all work in a company and steal all they could from it to get the money. Thanks to Kenny, Earl makes all the gang look qualify for the job (Kenny exchange his test with them making him look bad and them good). After all got the job, they hide and wait for the night to act. At night, they started to steal everything but then Ralph came up with stealing a huge copy machine everybody didn't wanted to do it but Earl thought that the machine would make the money quicker and decided to go for it. They went inside the room with the huge machine and try to carry it through the door but it was to big to fit, Ralph insisted in pushing it harder but it got them tra

The episode was rated 7.78 from 279 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E8

#6 - Joy's Wedding (Season 1 - Episode 8)

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Darnell and Joy decided to tie the knot while Earl learns thru Randy’s invitation that he is not invited. To make things worse Joy has scheduled the wedding on Earl’s birthday so that all of their friends will be unable to celebrate with him. A drunken Earl crashes the party accidentally breaking Joy’s nose and now is forced to add “ruined Joy’s wedding” to his list.

The episode was rated 7.81 from 317 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E19

#5 - Y2K (Season 1 - Episode 19)

When Earl is attempting to cross number 24 ("Stole a red 'Take-a-number' machine” ) off his list, Randy tries to get Earl to back down by trying to make him remember, through a flashback, how they got the machine around New Year’s Eve 1999. Darnell convinces the gang to believe that Y2K will signal the end of the world and they, happily, will be the last people on Earth.

The episode was rated 7.82 from 271 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E18

#4 - Dad's Car (Season 1 - Episode 18)

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It's Mother's Day again when Earl remembers that he has never given his mother a Mother's Day gift Just as he and Randy are about to finish carrying out his long overdue gift his mother decides her repayment should include Earl doing something for his father.

The episode was rated 7.87 from 263 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E1

#3 - Pilot (Season 1 - Episode 1)

Today is the first day of the rest of Earl Hickey's life. After coming into a $100,000 scratch-off lottery ticket and losing it just as fast upon being hit by a car, Earl has an epiphany in the hospital--to make up for all the terrible things he's done in the past. With his brother Randy and a motel maid named Catalina, Earl writes up a list of every misdeed he was a part of. Earl sets out to do just that, starting with #64--Kenny James, a boy he picked on in elementary school. Recap When we meet Earl Hickey, he describes himself as "that guy you see going into the convenience store when you stop off in that little town on the way to Grandma's house--sorta shifty looking fellow who buys a pack of smokes, a couple lotto scratchers and a tallboy at 10 in the morning." He's a petty thief who proceeds to steal some CDs and a flag from a van parked outside of the aforementioned convenience store. Earl's narration introduces us to Joy, his unfaithful wife of, presumably, six years. He also introduces his two children (neither of which he fathered), Dodge and Earl Jr, and his brother Randy. The narration montage also introduces Darnell, an employee at Ernie's Crab Shack and also the father of Earl Jr. This all brings us to three weeks ago. Earl gets his due in the form of a $100,000 scratch off ticket... only to promptly lose it when he runs into traffic and gets hit by a car. He wakes up in a hospital with an injured leg and neck, a morphine drip, and divorce papers from Joy. While flipping channels on the television, Earl stops on Carson Daly's late night talk show. Carson recites his philosophy on karma and it inspires an epiphany in Earl. After he's released, he and Randy get set up in a motel room, where Randy quickly makes nice with the maid, Catalina. Earl decides that he will write out a list of all of the bad things he's done and sets out to right his wrongs. He starts with #136, being a litterbug. Right after throwing away garbage in the motel parking

The episode was rated 7.88 from 582 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E16

#2 - The Professor (Season 1 - Episode 16)

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Earl's nervous about returning a laptop computer he stole from a college professor, mostly because he's uncomfortable around smart people. When the professor turns out to be a beautiful woman, he feels even more ill at ease, until she flatters him and asks him to speak about his list in front of her class. Meanwhile, Randy experiences fraternity life---and absolutely loves it.

The episode was rated 7.91 from 273 votes.

My Name Is Earl - S1E24

#1 - Number One (Season 1 - Episode 24)

In the season finale, Earl decides to cross off the first number on his karma list, “Stole ten dollars from a guy at the Camden Market.” Earl to his dismay finds out that he owes much more than ten dollars, in fact he must surrender all his lotto winnings. Earl now ponders when karma is going to help him with his misfortunes.

The episode was rated 7.93 from 257 votes.

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