TV Recap: My Name Is Earl Season Premiere

'My Name Is Earl' kicked off a new season tonight and did it up right. The show opened (as usual) with Earl (Jason Lee) trying to right one of the wrongs off his list. This time the wronged party was Joy (Jamie Pressly), and before long Earl found himself ass-deep in another one of her criminal shenanigans.

Joy has stolen a delivery truck, only she neglected to make sure there was no one inside it before she drove off. When Earl arrives on the scene to help her get rid of it, they discover the delivery driver inside, and must face the prospect of imprisonment if he identifies them.

What really worked in their first season outing was the chemistry between Earl and Joy. I've never been a big fan of Jamie Pressly's charater, but for the first time they really nailed her. Suddenly I understood why Earl used to love her, and the back and forth between those two characters has never been better. Usually 'My Name Is Earl' is carried by the interplay between Earl and Randy (Ethan Suplee), or Earl and Crabman, or Earl and whoever. But for the first time, the Earl/Joy relationship really hit on all cylinders for me.

So it's kind of a shame that it looks like Joy may be taking a break from the show, and extended one. By the episode's end she'd been hauled off in prison, leaving Earl to ask Randy whether or not he thought it was his fault that she's gone to prison, only to end up in a discussion about monkeys and their thoughts and personal appearance. "If the cared about how they look," decides Earl, "then they'd probably wear pants."

Joy may be out of the picture for awhile, but she's to much a piece of the puzzle for her to remain gone for long. I see a prison break in 'My Name Is Earl's' future. If necessary, Jamie Pressly is welcome to hide out under my bed.

Josh Tyler