Life behind bars is a real pain. Just ask Earl, whose commitment to good karma has landed him in the Big House. His shackled hands are full - there's a gang war to stifle and a gala prison prom to plan. Even conjugal visit day is one big headache. With a pregnant ex-wife and a hilariously inept prison guard for a brother, Earl suffers a karmic crisis and finally goes over the top. Come visit inmate 28301-016 and the rest of Camden County's losers, users and boozers...

While some shows, like the seventh season of Smallville, managed to weather the storm of the 2007/8 Writers Guild of America strike other shows, like season eight of CSI, didn't. My Name is Earl is one such show that seemed to suffer from a noticeable drop in quality.

It's not just that the gags are a lot less amusing, there's also a problem with some of the plot devices. Having Earl in prison soon stops being amusing and his list disappears from the show almost altogether. Then, when he gets out of prison he's thrust into a coma leaving him practically out of the show for several episodes. It's only when, towards the end of this season, Earl's back and tackling his list that things seem to pick up.

Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of laughs to be had, and I know a show needs to change to stay fresh, it's just that it felt like the writers were struggling to find some sort of direction in which to head and then, when they'd run out of ideas, headed back to the tried and tested format that had kept the show popular for two seasons.

Extras include Deleted Scenes on various episodes (which when added up run for 9 mins, 30 sec); Those Guys From Those Episodes: Creating the Characters (14 min, 04 sec look at the show's minor recurring characters. Greg Garcia runs through where the numerous characters came from. It's was interesting to learn that Willie the One-Eyed Mailman is, in real life, Ethan Suplee's (Randy) father; and that Abdul Goznobi (who plays Iqball) is an old friend of Garcia and the two met while working as extras on Beverly Hills 90210); Under the Shell: The Mr. Turtle Commentary (19 min, 16 sec collection of Mr. Turtle clips with an amusing commentary from Mr. Turtle); and Gag Reel (7 min, 42 sec of mistakes - although if you suffer from epileptic seizures you might like to skip the first minute).

While I love this show (I went out and bought season 1 after reviewing season 2 and have watched the first two seasons three times now) I really thought that the third season was a lot less funny than the previous two.

7

Darren Rea