Creative Writing

Season 3, Episode 5, Aired
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Episode Summary

After attending a class of creative writing at the prison, Earl tries to come up with a story, but soon finds out that everyone else has a better imagination than him. Inspired by him, Randy, Joy, Darnell and Catalina take a few trips into their own fantasy worlds.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (11)

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  • What the bleeding eck was that

    3.4
    "Bad"
    By AegisAtreyu, Jul 14, 2010 Report Abuse
    Earl is doing a creative writing course while in the slamma but doesn't have any imagination, and neither does anyone else it seems.

    Truth is I like My Name is Earl and I honestly have to say that this episode was such a pile of stinking dog poo. To begin with it had nothing to do with him helping anyone and so nothing to do with the series in general. On top of that everyone seems to have an imagination stuck in the 80s and early 90s - Only Crabman's imagined pop music video was remotely interesting.

    Lets break it down, Randy seems to have watched a lot of kids programmes and 70s and 80s cheesy action shows. They even have the unfunny joke at the end and the characters laughing like a Glen A Larson produced show. Eh!, What! - this is the first taste of the rubbish that's to follow. Secondly you have Joy in a educational cartoon with slapstick deaths - boring. Then is Darnel's music Video which I thought was the most enjoyable part of the entire episode even if it wasn't THAT great. Lastly you have Catalina in a bad 80s Spanish American Soap Opera which after the Crabman's dance starts out okay but within a minute yer cursing the writers of old 80s soaps let alone the My name is Earl writer.

    Result, the writer of this episode needs to do a bit more creative writing. Awfulmoreless

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    0 6

  • this is the episode that "jumped the shark". The writers are out of ideas so they filled this episode with junk to take up time.

    2.3
    "Terrible"
    By xdogofthedayx, Jul 14, 2010 Report Abuse
    I have really enjoyed this series until now. The writing has always been so cleaver and"off beat". I feared the formula may have played out but this weeks episode confirmed it for me. I hope the writers can get back to the original storyline that we all fell in love with. The last couple of episodes have seemed like they were just filling time. The Prison shtick is getting old but the writers seem to be floundering and they are going to try and squeeze every last inch out of a floundering gag. Seems like its circling the drain. I hope I am wrong about this.moreless

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    0 5

  • How Can Something "So Good" Go "So Bad" So Fast?

    1.0
    "Abysmal"
    By soaring101, Jul 14, 2010 Report Abuse
    It was the best TV show around, light hearted comedy entertainment at it's best.

    I'm Sure if the writers could have kept off of the "Hallucinogenic" substances for long enough this fantastic show could be heading for even greater things in the years to come, instead they have let their past successes go to their heads and deluded themselves into thinking that whatever they write will work, it doesn't and neither will they be for much longer.

    Above it asks what classification you want to give it.

    I had to choose "Bottom Of The Barrel" because they didn't have "Cesspool" on the list.moreless

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    4 5

  • for the first time, I just stopped watching the show

    1.0
    "Abysmal"
    By ng400, Jul 14, 2010 Report Abuse
    It's very hard to be creative every week after three years, but the writers are getting a lot of money to come up with something good, or at least watchable. This episode was anything but watchable. In fact, it made me miss Who's the Boss (which as a kid I liked, but seems incredibly idiotic today). Heck, I'd rather watch the dreadful Cosby Show over this.
    I don't know what they were thinking here, but if the writers can't think up of something better for the next episodes, maybe they should be replaced. and they won't be replaced, I'm sure the network will replace the slot with something a little more pleasant.moreless

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    5 4

  • Not good, seems like they have run out of ideas in this season. Seems a shame they have drifted soo far from the original series.

    1.0
    "Abysmal"
    By Zeld66, Jul 14, 2010 Report Abuse
    What happened to this show, started off excellent and just went down the garbage, thought they would have got earl out of jail asap to continue his original quest to fill the list and receive good karma, this episode just proves they are lost for ideas and would rather them have ended the series last season than watch another mindless idiotic t.v. show which they have changed this hit into. Greg Garcia should have reviewed his previous work and found out what made it a hit before writing this garbage!! Where can this show possibly go now as earl retains a criminal record even if get gets let out on good behaviour he wouldn't have a chance in retaining a sales position, must I go on, I will be very surprised to see this series pickup and retain it's original comic styling and brilliance the first season held!moreless

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    5 10
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • When Catalina imagines a soap opera, her full name is finally revealed: the Spanish-speaking voice in the opening sequence calls her "Catalina Aruca" multiple times. Edit
    • Featured Music: "Ripple" by Grateful Dead (Closing scene) Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • International Episode Titles: Czech Republic: Kurz tvůrčího psaní (Course of Creative Writing) Edit
    • Original International Air Dates: Denmark: May 2, 2008 on TV3 Slovenia: September 11, 2008 on Kanal A Belgium: May 26, 2009 on 2BE Czech Republic: June 8, 2010 on Prima COOL Edit
    • This episode was nominated for a 2008 Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing in Television: Short Form – Music. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Joy: Get momma's thong off your head, you had a pink eye last week. Edit
    • Joy: (Stepping over toys) Boys, clean up this mess! It looks like a toy store took a dump in here. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • When Catalina is imagining her soap opera "Woman of a thousand tears", she has one dialogue where she says: "Now I cry tears for fears". Tears For Fears is a pop rock band from the UK. Edit
    • The sticky ball in which Randy transforms during Joy's story is a reference to the video game Katamari Damacy. The purpose of this game is to roll a sticky ball into various locations collecting all kind of things, from the smallest to the biggest. Edit

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