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My Name is Earl

The Birthday Party

Season 2, Episode 17, Aired Feb 15, 2007

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8.7

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Earl wants to use his birthday to look back on all the good he has done over the past year, but at his party, everyone seems to want to talk about his past misdeeds instead.

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Cast & Crew

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GUEST STAR
Robert Clendenin

Slow Roger
GUEST STAR
Phoenix Smith

Young Randy

Eddie Steeples

Darnell Turner
Ethan Suplee

Randy Hickey
Jaime Pressly

Joy Turner
Jason Lee

Earl J. Hickey
Nadine Velazquez

Catalina

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Fan Episode Reviews (5)

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This episode was not worth the 30 minutes it took to watch.

5.0

"Mediocre"

By Stikky, Jul 04, 2010

I couldnt stand this episode. I gave it a 5/10 and i was being pretty damn generous. It was a boring episode that was pretty much a repeat. They went into a bit more detail about some of the list items, but they didnt actually do any and the ending was sappy and out of character. The point of the birthday party, i thought, was to prove that just cuz Earl does good things now, doesnt make him a good person, he's still spent more time doin bad stuff than good. But no, they messed that up to by making a second birthday party where everyone patted him on the back for not stealing stuff for a year.

Also, it was a complicated plan that everyone at the crab shack was in on. This was completely out of character for most of them, because they are not the kind of people to engineer such a cunning scheme. Randy says that they were about to tell Earl when he lfet of their plan, so they were obviously planning to reveal it to him at the bar. But somehow, they all managed to mobilize and get to the hotel room before Earl, even though they didnt know he'd left.

I cant even begin to list all the things that were wrong with this episode. I found it painful and i didnt laugh once. I'm hoping the writers all had the flu and they let a retarded chimp write it this week and they'll be back to full health next week or else i'm gonna stop watching! Terrible!moreless
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cheap way to cross off items.

2.0

"Terrible"

By jacobp76, Jul 04, 2010

This is an uncharacteristically weak episode that's mostly devoid of story and constructed mostly of comedy vignettes as Earl celebrates his birthday at the Crabshack.

Proud of a year of doing good, Earl is constantly reminded of all the bad things he's done in the past--the practical jokes he's played on Randy, the way he made fun of Joy when she was pregnant, the way he mixed up the Crabman's pot brownies and his regular ones, the time he peed in the middle of his parents' living room, etc. etc. We do get to see Beau Bridges back as his dad, Earl Hickey Sr. and the return of many favorites such as the one legged girl, Donnie Jones, the guys from Earl's "english as a second language" class and more, but the construction of this episode is pretty much one joke after another at the sacrifice of story and character. And once again Catalina is left with nothing to do.

In the end, the results are disappointing, especially for a "sweeps" show. Some of the jokes are funny, but in the end this episode points out how important story and character are to the success of "My name is Earl".moreless
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Rough episode. Not the best one of the bunch that is for sure.

7.8

"Good"

By Stefan1970, Jul 04, 2010

I found this episode just was not as funny as others this season. It is probably my least favorite episode that they have aired so far (both seasons).

In my opinion, they could have done so much more with this episode but instead seemed to just skim along the surface. Some of the flash backs just were not that interesting.

I guess every show is entitled to have a dud every now and then. Or maybe I was just expecting too much after the last few episodes that were so much better.

OK, they have their dud out of the way, let's move on to better episodes.moreless
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I really liked this episode! Maybe because I didn't expect much when I read the title. But, I really enjoyed watching it!

8.9

"Great"

By Anika_xp, Feb 17, 2007

I love MNIE! I love the characters, I love the story, and I guess there isn't an episode that could leave me dissapointed. I know this episode wasn't that exciting or funny, but we found out some new stuff from Earl's past, and that's enough to satisfy me! I don't expect every episode to be hilarious, sometimes I just want to enter Earl's world deeper than they let us when the show is funny and they're cracking jokes. And that's what they did in this one. And, it's not like I didn't laugh watching this episode! There was that thing with Joy trying to get peeped at, and Earls mischieves (and, I have to say, I love that kid that plays young Earl, he's perfect for the role).

Anyway, that's what I think... Sometimes this kind of MNIE episode is all I expect from this show!moreless
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Earl's birthday was not what he expected!

9.4

"Superb"

By jimbo_001, Feb 17, 2007

This episode is really funny as Earl's bad side is always entertaining and we really see the development of his character in this episode aswell as having teriffic jokes such as the kid being Dodge and an adult (and drunk) Earl peeing on the rug, Earl's pregnancy rips getting less subtle as they go and of course we see the whole story of Didi, the one legged lady and just how tough that item will be which I think they will tackle in the season or series finale.

The twist at the end that it had all been a prank to get back at him inorder for list items to be crossed off was great, the dumb idea being justifiable because Randy made it up, and the horror music when Didi chases Earl is hilarious aswell.

Overall, this episode was great as we get to see a lot of bad Earl moments which are nearly all hilarious.moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (4)
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- The running joke of Nescobar A Lop Lop having a pen-stealing addiction is reintroduced in this episode.
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- Re-introduced in this episode #86 Stole a car from a one legged girl. (Previously introduced in the pilot episode, Quit Smoking and Cost Dad the Election)
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- This is the second episode to include Earl's birthday, the first being Joy's Wedding. Both times Earl refers at this day as the one time a year he gets drunk enough to break-dance.
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- Featured Music: "Heartbreaker" by Pat Benatar (Parodied as Fernbreaker by Donnie Jones, when karaoke starts) "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen (Earl makes fun of how fat Joy is) "That's The Way (I Like It)" by KC & The Sunshine Band (Earl's Dad grabs all the women and tries to swap wives) "Funky Cold Medina" by Tone Loc (Earl starts dancing)
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QUOTES (8)
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- (voice-over) Earl: This is exactly the way I pictured my birthday happening, except how Dad was freakin' on Mom. And like all my birthdays, I eventually got drunk enough to break-dance.
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- Earl: You got great boobs, Peggy. Deedee: My name's Deedee. Earl: You got great boobs, Deedee. Deedee: Your mama sure raised a sweet-talker.
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- (mob confronts Darnell) Jasper: Hey man, you sold us pot brownies with no pot in them. I just sat through dinner with my parents straight. I haven't done that since I was 13. Donny: I listened to a whole Phish album, and it sucked! (mob stones Darnell)
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- (Earl staggers in drunk and unzips his pants) Earl's Mom: Earl, what are you doing? Not on the rug! Earl: What are you doing in the bathroom? Earl's Mom: Son, that's not the bathroom! Earl: Shut the door, Mom. Earl's Mom: My living room is not a toilet! (Earl urinates on the rug)
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- Earl: Is there gum in these pancakes? Randy: Yeah! I put all your favorite things in there, like beer, and gummy worms, and you know that button that came off your yellow shirt I put that in there to kinda like a joke, but I think one of us already ate it. Happy birthday. Earl: Thanks Randy. I really thing this is going to be a happy birthday. Ah, found the button. (take the button from his mouth and shows it to Randy)
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- Earl: Every year on my birthday Randy wakes up early to make me breakfast in bed, unfortunately he's not used to be up so early...falls right back asleep.
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- Slow Rodger: Stole my left front hubcap, stole my right front hubcap, slept with my sister, stole my right rear hubcap… Earl: (interrupting) I gotta get some air. Slow Rodger: Stole my left windshield wiper, stole my right windshield wiper, stole the pine tree air freshener.
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- Earl: A few years ago, I was into some show where guys acted like jackasses. I think it was called "Dumb Ass".
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NOTES (2)
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- International Episode Titles: Czech Republic: Earl slaví narozeniny (Earl Celebrates the Birthday)
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- Original International Air Dates: Czech Republic: November 16, 2009 on Prima COOL
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Earl: A few years ago I was into some show where guys acted like jackasses, I think it was called "Dumbass." The show he is referring to is Jackass. It aired from 2000 to 2002 and starred Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, and Steve-O among others.
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