The American sitcom television series ''
My Name Is Earl
''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia (producer), Greg Garcia for NBC. It aired for four seasons from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, with a total of List of My Name Is Earl episodes, 96 episodes. It wa ...
'', created by
Greg Garcia for
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
, features a variety of characters, most of whom live in the fictional town of Camden and Camden County. The show centers on Earl Hickey (
Jason Lee), a small-time crook who after an epiphany involving
karma
Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...
, makes a list of items in which he had done wrong to others, and proceeds to make amends to the people involved. The characters listed include Earl's immediate family, friends and acquaintances, as well as general townsfolk who have appeared over multiple episodes and storylines.
Main characters
Earl Hickey

Earl Jehosephat Hickey
(played by
Jason Lee) — the titular and
viewpoint character, he has a long history of petty crimes and other repugnant acts of bullying classmates and taking advantage of others. In the opening episode, he wins a
lottery scratcher but is immediately hit by a car; during his recovery where he watches a
Carson Daly
Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, producer, and television personality. From 1998 to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' (TRL), and a DJ for the Sou ...
interview where the latter talks about
karma
Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...
, he
realizes he has been a bad person and tries to turn his life around by making a list of all the bad things he has done and doing the good deeds to cross them off the list. He discovers that when he does good things he is rewarded by karma, first by getting the lottery ticket back. But when he ignores the list, as especially demonstrated in the episode "The Professor", bad things continue to happen. One of the
recurring gags regarding Earl is that he always has his eyes closed when his picture is taken. He has a mustache and tends to wear
flannel shirts, although in his past, he also wears concert T-shirts from
classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...
bands. He is a huge fan of southern rock and heavy metal bands such as
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
,
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
,
Motörhead
Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...
,
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...
,
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival, commonly abbreviated as CCR or simply Creedence, was an American Rock music, rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, h ...
,
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...
,
Van Halen
Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...
,
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...
,
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...
and
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
. He drives a 1973 red
El Camino that once belonged to his friend Frank: it has a blue driver's side door, found in a tornado. Earl's father Carl intended to name him after himself, but put in an extra loop on his cursive letter 'C' on the birth certificate.
In Season 4, it is discovered that Earl was always the biological father of Joy's oldest son Dodge. He attended a party dressed as a skeleton and slept with Joy after both were drunk at the time. The series indefinitely ended on a cliffhanger after this.
Randy Hickey

Randall Dew Hickey
(played by
Ethan Suplee) – Earl's younger brother. He and Earl used to commit a bunch of crimes together, but he goes along with Earl on his list. In "Monkeys in Space", when he tries to get a job, Earl finds that he is unable to fulfill his list item in time until Randy helps him. In the episode "Number One", he breaks down and questions the entire process. His character was initially described as equally nasty and tough but after Earl started working on the list, he becomes naive, childlike, and simplistic.
In "Harassed a Reporter" he is upset that the reporter portrayed him as mentally retarded, but when she mentions that it could be karma, he is happy that karma noticed him and considered him important.
Randy has a crush on Catalina, calling
dibs on her when they first met. He dated a woman who liked cats in the episode "Larceny of a Kitty Cat", despite being allergic to them. Although he is afraid of birds, especially chickens, he is willing to forgo that for love as shown in "South of the Border (Part 1)", and in part 2, they get married at Catalina's village. In the episode "Foreign Exchange Student" he finally tells Catalina he loves her, but Catalina intentionally makes herself repulsive when they consummate the marriage later that night, after which Randy doesn't want to live with her anymore and just keeps it a
green card marriage.
In season 3, after finding that he is unable to function independently, he gets a job as a guard at the same state prison so he can hang out with Earl. In the episode "Creative Writing", Earl remarks that a psychologist had called Randy
"borderline artistic". In the "Inside Probe" episodes,
Geraldo Rivera
Geraldo Rivera (born Gerald Rivera; July 4, 1943) is an American journalist, attorney, author, and political commentator who worked at the Fox News Channel from 2001 to 2023. He hosted the tabloid talk show '' Geraldo'' from 1987 to 1998. He g ...
described him as the town
simpleton,
mentally disabled, and reveals that he has 77 misdemeanors like his brother.
Joy Turner

Joy Farrah Turner (
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Darville, also Joy Hickey) (played by
Jaime Pressly) is Earl's ex-wife who divorces him in the first episode and then marries his friend, Darnell, during the first season of the series. She is pessimistic, cold-hearted, stubborn and vain. Joy is the mother of two boys, Dodge and Earl Jr. She drives a
Subaru BRAT painted with the American flag. Her
catchphrase
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
s are "Oh, snap!", "What the hell", and she frequently calls both Earl and Randy "Dummy". She is openly scornful of Earl's List, and has a strong dislike for Catalina, although she ends up saving her life in the fourth season.
The episodes "The Bounty Hunter" and "Guess Who's Coming Out of Joy" cover parts of Joy's past. When she was pregnant with her first child, she was kicked out of her parents' house in the neighboring town of Nathanville. She looked for a
sugar daddy, dating local celebrity
TV's Tim Stack briefly. She and her friends get Earl drunk, after which they have a
shotgun wedding
A shotgun wedding is a wedding arranged in response to pregnancy resulting from premarital sex. The phrase comes from the figurative imagining that the relatives of the pregnant bride threaten the reluctant male groom with a shotgun in order to ...
in Las Vegas and move into a trailer at the Pimmit Hills Trailer Park. She would often go along with Earl, Randy, Ralph, Donny and others on their crime sprees. She has an affair with Darnell but when she becomes pregnant with her second child, she convinces Earl that he is the father. Years later, at the start of the series, she and Earl divorce, but after he signs the papers, he wins the lottery money. Joy then tries some schemes to get her share, but eventually gives up. She then marries Darnell in the episode "Joy's Wedding". Although she is quite selfish and frugal, she cares deeply for her boys.
In the second season, Joy gets in trouble with the law when she was trying to return an entertainment system cabinet and ended up stealing a truck with a store employee in it. Her charges of grand theft auto, kidnapping and assault would count as the
third strike, which would put her in prison for life. She is appointed a deaf lawyer (
Marlee Matlin
Marlee Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress, activist, and author. Deafness, Deaf since she was 18 months old, Matlin is known for her portrayals of deaf women, and for her activism on behalf of deaf individuals in Cinema of the ...
) who gets her involved with an
addiction recovery group for her anger and also prescribes happy pills. Hoping to evoke sympathy from the jury, Joy agrees to be a
surrogate mother for her half-sister Liberty. The trial goes well until Earl's 911 calls are presented. However, Earl then confesses to all the crimes and takes the punishment.
The third season has Joy being pregnant while taking care of Randy until the latter becomes a guard at the prison that Earl is staying. She gives birth to the baby for Liberty and Ray Ray's family. Joy believed throughout the show that Little Chubby was the father of Dodge and Darnell was the father of Earl Jr. It is revealed in "Dodges Dad" that Earl is the biological father of Dodge, but Earl Jr.'s father is never named because of the shows cancellation.
Catalina

Catalina Rana Aruca (played by
Nadine Velazquez
Nadine E. Velázquez (born November 20, 1978) is an American actress and model known for her roles as Catalina Aruca on ''My Name Is Earl'' and Sofia Ruxin on ''The League''. She has also appeared in films such as ''Blast (2004 film), Blast'' (2 ...
) — the beautiful housekeeper at Earl and Randy's motel. Randy has a major crush on Catalina, immediately calling
dibs on her when they first met. She was the top dancer at Club Chubby for about a month, where her routine simply consisted of jumping in place to
House of Pain's "
Jump Around" song, until one of the patrons died, at which she vowed never to dance again. She dislikes Joy, but later returns to Club Chubby in the season 2 episode "Jump for Joy" when she sees how Earl tries hard to make things better. She also helps Earl on one of the items on his list in the episode "Mailbox". Season 2 features a story arc where Catalina is arrested for speeding and deported to her village. When Earl and Randy arrive, she gets news that Earl has agreed to marry her, but Earl lets Randy do it. In the "Foreign Exchange Student" episode, Randy and Catalina rent an apartment in order to
keep up appearances, but when Randy tells her he loves her, Catalina tells Earl she only wants to be friends with Randy. She takes actions to be as physically repulsive as possible when Randy and she consummate their marriage, but afterwards regrets it as she finds that Randy is the best lover she's had. In the season 3 episode "Love Octagon", she declares that she is a new lesbian, but her attempts to woo
Billie Cunningham fail. However, she reconciles with her former boyfriend Paco who previously tried to catch her attention in the years past but finally caught her.
Catalina was born in the small town of Guadalatucky,
a Latin American village stricken with violence and poverty. She was prompted by her lover
Paco to come to America. She is placed in a crate and inside a car. In the season 4 flashback episode, "Earl and Joy's Anniversary", when she was trapped in the phone booth with some Africanized bees outside, she said she was from
La Paz
La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...
, and lost her virginity in a
foursome with Darnell, Patty, and Kenny. She occasionally wires money to her family in the village. In the episode "Kept a Guy Locked in a Truck", it is revealed she lives in a shared laundry room at the motel.
In some episodes, Catalina breaks the
fourth wall
The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...
with her Spanish lines: In the episode "
Barn Burner", she thanks the Latino audience for turning in every week;
In the episode "
Number One", her quipping at Joy translates to thanking the audience and hoping they will see them next fall;
In the episode
"Robbed a Stoner Blind", from the second season, she explains during Randy's claymation hallucination of her how the animation was originally going to be more complex but because of budget constraints they simply made her dance around.
Darnell Turner
Darnell Turner (played by
Eddie Steeples), Joy's husband, is still one of Earl's best friends despite apparently impregnating Earl's then-wife Joy. He now acts as "New Daddy" to Joy's two sons. He works in the local dive, "The Crab Shack". Whenever Earl greets Darnell, he calls him "Crab Man" (or "Crabman"), and he has a generally friendly disposition. In the episode "
Y2K", it is revealed that he used to go by the name Harry Monroe, until he was placed in a
witness protection program
Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after trials, usually by police. While witnesses may only require p ...
where he was to assume his new identity of Darnell Turner and was told to avoid liking cheese (which he still likes). He has a pet tortoise whom he calls Mr. Turtle.
Part of the season 4 episodes go into Darnell's history where he was raised and trained by his father Thomas Monroe (played by
Danny Glover
Danny Glover ( ; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, producer, and political activist. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Danny Glover, numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian A ...
) in a secret government agency, and had developed the skills to be a top secret agent. However, when he refused to kill a nine-year-old leader of a socialist nation, and after testifying in court against his former employers, the government had to place him in witness protection from the agency. His cover is blown when he was shown on national television restraining Joy at a game show audition, so he, Joy, and their kids had to go under protection and assume other identities and live elsewhere. He agrees to join his father on one more mission, taking along Earl and sedating him multiple times, to free himself from having to need protection.
In the episode "
Our 'Cops' Is On" it is shown that he used to live with his supposed grandmother and grew and sold marijuana in his bedroom. In "Buried Treasure", he narrates that he graduated from college at age 14, was a virtuoso cellist, and could identify 254 varieties of cheese. Darnell speaks multiple languages: In "The Frank Factor" he tells Catalina that he speaks French, Russian and Arabic. He is also seen reading a newspaper printed in another language. In "My Name Is Alias", Joy remarks that he knows 7 different languages, and 3 combat sports that ends in "do." Occasionally, Darnell's afro is shown to hide cell phones which self-destruct after use. It is mentioned in season 4 he might have had a brother, and that his sister Pam died.
It is revealed in the very last episode of the show that Earl Jr., generally believed to be his son, is not.
Relatives of the protagonists
Dodge Hickey
Dodge Chaz Hickey (played by Louis T. Moyle) is Joy's oldest son. Joy was six months pregnant with him when she and Earl got married the day after they met. In the pilot, Earl tells us "Joy didn't remember much about the boy's real father, except that he drove a
Ford. So we named him
Dodge
Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...
." His middle name is Chaz, named after Earl's childhood hero, astronaut Chaz Dalton. His biological father was the subject of several episodes: Frank was a possibility in "
The Frank Factor", and in the season 4 finale "Dodge's Dad", Camden's biggest business owner Little Chubby was another possibility, but DNA tests later revealed Earl to be the biological father. It was revealed Joy hooked up with Earl at a Halloween party where he and Little Chubby wore the same costume.
Earl Hickey, Jr.
Earl Hickey, Jr. (played by Trey Carlisle) is Joy and Darnell's son. After introducing Dodge in the pilot, Earl explains, "A few years later we were having our first child from my own personal seed. Doctors had already told us he was going to come out a boy, so we went ahead and named him." But as the doctor holds up a newborn
mixed-race
The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more
races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...
baby, Earl gets a confused look on his face and finishes: "There he was — Earl Junior." He has a huge
afro
The afro is a hair style created by combing out natural growth of afro-textured hair, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair.Garland, Phyl"Is The Afro On Its Way Out?" '' Ebo ...
and is frequently seen playing rambunctiously with his half-brother, Dodge. Originally thought to be Darnell's child, a DNA test in the season 4 finale "Dodge's Dad" revealed that Darnell was not Earl Jr.'s father. Greg Garcia said that he and the writers had planned to make Earl Jr's dad someone famous, but because the show was cancelled, they never got a chance to figure it out.
Carl Hickey

Carlton Hickey (played by
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor. He is a three-time Emmy Award, Emmy, two-time Golden Globe Award, Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nomine ...
) is Earl and Randy's father. He first appears in "
Cost Dad the Election" where he had run for mayor but lost because of Earl's shenanigans that got the latter arrested. He originally ran for mayor because of the airport flight path was directed over his residential area, causing his entire house to vibrate several times a day, which angers him very much. He is sorely disappointed in his sons and refused to have anything to do with Earl. However, he gradually realizes his son's efforts to improve his life were sincere and he and Earl are able to mend their relationship. In the episode "Dad's Car", he says that he had originally planned to name Earl after himself, but had put in an extra loop on the "C" when using
cursive writing on the birth certificate.
Kay Hickey
Katherine "Kay" Hickey (played by
Nancy Lenehan) is Earl and Randy's mother. She was also disappointed in Earl initially but is more tolerant than Carl. She is happy to see that Earl is now trying to turn his life around and eventually makes up with him for letting her down. She spends a lot of time dealing with Carl's battered ego. Earl's friend Ralph attempted unsuccessfully to come on to her after learning Earl had slept with Ralph's mother.
Liberty Washington
Liberty Washington (played by
Tamala Jones) is Joy's mixed race half-sister, introduced in the season 2 episode "Blow". They had hated each other since grade school. She aspires to be a pro wrestler. She is married to Ray Ray. She and Joy eventually bond to the point where Joy became a
surrogate mother for Liberty and her husband Ray Ray's baby. She and Ray Ray insist that Joy follow certain dietary restrictions and have a
natural childbirth.
Ray Ray Washington
Ray Ray Washington (played by
DJ Qualls
Donald Joseph Qualls (born June 10, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as Citizen Z on the Syfy horror series ''Z Nation'' (2014–2018) and Ed McCarthy on the Amazon Prime Video series ''The Man in the High Ca ...
) is Liberty's husband, who shares many character traits with Darnell. He owns a
bearded dragon named "Mr. Bearded Dragon" whom he treats in the same fatherly manner that Darnell treats Mr. Turtle. His father's name was "Ray" and named him "Ray-Ray", that is why he would like to name his unborn child "Ray-Ray-Ray". In 'Midnight Bun', Joy gives birth to their daughter Ray Ray Ray Anne, after she acts as a surrogate for Liberty and Ray Ray due to Liberty wanting to have a wrestling career.
Billie Cunningham

Billie Cunningham (played by
Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Jayne Milano ( ; born December 19, 1972) is an American actress and activist. She has played Samantha Micelli in '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992), Jennifer Mancini in '' Melrose Place'' (1997–1998), Phoebe Halliwell in '' Charmed'' ...
) is a young woman who first appears in the season 3 episode "Frank's Girl". She had graduated from community college when she met
Frank Stump and joined Frank in a life of crime, robbing stores and other places. During a
conjugal visit, Earl informs her that Frank got placed in
solitary confinement
Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...
again, which prompts her to break up with Frank, especially when she finds out he had shared with Earl a nude picture of her. Earl convinces Billie to give Frank a second chance, but learns that since Frank has been in prison, Billie has been getting her life back together and enrolled in nursing school. Not wanting her to be sabotaged by the relationship, Earl has Frank break up with her.
It was later revealed that Billie had gone back to her criminal ways, quitting nursing school, stealing her cousin's rent money and gas, and robbing a liquor store. She crashes into Earl with her car but then gets hit by a car herself when going for help. After some time in the hospital, Officer Stuart Daniels, who had hit her with the car, looks after her, telling her that she had killed Earl and needed to lay low at his place. While Earl is in a coma, he imagines Billie as his loving housewife in a television sitcom called ''The Hickeys''. After seeing Stuart, Frank, Earl, and Catalina (who was trying to be a lesbian and coming onto her), she eventually chooses Earl and they get married. She attempts to make her own list, but only does a half effort on it. With her insurance settlement, she controls the finances in the marriage but becomes very frugal with Earl. In the season 3 finale, she gets very jealous of Earl spending so much time with his list, and makes him choose between her and the list. However, the police catch up to her and she escapes into an
Amish
The Amish (, also or ; ; ), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church fellowships with Swiss people, Swiss and Alsace, Alsatian origins. As they ...
-type settlement near Camden, where she finds inner peace. She not only divorces Earl but also gives him $72,000, what was left of her insurance settlement.
Earl's friends and acquaintances
Kenny James
Kenneth James (played by
Gregg Binkley, played as a child by
Andy Pessoa) is a former victim of Earl's
bullying
Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...
as a child, Kenny is one of the first items on his list that Earl attempts to fix by helping him
come out as homosexual and restoring his confidence. As a result, the two became friends and Kenny helps Earl with completing his list whenever he can, usually to his comedic detriment.
He has a job as an assistant manager of a copy shop, which he uses to his advantage, such as printing fake birth certificates and résumés. He drives a powder blue
Le Car which he also uses to help out Earl.
In the episode "
Stole P's HD Cart", he helped Earl and the gang get jobs at a hot dog company by passing their typing exams. After his boyfriend dumped him, Kenny asked Earl to help him become more of a manly man, which unwittingly led to both of them having a
gambling addiction
Problem gambling, ludopathy, or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to DSM-5 if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological ga ...
. He joins Joy's
addiction recovery group. In the flashback episode "Our Cops Is On", he had prepared his house to receive officer Stuart Daniels. In "Our Other Cops Is On", he won a ride-along with a cop prize in a
silent auction and got to hang out with Officer Daniels for the day. During the flashback episodes, when the camera is on him, he tries to act masculine and heterosexual. He is one of the few people in Camden who uses the World Wide Web at home. At the end of the third season, he and Daniels become lovers.
Patty, the daytime hooker
Patricia Michelle Weezmer
(played by
Dale Dickey) is a middle-aged prostitute in Camden County. She prefers to work during the daytime, exchanging sexual favors and other fetishes such as piggyback rides or massages at a major discount and often getting paid in fast food. She is often arrested. In the evening, she works as a waitress (episode "Monkeys Take a Bath") and has been involved in community theatre (episode "Inside Probe, Part 1"). She has also spent time outside of Camden: in her early 20s she was in
Calcutta
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
(episode "
Number One"), and she also lived in
La Paz
La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...
, the same city as Catalina. (episode "Earl and Joy's Anniversary"). In the episode "Inside Probe, Part 1", it is revealed she was half-Cherokee and lived on an Indian reservation before her mother divorced her father, Chasing Squirrel.
Ralph Mariano
Ralph Mariano (played by
Giovanni Ribisi, played as a child by
Tanner Maguire) is a former partner in crime and good friend of Earl's, who goes in and out of jail on an almost weekly basis. He and Earl have been friends since childhood, when Earl first taught Ralph how to steal. He isn't the most observant person in the world and doesn't quite understand the whole karma lifestyle. Following in Earl's footsteps, he attempts to clean up his act by getting a job at a lamp store, only to go back to stealing the same day because he didn't win the lottery.
A dedicated criminal, he will do anything for $200. He has a sister who dances at Club Chubby. He also once started a short-lived rock band along with Earl and Randy. He has several tattoos, including a Yin Yang on his forearm (which was put there because he thought it was 'two
tadpoles doin' it') and 'two
cougars doin' it' on his ankle. He only has nine toes following an incident where he cut his pinky toe off to put in a hotdog, forcing a huge hotdog franchise pay a settlement, which was used to rebuild the local hotdog stand that he was once paid by them to burn down in the episode
Stole P's HD Cart. After learning that Earl had once slept with his mother, Ralph makes him marry her to "make an honest woman" out of her in the episode
Van Hickey. When Earl is sentenced to 2 years in Camden County Prison, Ralph is his cellmate, only to escape the next day by drilling a hole behind a
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...
poster, make a dummy with a watermelon for the head, and leaving Earl behind. He explains in his letter that he would have let Earl come with him but he was hungry and ate the second watermelon. He is also mentioned in 'Bounty Hunter' as having a bounty for $1200 for larceny of a dog and resisting arrest.
Donny Jones
Donny Jones (played by
Silas Weir Mitchell) is a friend of Earl's and a former criminal who had been wrongly convicted of attempted robbery (Earl used Donny's shirt in the robbery). During his prison sentence of two years, he began reading the Bible and found Jesus. Once Earl confessed to Donny about committing the crime, Donny forgave him on the basis he would have eventually gone to prison anyway. He has two tattoos: one of Jesus on his chest, from which he occasionally seeks advice; and one on his buttocks of Moses parting the Red Sea.
He also appeared in the flashback episode "
Y2K" where he was part of Earl's group that took over a department store. Even though Donny has now reformed he still intimidates people, mainly Earl, because he has "crazy eyes" and a towering stature. In "Quit Smoking", Earl says often that "Donny is crazy."
Nescobar-A-Lop-Lop
Nescobar-A-Lop-Lop (played by Abdoulaye N'Gom) is an African immigrant appearing in the episode "
Teacher Earl" as a student in Earl's
English language class. Like other class members, he proudly greets Earl with his first English phrase: "My. Name. Is. Earl.", but then uses that as a greeting. In addition to Earl's class, he picks up much of his English from watching American television, and uses the catchphrase "
Seacrest. Out.". In "The Birthday Party" when Earl asks him how the English lessons are coming, Nescobar replies "I speak better than you, bitch!" In the season 2 episode "Born a Gamblin' Man", he is part of Joy's
addiction recovery group where he is addicted to stealing pens, this becoming a recurring gag in later episodes. At Joy's trial, he helps Joy's lawyer by translating the sign language interpreter's Mandarin Chinese words.
Jasper
Jasper (played by J. Lamont Pope) runs a
fencing operation out of a
self storage
Self storage (a shorthand for "self-service storage") is an industry that renting, rents storage space (such as rooms, lockers, Shipping container, shipping containers, and/or outdoor space), also known as "storage units," to tenants, usuall ...
unit, selling merchandise stolen from the local mall at a discount rate. He has a Russian
mail-order bride named Tatiana (played by
Jessica Cauffiel) who apparently lives in the storage unit and does not like kissing him. She has a large mole on her chin.
Frank Stump
Frank Stump (played by
Michael Rapaport) is an old friend of Earl and Randy's that is introduced in the episode "The Frank Factor". He was subletting rooms in his trailer and agreed to have Earl and Randy stay in the kitchen area while his other roommate Paco had the living room. He was also formerly employed at the Crab Shack. However, he had also made a living stealing things and was saving up for guns to pull off a robbery at an
Indian casino. The robbery went off without a hitch, but during the getaway, Paco accidentally hits an FBI van. He is serving a 20-year sentence. His trailer is then occupied by Joy and Earl, and his El Camino is used by Earl. In the episode "Frank's Girl", he has been dating a young woman named
Billie who had graduated from community college and joined him in a life of crime, but after missing a
conjugal visit and being convinced by Earl, he agrees to part ways with her. In "Randy in Charge", he joins a group of prisoners to give a ''
Scared Straight!'' talk at a school, but when Randy sends the two other convicts to buy ice cream and has to check on them, he escapes. In the next episode "Midnight Bun", he returns to his trailer where he had hidden a gun and some cash, but Randy's prison K-9 dog eventually stops him and he returns to prison. In "Early Release" he helps Earl plan an escape from prison by sharing what tactics have not worked, but when he and Paco leave Earl and escape, they crash into a police car and have to return. In "Love Octagon", he lives in a
halfway house
A halfway house is a type of prison or institute intended to teach (or reteach) the necessary skills for people to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. Halfway houses are typically either state sponsored for those ...
where he wears a
shock collar on his neck.
Paco
Paco (played by
Raymond Cruz) is Frank Stump's trailermate and usual partner in crime, introduced in the season 3 episode "The Frank Factor". He is Catalina's childhood sweetheart and hopes to reunite with her. He sends for her around the time they were planning on a big robbery of an Indian casino, however, when he and Frank were making their getaway, he is distracted by Catalina on the side of the road, and inadvertently hits an FBI van (the one that Darnell got out of.) He is serving time in the same prison as Frank and Earl. In "Midnight Bun" he accidentally reveals that Frank had hidden some cash in the trailer. In "Early Release", he and Frank escape from prison, but when Paco sees Catalina on the side of the road again, he crashes into a police car and has to return. In "Love Octagon", due to
prison overcrowding Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in a prison exceeds the capacity for Prisoner, prisoners.
By country
Egypt
Amnesty International reported on 25 January 2021 the abuse of prisoners in Egypt not onl ...
, he lives in a halfway house and works at Camden Foreign Foods as its mascot Senor Lo Mein. He also finally reunites with Catalina in that episode, finally catching her attention and they reconcile but he does not appear in any episodes following.
Other recurring characters
Big Chubby
Big Chubby (played by
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...
) is Camden's most wealthy and prominent business owner, his ventures including owning the strip club where Catalina is employed, a dry cleaners, a bbq restaurant, several companies in the construction industry, and it is implied that he owns many more. He is known for being an eccentric personality, he is known to trick patrons by pointing a realistic-appearing gun in their face and demanding they open their mouths, only for vodka to be sprayed into their mouths when he pulls the trigger. He is shown to often confuse his "liquor gun" with a standard firearm which leads to his untimely demise while attempting to take a vodka "gun shot" himself.
Little Chubby
Little Chubby (played by
Norm Macdonald
Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...
) is the equally, if not more so, eccentric adult son of Big Chubby. Unlike his father however, Little Chubby is not equally loved and feared but rather just merely feared, as the regular low-life patrons of the Crab Shack even consider him to be a sociopath and for his to be antics intolerable. He is one of the few men who Earl fears prior to making his list in the series' pilot. He is shown to live a highly luxurious lifestyle when not a patron of his father's businesses. He becomes much more friendly and likeable after Earl causes him severe testicular damage, reducing his testosterone output, and again after Little Chubby willingly allows them to become damaged again in order to be a better person. He is briefly believed to be Dodge's dad but this is not the case
Didi
Didi (played by
Tracy Ashton) is the one-legged girl from whom Earl stole a car after telling her he loved her. She works at Yummy's Donut Shop (episode "
Monkeys in Space
Before humans went into space in the 1960s, several other animals were launched into space, including numerous other primates, so that scientists could investigate the biological effects of spaceflight. The United States launched flights co ...
") and has a fast one-armed, no-legged boyfriend named Jake (played by
Cameron Clapp), whom she met while hopping after Earl's winning lottery ticket as it blew in the wind (episode "Number One"). She is still angry at Earl and had her boyfriend chase him away when he tried to apologize. Didi gets around by hopping (although she does possess a
prosthetic
In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...
leg, the only use it gets is when her dog
humps it), whereas her boyfriend uses
prosthetic
In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...
limbs and is quite agile. She lives across the street from
Donny Jones. She always called Earl a "Son of a Bitch" when she sees him, and chases after him. The exact cause of her losing a leg is unknown; however, in "Our Other Cops Is On", Didi states that "she already survived one explosion". She finally forgives Earl in the season 3 finale, where she has Earl try to live a day on one leg to see how she gets around.
Electrolarynx Guy
Electrolarynx Guy (played by Jack Axelrod) is an unnamed old man who can only speak with the help of an
electrolarynx, apparently because of a lifetime of
smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted, and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, whi ...
. He sold Randy a Quit Smoking cassette for $0.32 (negotiated from $0.40). He also posed as Randy's father when Randy went back to high school in
Randy's Touchdown. According to a deleted scene commentary in the Season 1 episode
O Karma, Where Art Thou?, Jack Axelrod does not use an electrolarynx in real life.
Natalie Duckworth
Natalie Duckworth (played by
Beth Riesgraf, then-girlfriend of
Jason Lee) was Earl's one-time girlfriend; her first appearance was in "
Faked My Own Death". Natalie was unable to take a hint that Earl was not into her so and thus faked his own death. He later told her that her clingy personality was the real reason he faked his death. In turn, Natalie faked her own death to make Earl feel bad, and in doing so, she gained a large amount of confidence. She also appeared in "
Our "Cops" Is On"; after Joy and Earl stole a police car, Joy called Natalie a slut with a megaphone and told her to get "on
he car in front of Joyand spread
erlegs".
Willie the One-Eyed Mailman
Willie the One-Eyed
Mailman (played by
Bill Suplee, who is Ethan Suplee's father) is a local mailman who wears an
eye patch. He is affable but somewhat of a
slacker
A slacker is someone who habitually work aversion, avoids work or lacks work ethic.
Origin
According to different sources, the term "slacker" dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the UK, British Gezira Sche ...
as he has been seen throwing mail on the floor of someone's home or simply throwing it in the garbage. His lack of
depth perception
Depth perception is the ability to perceive distance to objects in the world using the visual system and visual perception. It is a major factor in perceiving the world in three dimensions.
Depth sensation is the corresponding term for non-hum ...
has caused problems for him more than once when giving or reaching for items (episode "Number One"). He had lost his eye when Joy smashed Earl's
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
picture and a glass shard damaged his eye (episode "Our Cops Is On"). In the episode "Monkeys Take a Bath", he takes out his
glass eye so he can play some kind of marble game, only to lose it when Joy bought the game at a garage sale.
TV's Tim Stack
TV's Tim Stack (played by
Timothy Stack, who is also the series' Consulting Producer and occasional episode writer) is Camden's hometown celebrity as he has appeared in a number of television shows. He is regularly seen intoxicated and wearing the wardrobe of his character Notch Johnson from ''
Son of the Beach''. In "
Broke Joy's Fancy Figurine", he hosts the Balboa & Sons' mother-daughter pageant.
In "
Y2K", he was a featured participant in Camden County's New Year's Day parade. In the "
Our "Cops" Is On" flashback episode, he was pulled over for drunk driving, where he stated that he had 62 credits in
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
. The officer let him go because he was a fan of Stack's role on ''
Punky Brewster
''Punky Brewster'' is an American Situation comedy, sitcom television series about a young girl (Soleil Moon Frye) being raised by a foster parent (George Gaynes) in Chicago. The show ran on NBC from September 16, 1984, to March 9, 1986, and ag ...
'', after which he crashed into the side of the road again. In a flashback episode "Harassed a Reporter", a visibly disoriented Stack is present at a ribbon cutting ceremony for a
rehabilitation center. In the flashback episode "The Frank Factor", he was a potential
sugar daddy for Joy, but she was grossed out when he dressed up as an
adult baby for their tryst. He also appears in "Bad Earl" where he and Earl's friends try to do an
intervention, having been in several interventions himself before. In season 4 his agent Wilfred Dierkes (played by producer Greg Garcia) is seen in some episodes.
Iqball
Iqball (played by Abdul Goznobi) is the clerk at the Camden Market who sold Earl the winning lottery ticket. He appears in multiple episodes whenever there are Camden townsfolk around, in his green-vested work uniform. In the season 1 finale, "
Number One", he speaks
Bengali relying on Patty to translate for him, but in later episodes, he is shown speaking English, as well. In the second ''COPS''-themed episode set, he has a food booth at the Camden July 4 Fair. In the season 4 flashback episode "Earl and Joy's Anniversary", he tells the folks stuck in the phone booth that the bees have moved on to Texas. He also competed against Erik Estrada in acting out the
Yorick scene in ''Hamlet'' on the ''Estrada or Nada'' game show.
Stuart Daniels
Stuart Daniels (played by
Mike O'Malley
Michael Edward O'Malley (born October 31, 1966) is an American actor, writer and television producer. Born in Boston and raised in New Hampshire, O'Malley hosted the early 1990s children's game shows '' Get the Picture'' and '' Nickelodeon Guts ...
), introduced in the episode "Stole a Badge", comes from a family of police officers, his mother and four sisters all being on the job. He is frequently scolded by his family for losing his badge and other actions of incompetence, and when Earl stole the badge, he was demoted to watching over a
rest stop
A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, Limited-access road, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names ...
where he has to replenish the toilet paper rolls at his own expense. He lost interest in improving his career, but with Earl's help, he quits the police force and pursues his dream of becoming a professional bowler. He was one of the officers featured in the ''
COPS''-themed flashback episodes. In "
Our Cops Is On", where he was shown breaking up a fight between the Electrolarynx Man and Nescobar-A-Lop-Lop, confronting Donny Jones about his public nudity, and remaining blissfully unaware of
Kenny James's attempts to come on to him. In "Our Other Cops Is On", Kenny James wins the "ride-along with a cop" silent auction and joins him. He inadvertently loses $50,000 worth of surveillance equipment that he was going to demonstrate, as well as the Fourth of July Fair's fireworks. He accidentally hits
Billie Cunningham with his car when she was helping Earl. He then tries to make it up to her by visiting her at the hospital and taking her home, telling her that the cops are looking for her. At the end of the third season, having interacted with Kenny many times and discovering they have similar interests, he moves in with Kenny and they become lovers.
Josh Martin

Joshua Martin (played by
Josh Wolf) is a Bargain Bag store employee, first appearing in "Very Bad Things", where Earl and Joy discover him in the back of a Bargain Bag truck that the latter had stolen. Earl and Joy tried to help Josh escape without him being able to identify them, but they were unsuccessful and Joy was sent to prison for grand theft auto, kidnapping and assault. In "Kept a Guy Locked in a Truck", he is found dead in his apartment, having been crushed by a retracted
Murphy bed
A Murphy bed (also known as a pull-down bed, fold-down bed, or wall bed) is a bed (furniture), bed that is hinged at one end to store vertically against the wall, or inside a closet or Cabinet (furniture), cabinet. Since they often can be used as ...
. His spirit haunts Earl and demands not to be forgotten. Earl tries to throw a funeral for him but is unable to find any friends, only to discover that his friends are all from the Internet.
Josh appears in other flashback-themed episodes such as the ''COPS''-themed "Our Other 'Cops' Is On!" where he mans a Bargain Bag booth. In "I Won't Die with a Little Help from My Friends (Part 2)", Josh appears in Earl's coma world, ready to escort Earl to the
afterlife
The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...
. In "Inside Probe, Part 2", he had re-cemented the floor of the women's bathroom at the Crab Shack, inadvertently where its owner Ernie Belcher had later fallen in and died.
Ruby Whitlow
Ruby Whitlow (played by
Marlee Matlin
Marlee Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress, activist, and author. Deafness, Deaf since she was 18 months old, Matlin is known for her portrayals of deaf women, and for her activism on behalf of deaf individuals in Cinema of the ...
) is a deaf attorney assigned to Joy's criminal case in season 2. She has an interpreter named Doug, but can also read lips and talk a little bit, of which Joy thinks Ruby has a funny accent. In the episode "The Trial", Earl falls in love with Ruby and they have a one-night stand. However, she discovers Earl's list in which he had robbed her two years prior because she was deaf and couldn't hear him break in, and they break up. At Joy's trial, Doug had injured his tongue, so Ruby has a Mandarin-speaking woman who knows sign language help her out, and Nescobar-A-Lop-Lop translate from Mandarin to English. The trial is about 50/50 until Earl's 911 tapes condemn Joy. However, when Earl takes the punishment, she is impressed.
Dan Coscino
Dan Coscino (played by production assistant Dan Coscino) is a background character who sings or appears at several random venues such as the Fourth of July Fair, the Pimmit Hills Trailer Park, and the Crab Shack. He is typically seen wearing a T-shirt with his name on it.
Jerry Hazelwood
Jeremiah "Jerry" Hazelwood (played by
Craig T. Nelson) is the Warden of Camden County, As the husband of the Governor, he was caught by her in the presence of some dignitaries when he was in his underwear playing ''
Guitar Hero
''Guitar Hero'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead guitar, lead, bass guitar, bass, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Players match ...
''. He is placed in an assortment of jobs of which he is incompetent. For instance, he was in charge of Homeland Security where he didn't think anything would happen prior to September 11, 2001. He eventually became warden but still initiates poorly thought out programs such as having the inmates build ladders, or having the prison guards host a
Take Our Daughters to Work Day and almost had one of the short-statured inmates escape as a student. At one point he accidentally admits to the press that his wife the Governor has a sexual addiction and that they are also having problems in their marriage and having marriage counseling. As he is afraid of violent confrontations, he often has Earl do his job, rewarding him with certificates that reduce Earl's prison time. He has Earl stop a gang rivalry, start a ''
Scared Straight!'' program for kids, and start a program to mediate problems between victims and criminals. However, he later shreds all of Earl's certificates in order to keep Earl working for him. When Jerry sees his former roommate Darnell, he is reminded of his days as a porn star by the name of Richard Jammer in the 1980s and 1990s, and not wanting that to surface, he reinstates Earl's certificates and releases him from prison.
Jeff Hoyne
Jeffrey Hoyne (played by
Billy Gardell) is an
overweight
Being overweight is having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is especially common where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary.
, excess weight reached epidemic proportions globally, with more than ...
and incompetent police officer who appears mostly in seasons 3 and 4. He has two identical siblings, a brother, named Billy, who works as a Warehouse worker at Waadt Appliance and is deemed the more fit of the two brothers; and an unnamed sister, both of whom are also portrayed by Gardell.
Mr. Turtle
Mr. Turtle is Darnell's pet turtle and has a recurring role throughout the show.
Notes
References
Episodes cited
Other citations
{{DEFAULTSORT:My Name Is Earl
C
Lists of American sitcom television characters
Lists of minor fictional characters