My Name Is Earl (TV Series) White Lie Christmas (2005) User Reviews

A Christmas full of secrets

[RainDogJr · 9/10 · 12 November 2008]

Now we meet Joy's parents and just for this Christmas everything is going to be like in the old days.

The objective of Earl in this episode is to finally give Joy and kids a good Christmas but is going to be really difficult since everybody has secrets to hide from the rest of the family and Earl, suddenly, is the one who knows all of those secrets and he just can't say the truth if he want to complete his objective.

Is just funny to see that Earl has everything planned for a really special Christmas with Joy and kids but everything is going wrong and with many difficulties since he is eliminated in the first minute of a contest to win Joy's present, a Dodge Neon to, after Randy won the car, when his ex-mother-in-law lose the car in a beat. But the message enters here when Joy has a really great Christmas thanks to the happiness of her kids, forgetting just for a moment all the problems.

This is a great episode with many hilarious situations like the flashbacks of the previous Christmas, the fake racism of Joy's father, the story of Earl in the Iraq war and the way Randy and Catalina are competing for the car so definitely works perfect for a Christmas special.

Grace Under Fire Reunion Show

[zsenorsock · 9/10 · 21 December 2006]

This Christmas episode features some typically solid comedy by all the main cast, particularly Jason Lee as Earl and Jamie Pressly as Joy. Joy has been lying to her parents and never told them she and Earl broke up. So she insists Earl act as if they are still married (and he's just returned from Iraq!) so as not to ruin Christmas...AGAIN. Number #74 on Earl's list is "ruined Joy's Christmases" so he agrees.

Playing Joy's parents are "Grace Under Fire" star Brett Butler and Blake Clark as her husband Buzz. Blake played one of Grace's ex-husbands, Gil Kelly on "Grace Under Fire". Both are surprisingly good. Butler hasn't been this crisp in her comedy since very early on in "Grace". In the years the show has been off the air, she's virtually disappeared. But she's great here.

Credit a fine script to Tim Stack, who also worked with Blake Clark on Stack's fake talk syndicated talk show years ago.