5 of 6

Write now Article Tools

I have found a new love. For a straight woman in her thirties, this may sound strange, but her name is Joy. As she is portrayed by Jaime Pressly on "My Name is Earl", she is a beautiful, obnoxious, loud, morally bankrupt but admirably strong force of nature. Whereas "Earl's" other secondary characters become grating and dull if allowed to monopolize too much screen time (Randy and Catalina, I'm looking at you), Pressly's Joy becomes more endearingly addictive the more she is featured. Whether compiling her wedding mix-tape from songs on the radio, or convincing the wedding party at the reception that the small (yet refillable) sodas she ordered them are actually "large, with a little extra walkin'", Joy deals with life in a straight-forward, often hilarious, manner. Her sharp tongue spares no one - least of all her ex-husband, her current husband or her former brother-in-law - yet she is just this side of charming enough to get away with it.

There have been many fictional cliched Southern spitfires, particularly in the movies, but rarely has one displayed such a pragmatic "get-it-done" approach to life as this trailer park Scarlett O'Hara. Yet, for all her hardheaded anti-sentiment, Joy loves her family and friends with unabashed, well, joy. Not content to leave Joy as the one-dimensional bitter ex-wife who wants a share of Earl's newfound lottery winnings, the writers have instead crafted her into a woman with a cutting wit who can be almost as sweet as she can be cruel. "My Name is Earl" is an extremely well-written, well-acted television series, but it is the character of Joy Darville that renders it truly great.

Learn more about this author, Jennifer Beasley.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about TV show reviews: My Name Is Earl?
We want to hear your view. Write now!