The Subtle Pessimism of Earl

My Name is Earl is supposedly a show based around a (flawed)conception of Karma; or as the show puts it "Do good things and good things happen; do bad things and bad things happen." Therefore the show seems appropriately upbeat. But this is only a superficial reading of the television program.

Despite the nobleness of Earl's mission to right the wrongs he has committed, it is never easy for him, and usually costs him more trouble than he caused in that particular instance. Therefore, in essence, My Name is Earl is really a show about a different concept: that no good deed goes unpunished. A proper lesson for our cynical/realist age.