Comedy
Karma is a funny thing. Just ask Earl who's learning the hard way that when you do something bad, it has a way of coming back and biting you in the ass! Hoping to turn his life around, Earl's got a lengthy list of detestable deeds to make up for.
96 listed episodes across 4 seasons. Air dates are provided by TVmaze and can change.
Today is the first day of the rest of Earl Hickey's life. After coming into a $100,000 scratch-off lottery ticket and losing it just as fast upon being hit by a car, Earl has an epiphany in the hospital--to make up for all the terrible things he's done in the past. With his brother Randy and a motel maid named Catalina, Earl writes up a list of every misdeed he was a part of. Earl sets out to do just that, starting with number 64--Kenny James, a boy he picked on in elementary school.
Earl tries to make amends with Donny, an intimidating thug who spent two years in jail for a robbery Earl committed. It turns out the only way Earl can make it up to him is by helping Donny's mom quit smoking. Meanwhile, Joy discovers she's the beneficiary of Earl's will and tries to kill him.
Back in their high school days, Earl ruined Randy's chance to score a touchdown during a key football game. Now Earl must figure out a way to make things right.
When Earl met a tough biker chick at a Halloween party, it looked like a match made in heaven, but when the costumes came off, the mismatch became apparent and Earl took drastic measures to get out of the relationship. Now, years later, Earl must find a way to make amends for deceiving the girl.
Earl takes Catalina's advice to teach English as a second language in order to cross "Made fun of people with accents" off his karma list. When an old friend Ralph is released from prison, Earl tries to teach him about karma, but Ralph kidnaps Randy to try to get his hands on Earl's lottery winnings.
In order to replace a fancy figurine that he broke, Earl lends a hand to help Joy's former adversary and her daughter win a mother/daughter beauty pageant. However, Joy enters the pageant also with her "dead" mother trying to win that same figurine, hoping to trade it for a hot tub.
Earl attempts to help Scott get over his preoccupation with golf, an obsession caused when he and Randy started fixing Scott's golf game to get free beer. But after becoming so thoroughly entangled in Scott's personal life that he drives Randy away, Earl realizes that he may be the one with the obsession.
Earl talks Joy into letting him set up a new wedding with Darnell after ruining their last one, but he only makes things worse by sleeping with her before the wedding.
Earl tries to cross off number four on his list, "blew dad's chance to be elected mayor". Four years earlier, Carl Hickey ran for mayor to redirect a proposed airplane traffic route over his house and away from the wealthy part of town. Earl unfortunately ruined any chance of his father winning when caught on tape assaulting a police officer. Earl must now help his father get elected and mend his relationship with his father.
As the holiday season comes under way a few secrets are exposed when Earl attempts to cross number 74 off of his list: "Always ruined Joy's Christmas." Earl, Randy and Catalina enter a radio contest to win a brand new car for Joy to make up for all of the thoughtless Christmas presents Earl gave her while they were married. While Randy and Catalina vie over the car, Earl finds out that Joy's parents believe that he's still their son-in-law and that he's just returned from the war in Iraq. Joy is afraid to tell her father, an alleged racist, that she is now married to Darnell, so Earl plays the part, afraid of ruining another one of her Chris…
When trying to enroll her children into the Right Choice Ranch for troubled youth, Joy is denied enrollment because of a barn burning incident at the hands of a younger Earl. Earl, Randy and Catalina travel to the camp to make amends for the barn burning by building a pen for the camp's ostrich. Earl learns the real reason behind the barn burning incident and decides that every incident on his list after the fire should be shared by Randy.
Earl works as a fast food clerk for a week for a man he stole a wallet from. While he's there, he discovers that his new boss seems to be immune from bad karma--he's a total jerk but lives a charmed life.
Earl crosses another number off the list when he returns Pop's Wiener Hot Dog cart he and Ralph stole in their youth. The good deed does not last long as Ralph, who works for a competing franchise sets fire to Pop's cart. Earl now must set things right with a bizarre plan while recruiting Randy, Joy, Catalina and Darnell to assist him.
Earl tackles number 18 on his list when one of his old friends is arrested. Remembering that he told an inappropriate story at his birthday party, he must give him one great day to make up the terrible one before he was sent to prison.
Earl takes his car troubles as a sign that it is time for him to redeem himself for a long run of stealing gas out of a complete stranger's car.
Earl is nervous about returning a laptop computer he stole from a college professor, mostly because he is uncomfortable around smart people. When the professor turns out to be a beautiful woman, he feels even more ill at ease, until she flatters him and asks him to speak about his list in front of her class. Meanwhile, Randy experiences fraternity life and absolutely loves it.
Earl tries to make up for not paying taxes his whole life. Unfortunately, the Government is not interested in his money, so he has to figure out another way to pay the money back.
It's Mother's Day again when Earl remembers that he has never given his mother a Mother's Day gift. Just as he and Randy are about to finish carrying out his long overdue gift, his mother decides her repayment should include Earl doing something for his father.
When Earl is attempting to cross number 24 ("Stole a red 'Take-a-number' machine") off his list, Randy tries to get Earl to back down by trying to make him remember, through a flashback, how they got the machine around New Year's Eve 1999. Darnell convinces the gang to believe that Y2K will signal the end of the world and they, happily, will be the last people on Earth.
Earl decides to cross off "made a kid scared of the Boogeyman" from his list. Earl soon discovers just what kind of lasting affect he had on the little boy.
The girl Earl dumped for Joy years earlier has become a bounty hunter and tries to track Joy down. Earl feels responsible for the mess, until Joy tells him how they really hooked up.
Earl tackles no. 127 on his list by making amends for pilfering a police officer's badge. When he discovers that the theft resulted in the cop's demotion, he tries to get the officer reinstated.
Earl attempts to cross out number 147 on his list, "shot Gwen Waters with a BB Gun". To make things right he must reunite Gwen with her estranged father, which Earl finds increasingly difficult.
Earl decides to cross off the first number on his Karma list, "stole ten dollars from a guy at the Camden Market". Earl to his dismay finds out that he owes much more than ten dollars, in fact he must surrender all his lotto winnings. Earl now ponders when Karma is going to help him with his misfortunes.
Earl helps Joy try to get rid of a stolen delivery truck, which becomes harder when they discover that someone is still in the back of the truck.
Earl and Randy ask Catalina to return to her old job at the strip club, but they don't tell her that they need her to do it so that the club's owner will pay for Joy's bail.
Earl makes up for teasing a mustached girl in school, and it forces him to confront his fear of taking his shirt off in public.
Randy has a crush on the the next woman on Earl's list, so he pretends to be a cat lover. But based on Randy's past experiences as a poser, Earl knows that this one will end badly.
Earl has to get his old band back together to take care of an elderly man on his list. But it only brings out a nasty secret which ultimately forces Earl to marry Ralph's mom.
Earl wants to make amends to an angry, bitter trailer park manager for playing a trick on her. But the trick caused her to change her life for the better, and the apology makes her even angrier than she ever was.
Earl promises to help a man from the trailer park win the girl of his dreams, but he falls for her instead. And Joy gets mad at Darnell when she learns that he's in the Witness Protection Program.
Earl makes up for stealing an air conditioner from a stoner and winds up living on a commune for a week. The experience makes him environmentally conscious, which only frustrates him even more.
Earl tries to make Kenny more masculine at his request, but he just winds up getting them addicted to gambling. His addiction causes Catalina to be deported, right before Randy was going to declare his love for her.
Earl and Randy go to Mexico to bring Catalina back and hopefully give Randy a chance to win her heart, but Earl's fear of flying causes unforeseen problems.
Earl inadvertently agrees to marry Catalina so that she can return to the U.S., which breaks Randy's heart.
The gang fondly watches an episode of "Cops" in which they were featured.
Earl tries to return a set of precious silverware he stole from the public library. But when he discovers that it's gone, Randy, Joy and Crabman each reveal their own secrets about the whereabouts.
A guilty conscience forces Earl to have a funeral for the guy he and Joy found in the truck Joy stole. Unfortunately, however, he can't seem to find anyone who knew him.
While Earl tries to help a former French foreign exchange student on his list, Randy finally declares his true love for Catalina. Catalina says she loves him too, but she really doesn't--she just doesn't want to hurt his feelings.
Earl tries to correct a past wrong he did to Joy's half-sister, who is trying to become a professional wrestler and can't overcome her life-long hatred of Joy.
Earl tries to celebrate his good deeds at his birthday party, but his friends' reactions only makes him realize that he still has a long way to go to on his list.
We flashback to around the time when Earl Jr. was born, and as we do this, we witness Earl's first reactions to his second-born illegitimate child.
Earl and Randy work to cross #29 off of the "Harrassed a Reporter" list; meanwhile, Randy embraces the true power of karma and the media as a way to get out of his brother's shadow.
Camden County's well-known businessman Richard Chubby dies. His son Little Chubby takes his place. Like his father, Little Chubby also had a terrible demeanor, until an "unfortunate accident" caused by Earl several years ago. Earl wants to cross Little Chubby off his list, but when he goes about helping him, it only turns out for the worse.
Earl gets a taste of what it's like to teach juvenile delinquents when he asks his old high school teachers to help him get his G.E.D..
Earl and Randy get jobs in the shipping department at an appliance store. But Earl really wants to work in the front as a salesman, which gets him in hot water with both his fellow shipping workers and the salesmen.
Earl is a character witness for Joy's trial, but he soon learns that the only way Joy will get out of a conviction and her third strike is to falsely confess to the crime himself.
Earl begins to serve his prison sentence. While he's there, he runs into Sonny, who teaches Earl the best way to go unnoticed. Meanwhile, Joy and Darnell are forced to take care of Randy while Earl is gone.
Earl begins his prison sentence. Meanwhile, Joy tries to repay Earl by taking care of Randy, who is struggling to adjust, and a prison bully is looking for Earl.
The warden offers Earl a month off his sentence if he can negotiate a truce between the African-American gang and the Latino gang. But during the negotiations, he learns that the the two leaders are actually in love.
Earl runs into his old roommate Frank, who is in prison for a bank robbery that Earl and Randy were supposed to help with. However, Earl missed the robbery at the last minute because he married Joy the night before.
While Earl struggles to write a paper for his prison creative writing class, Randy, Joy, Darnell, and Catalina have no trouble coming up with creative story ideas of their own.
Earl tries to get Frank back together with his girlfriend after she breaks up with him, but he has second thoughts when he discovers that she'd be better off without him. Meanwhile Catalina gets a compromising cell phone photo of Joy.
While enjoying TV time in prison, Earl and Randy are excited when they see that the show "Cops" is filming in Camden County.
Randy and the prisoners watch a second episode of "Cops," which features the Camden County Police responding to a series of disturbances on the first 4th of July after 9/11.
Earl is supposed to set up a "scared straight" lecture for school kids, until he gets in a fight with Randy over who's taking care of whom. Meanwhile, Joy tries to induce labor.
Earl and Randy are teamed up against their will to catch Frank, who escaped from a prison van under Randy's watch. Joy and her sister fight over how Joy's baby will be born.
The warden promises to take the last six months off of Earl's sentence if he helps him out of one final jam. It ultimately will require him to spend the remainder of his lottery winnings on putting on a prom in the prison.
The warden reneges on his promise to Earl to grant an early release, so Earl launches a plan to escape from prison.
Earl is out of prison, but he and Randy are broke and homeless. So when he sees Ralph living the good life doing bad things, he declares that there is no karma and throws away the list.
Earl is in a coma after being hit by a car. Randy steals an ambulance to get him to the hospital, but getting there proves to be difficult and complicated.
Nothing can get Earl out of his coma, so Randy turns to a young faith healer from their past. However, the boy says that he no longer heals people because he discovered how Earl lived his life after he "healed" him the first time.
Randy discovers that crossing items off Earl's list improves his condition, but the first item he chooses, returning a stolen motorcycle, brings back a frightening memory from Randy and Earl's past that Randy had forgotten.
The next item that Randy tries to cross off of Earl's list involves ruining their parents' vacation--by leaving a duffel bag full of marijuana they found in the bed of their truck at their parents' house, only to have them find it.
Earl is still in a coma but released from the hospital, and Randy finds a way to get him to cross an item off the list by helping out a pair of paraplegic siblings.
Now that Earl is out of his coma, he sets out to find his true love, Billie. However, finding her is difficult, and he discovers that she has several other suitors trying to get her.
Billie starts her own list, and she and Earl help out a grocery store bagger whom they share on their lists. However, Earl soon discovers that Billie doesn't completely understand the concept of karma and The List.
Earl discovers that helping the women he wronged on his list causes karma to improve his marriage to Billie.
When Earl finds out that making up for all the bad things he did to women changes Billie's behavior to the good, he picks the worst thing he ever did to women on his list. Billie wants him to choose between her and his list. When he picks the list, she steals it and starts un-doing the items he has already accomplished.
When Earl discovers that a dying kid whose wish he ruined years earlier is still alive, he promises to help him make a movie.
While working on the list, Earl uncovers a one-night stand from 1985 between his mom and their old neighbor. When Earl's dad finds out, he moves in with Earl and vows to get revenge.
Earl gives Joy a hot tub he found on the side of the road to cross an item off his list. However, Joy suffers an infection, and Crabman quarantines her in the trailer. As a result, Earl must perform Joy's daily chores.
Earl and Randy make amends for a depressed elderly man whose RV they stole years earlier. Their efforts fire him up enough that the man now wants to take revenge on another man who left him on the front line during the Korean War.
Earl needs to make up for sleeping with local stuntman's girlfriend. Joy gets carjacked and feels the need to buy a gun.
Earl makes some great personal sacrifices to help Randy realize his dream of going to cheerleading camp, and Joy is upset because her son finds Catalina sexier than her.
Earl finds out that he is no longer covered by the criminal code of ethics when someone steals Randy's birthday present from him. When he learns that the law of the underworld no longer protects him, Earl struggles with the idea of going to the police, despite Joy's protests that snitches are the lowest of the low.
Earl has a chance to cross two items off his list by throwing Joy's boys a Halloween party, and getting Randy a "little brother"--Catalina's nephew. But both could fail because everyone thinks Catalina's nephew is possessed.
Earl discovers that the apparent psychopath who has moved in next door to him and Randy at the hotel is actually a guy from his past who is on the list.
Earl reminisces about his and Joy's near-disastrous first wedding anniversary party, in which Earl finds out that Joy slept with Earl's cousin who is better than him at everything.
A series of tornadoes hitting Camden County aren't Earl's biggest concern when he loses his list. A wild ride in a boat causes Randy to think he's invulnerable and he ponders how he should use his newfound power. Joy and Darnell argue over who is the smart member of the couple. Catalina and Patty have a religious awakening.
Earl and Randy discover that an old friend is living in the woods in a Bookmobile they stole years earlier, and that he has gone completely crazy.
When Earl tries to make amends to a man that he conned out of $100, he discovers that Joy and her friends are still conning him.
Earl tries to help his old babysitter, whom he got pregnant by poking holes in her condom, by whipping her deadbeat son into shape. However, Randy gets mad at Earl when he recognizes the similarities between the man and himself.
Earl tries to get Joy a spot on a reality show starring Erik Estrada. However, he only causes great embarrassment, and accidentally gets Darnell's Witness Protection location revealed.
With Darnell's identity compromised, the Turners receive a new Witness Protection identity as a Jewish family. But what will they do with Joy gets a second chance to appear on "Estrada or Nada?"
When Randy wins the lottery, he decides to create a list item for himself. Meanwhile, Joy is dissatisfied with her family's Witness Protection identities and locations.
Earl visits Joy at her new Witness Protection location to return Mr. Turtle to Darnell, and stays to help her make new friends. Meanwhile, Randy makes a new "friend" while Earl is gone.
Darnell's father uses Earl and Randy to track Darnell down and tell him that he can get his old identity back if he agrees to do one more top secret job for The Agency.
Earl makes amends to an astronaut on his list who runs a space academy, but in the process discovers that he's a fraud. However, the man he's posing turns out to be no better than the impostor.
Earl tries to make amends to Camden's "Witch Lady," which only sparks her anger and causes her to hold everyone who's wronged her in the past hostage in her basement.
Randy finds out that Joy was his first childhood crush, and that Earl went behind his back for selfish reasons to break them up.
Earl tries to help a man he bullied in grade school, but hides his true identity because the man has become a scary bodybuilder. Meanwhile, Randy begins taking shark adrenaline so that he can finally stand up to Joy.
Earl's efforts to help a reverend who is on his list multiple times drive the reverend back to his old life of crime, while Joy risks getting her third strike when she hits Catalina with a riding lawn mower.
The investigative television show "Inside Probe" looks into the disappearance of the owner of the Crab Shack.
Part 2 of the "Inside Probe" investigation of the owner of the Crab Shack's disappearance uncovers surprising new revelations.
Joy tells Earl that Little Chubby is Dodge's father, and Little Chubby makes Earl's life Hell after he tells him the news.
Show and episode information provided by TVmaze ↗. Sources & Credits.
