My name is Earl in HD ROCKS
As if seeing Randy's girlfriend Catalina (played by Nadine Velazquez) wasn't good enough, HDTV viewers of My Name is Earl (self included) got another treat tonight. During the episode Earl's brother Randy holds up the sign in the picture above reading "High Def Rocks!!!" which couldn't be viewed by people watching on non-high def TV's.
While it was tongue in cheek, it was a great example of the extra details you can notice when you've got a bigger wide screen picture and enhanced clarity. If you're not watching in HD, you're not seeing the whole show.
And isn't that the rubberband man from the Staples commercials?
[Thanks to HDBeat reader Paul for being quick with the camera and nabbing a pic]
Check out the full picture as it appeared after the jump.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
El Payo @ Oct 5th 2005 12:15AM
Thank goodness my ElGato EyeTV 500 caught that - I'm about 1/2 way thru the episode.
Very cool.
And yeah, Darnell is the dude from the Staples ads.
Ryuukuro @ Oct 5th 2005 12:46AM
I love this show! The characters are wacky and the stories are ridiculous but unlike some other 1-cam sitcoms everything in Earl seems to fit and the characters are likeable. Far fetched as it is I know I've met some of these characters in real life and I haven't hated them--or at least I was justified in hating them. And I like how they make a distinction between book smarts--which Earl lacks--and cleverness--which Earl has in spades. That's something few television programs seem to grasp.
Staples_emp @ Oct 5th 2005 12:48AM
Pretty cool.
But no, that guy is not from the Staples commercials, he's from the OfficeMax commercials. Staples does the EASY-button commercials.
Tyler Jones @ Oct 5th 2005 12:58AM
that is pretty sweet, i like the easter eggs that they put in different things because it get people to talk anout them and it gives me somethin to do
jason @ Oct 5th 2005 2:02AM
he's the guy from the del taco commercials...
Peter @ Oct 5th 2005 2:08AM
Umm. What do you mean by "couldn't be viewed" by SD spuds? Was it off the screen or was it just blurry?
Ed Arnold @ Oct 5th 2005 11:07AM
Hey CrabMan!!!
Robert Taylor @ Oct 5th 2005 12:23PM
Ironically, the screen cap you posted ISN'T in High Def.
Krumly @ Oct 5th 2005 1:41PM
Peter said, "Umm. What do you mean by "couldn't be viewed" by SD spuds? Was it off the screen or was it just blurry?"
It was off the screen.
Realty Monster @ Oct 5th 2005 10:26PM
So to summarize, you guys spent 1 to 2 thousand dollars for the priveledge of seeing a guy hold up a sign?
Brad @ Oct 6th 2005 1:23AM
I don't think HD is worth the extra money just yet.
Just when I was starting to get burned out on sitcoms, a show like My Name Is Earl comes along and gives me faith.
Jason Lee definately makes the show.
Bubba Mudd @ Jan 16th 2009 4:35PM
HD is great for watching sports on big screens. Even though broadcast TV is only 1080i at best. I love my 52" JVC. Even though it's only 720p/1080i, HD shows are great.
Once broadcast TV goes to 1080p you'll be amazed at sporting events.
DVDs in 1080p are mind blowing. The clarity and detail is well worth the cost. (From watching my friend's Sony 1080p & Blu-ray DVDs)
You don't know what you're missing.
Bill Moran @ Oct 6th 2005 4:57AM
HD not worth it??Have you ever seen a football or baseball game or Discovery HD?I KNOW it would change your tune.
Buzzcut @ Oct 6th 2005 10:41AM
Things that the High Def TiVo have taught me about LOST:
The inignia on Desmond's uniform (looks like a swan) was also tatooed on the shark's fin.
The stuff that Desmond was injecting himself had "the numbers" on the label.
I am telling you, LOST is the killer app for HD. The producers can add another level of detail to the story that just makes it SO COOL.
ZipperSeven @ Oct 6th 2005 10:45AM
Or watching IMAX movies on INHD.
Nate Bruneau @ Oct 6th 2005 9:53PM
I loved this episode, definitely worth watching
Sara @ Oct 7th 2005 10:53AM
This is awesome! I completely overlooked it! just another reason to love Earl.
Jason Anderson @ Oct 7th 2005 9:36PM
LOL, that's so cool. I wish I had HD. :(
Old Man @ Oct 8th 2005 8:06PM
A good friend of mine has a Sharp Aquos LCD HD set with a DirecTV-HD TiVo unit. I've seen many shows, DVD's and regular broadcast TV on that unit and, so far, I'm unimpressed with most HD. If there is ANY rapid motion in the picture, HELLO BLOCKINESS. If there's flame in the picture, forgetaboutit. Sporting events with rapid motion are impossible to watch. When they get over the decoding issues, then HD will hit it stride - with me at least.
Lanny @ Oct 8th 2005 10:50PM
There is a second chance to see the first three episodes of Earl tonight on NBC. The one with "High Def Rocks" is on at 9:30 Eastern.
I'll have to check it out as I've been hearing good things about this new series. Happy to see the sly promotion of High Def in the "Easter Egg." Cool!
Mark Alan Effinger @ Oct 16th 2005 9:33PM
The show is amazing... the characters are right out of Raising Arizona meets Dogma (isn't that another Jason Lee flick?).
And everyone seems a bit familiar... which means I definitely need to look into getting an advanced degree, even if it's at some inoquous internet night school.
As for the HD issues: give it until just after Q1 of this next year, and I believe there will be a lot of happy campers in the HD world. It's coming fast now.
Side note: I had the opportunity to work with a Sony developer on a Scan Doubler, mimicing HDTV back in, yes, 1988-89. It was awesome, but buggy, and cost $25,000 just for the interface box between the TV (or projector) and the source material (usually a Laser Disk... remember those).
So what we have going on now is absolutely phenomenal in comparison, and price issues are moving downward at a rapid clip.
Enjoy!
ME
Johnnie Zhivago @ Oct 29th 2005 4:03PM
I love the guy who plays his brother. He's hilarious! Sure, the plot lines are ridiculous, but so what? This is the rare sitcom where you actually laugh out loud. Kudos to NBC for showing this. Thank you.
Rusty Trumpet @ Nov 1st 2005 11:07AM
"If there is ANY rapid motion in the picture, HELLO BLOCKINESS." That is your friends setup. He needs to have his set adjusted. He should not be seeing any motion blur. I have an older Panasonic 53" HD set and the DTV HD tivo and everything looks supurb. I need to get a DVD player that upconverts to 1080I and I will be in HD heaven.
Suck IT
freestufftimes.com @ Nov 13th 2005 10:29AM
I love that show, as well as the office :)
goialo @ Nov 29th 2005 8:56AM
I've seen many shows, DVD's and regular broadcast TV on that unit and, so far, I'm unimpressed with most HD. If there is ANY rapid motion in the picture, HELLO BLOCKINESS. If there's flame in the picture, forgetaboutit. Sporting events with rapid motion are impossible to watch. When they get over the decoding issues, then HD will hit it stride - with me at least.
Doom @ Feb 11th 2006 3:28PM
The blockiness experienced is a direct result of the TV's unacceptable quality. HDTV signal is crystal clear, don't be fooled by a bad TV. Quality HDTVs that don't show pixelation during motion are still quite expensive 4K+, today's HTDVs are rated as such just because they can process the signal. If you're sceptical, go down to a high end electronics store, ask to see their top of the line TVs, then go back to Best Buy and try not to throw up at what they have for sale.
evileyeTHEBLOCKER @ Mar 17th 2006 5:04AM
I really wish that the Philippines have HD.
it will be better if he have those kind of programming...
Daniel Clausen @ Apr 21st 2006 10:08AM
Old Man,
Those artifacts you are seeing is your friends TV set, not HD. I had a LCD for a couple of weeks and those same problems.
Dan Riley @ Apr 23rd 2006 10:00PM
That's not HD's fault, it's DirecTV. They compress the crap
out of HD to get more channels through the bird. You local
cable outfit will do the same thing. It's breaks
our hearts to know what the pictures really look like when
they leave the transmission site versus what the home viewer
ends up seeing. You should see the beautiful pictures leaving
a sports truck doing a baseball or football game. It's incredible.
Here again, HD DVD and Blue Ray disks
will outshine all broadcast HD TV, and broadcasters
and cable networks will be right back where they started
as second class providers of good looking video.
Quite the opposite of when I started in broadcasting
20 years ago. Too bad.
Dan
Cut @ Jul 4th 2006 6:47PM
It's your idea? No bad...
Brent @ Jul 5th 2006 6:31AM
It's cool...