June 26 (Bloomberg) -- Dumb television isn't just for the dense. DTV has always claimed fans well up the IQ chain, including Nobel laureate William Faulkner, who religiously watched ``Car 54, Where Are You?,'' the early 1960s comedy featuring a couple of bumbling New York cops named Toody and Muldoon.

One wonders what Faulkner would make of ``My Name Is Earl,'' a 30-minute sitcom that makes ``Car 54'' seem like Shakespeare.

The show, which airs Thursday nights on NBC, had its debut in 2005 and has an Emmy under its belt, lots of air in its head and a cadre of loyal fans. It stars Jason Lee as Earl J. Hickey, a former lowlife who, after winning the lottery, decides to atone for a long list of past transgressions.

Earl is joined by his brother Randy (Ethan Suplee); a maid/stripper named Catalina (Nadine Velazquez); Darnell (Eddie Steeples), a crab shack/beer-joint owner; and Joy (Jaime Pressly), Earl's grasping ex.

Add up their IQs and you might get a respectable single- game bowling score. Yet these characters are, in their own humble ways, struggling to be virtuous -- or at least successful.

Earl has developed a powerful allegiance to Karma, as he humorously understands the concept. (He called himself ``Karma's Bitch'' in an early episode.) His other priorities are becoming a ``real adult'' and getting a GED.

Beer Power

But Earl remains a creature of his environment, the kind where homes are on wheels and cars are on cinderblocks. It's also a place where the humor is solidly middle-school, like the episode in which Earl gets hit in the groin by a baseball.

Blows below the belt, sexual innuendo and pro-level beer drinking do have their charms, of course. And Earl does have a philosophical bent, examples of which are collected on the show's Web site: ``Never underestimate the power of confidence. And never underestimate 15 beers.''

``My Name Is Earl'' is profoundly therapeutic. No matter how dense one might feel at show's start, by the end you feel like a relative genius.

Dumbness at this level requires true talent. ``Earl'' is the work of intelligent and highly accomplished people, including creator/writer/producer Greg Garcia (``Yes, Dear'') and co-producer Marc Buckland (``Medical Investigation'').

The show also features legendary music from the Band, the Who, the Doors, Bob Marley, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton and, of course, Lynyrd Skynyrd. In Earl-land, after all, hands immediately cover hearts at the first strains of ``Freebird.''

If, or perhaps when, a DTV Hall of Fame is established, ``Earl'' will hold an honored place, right alongside Toody and Muldoon.

(Dave Shiflett is a critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Dave Shiflett at dshifl@aol.com.

Last Updated: June 26, 2007 00:03 EDT