The Flip Side

Giovanni Ribisi in “My Name is Earl”

Last night Giovanni Ribisi reprised his role as Ralph Mariano on “My Name is Earl”.  He’s such a wonderful actor that I barely remember his drama roles while watching his comedy.  And this episode had him running around in his underwear….a lot.  You gotta hand it to an actor who can do that and still keep you interested in the character.

And just to update all of you Giovanni fans out there, I found this on imdb.  Looks like he’s working on a really cool movie called “The Other Side”.  Also in the movie are Katie Holmes, Jason Lee (the aforementioned Earl), Woody Harrelson, Eddie Izzard, Alanis Morissette, and Dave Matthews.  Sounds like a fascinating cast.  Here’s the synopsis:

In the spirit of “Beetlejuice”, “Alice in Wonderland”, “Amelie”, and “A Very Long Engagement” - with a bit of “Moulin Rouge” thrown in for good measure, “The Other Side” is a modern-day fairy tale that gives new meaning to the old notion: “Things aren’t always what they seem.” It’s an otherworldly comedy carefully juxtaposing the touching and human with astonishing characters and irreverent humor which takes place in a world that’s bizarre and twisted - replacing conventional metaphors with elements of the surreal. Written by William Morris Independent

Eddie Steeples

I know I’m several days late on this, but I couldn’t let it pass.  I watched “My Name is Earl” Thursday night (as I do every week).  It was a cute episode.  Each main character used their imagination to write a little story.  All of them were good but I had to comment on Darnell’s.  He sang a song about killing the crabs at The Crab Shack called “Please Respect the Meat”.  It was hilarious; a nice little song and dance number.  Usually, Jaime Pressley and Jason Lee get most of the attention on this show (they are both wonderful), but Eddie Steeples is really an integral part of the show and the voice of reason in a world with precious little.  Here’s to Eddie and all that he brings to this great comedy.

Sidekicks are the crucial comedic element in so many television shows and movies.  They have the terrific reactions and are to the hero what you or I might be to the hero;  frightened, reluctant, incredulous, and sometimes, dead-weight.  I’ve listed just a few of my favorite sidekicks here though I welcome all suggestions as I am absolutely certain I have neglected to mention several wonderful sidekicks.

Sock from “Reaper” played by Tyler Labine

Sam’s sidekcik played by Brett Harrison

Tyler has imdb credits back to 1991 (mostly tv) so he’s been around awhile (and I thought I recognized him).

Sam and Sock together in the pilot episode

Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) (left) as Nicholas Angel’s (Simon Pegg) sidekick in “Hot Fuzz”

Nick has been around longer but with fewer roles.  However, I think he’s got some momentum and we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the future.

Gus (Dule Hill) as Shawn Spencer’s (James Roday) sidekick on “Psyche”

Randy (Ethan Suplee) as Earl’s (Jason Lee) sidekick on “My Name is Earl”

Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell) as Michael Weston’s (Jeffrey Donovan) sidekick on “Burn Notice”.

I can’t say enough about Bruce Campbell’s sidekick abilities.  They are top-o-the-line.  In fact, they are so good he should probably have his own series.

Smokey (Chris Tucker) as Craig’s (Ice Cube) sidekick in “Friday”.  Wow, Smokey is absolutely one of the best ever.

Niles (David Hyde Pierce) as Frasier’s (Kelsey Grammer) sidekick on “Frasier”.  Technically, Niles is his brother but he’s still one of the greatest sidekicks of all time.

Yes, I do believe that the era of the sidekick is upon us.

Giovanni Ribisi

Hate to say it, but I don’t know too much about this actor.  I’ve seen him in dozens of films (“Gone in 60 Seconds”, “Saving Private Ryan”) and tv roles and more recently on “My Name is Earl”.  I also read that he signed on with Jason Lee for a comedy film called “The Other Side”.   He must be one of the more private actors (again, that’s fine with me).  I just wanted to point out that he has quite a body of work and I know (I’m absolutely certain) that you, too, have seen him all over the place.  And although he’s not tabloid fodder or in the news much, he’s got a lot of work going on (5 films in production at the moment) and we’ll be seeing a lot more of him.  Mr. Ribisi apparently keeps his head low and his nose clean and I just wanted to recognize him for great work, lots of fine roles, and not being a screw up.  (That in itself is more than we can say for many).  Thanks Giovanni, here’s to you and many more juicy roles.  Prost!