Sweet Johnny is the 5th episode of Season 4 of My Name Is Earl, and the 74th episode overall. Earl needs to make up for sleeping with local stuntman's girlfriend. Joy gets carjacked and feels the need to buy a gun.
Episode guide[]
Joy is driving along when a man jumps in to her car when she stops. He threatens Joy at gunpoint and forces her to get out of the car. Joy does but gets her hand stuck in the door and has to run along with her car. Meanwhile Earl and Randy are drinking beer on the back of Earl’s car. Randy explains that Willie told him that tearing the sticker off a beer bottle in one piece means you’re not a virgin. Earl tries it and it works but it doesn't work for Randy. Then Joy’s car goes past, she gets her hand out of the door and chases after the car. Randy remarks it was the best stunt he seen since Sweet Johnny the local daredevil. Earl used to give Johnny ideas for dangerous stunts so he could have sex with his girlfriend Sheila. This carried on until they felt bad for putting Johnny though so much pain and decided to stop.
Earl hasn't heard from Johnny in a while, but finds him still living in the same house. Johnny is pleased to see Earl, and tells him about his next stunt, where he plans to attach two weather balloons to a chair, fly in to the sky and use a parachute to come back down. When Earl explains to him that he slept with Shelia, Johnny gets angry and attacks Earl with his staple gun. Earl runs off so Johnny can calm down. Meanwhile, Darnell finds out that Joy has bought a gun, and is not happy, but Joy reminds him that they would still have a car if she had one earlier. Earl goes to see Johnny the next day to talk about the day before. Johnny says that yesterday he was with Shelia picking up helium for his stunt, which he explains to Earl again. When Earl asks if Johnny remembers him telling him about sleeping with Shelia, Johnny got mad and shot Earl with his staple gun again.
A bigger-assed Sheila encourages Earl to "take a squeeze"
Confused, Earl goes to find Shelia the next day, and finds her ass had tripled in size. It had become so fat that it got stuck between two cars. She tells him that Johnny fell over and banged his head, causing him to think the same day was repeating. Shelia stayed with him after the accident but left him because the accident happened the same summer "Livin' La Vida Loca" became popular, and couldn't stand him singing the song over and over. When she finds out thatEarl tried to tell Johnny about their affair, she is not happy, and leaves to continue her job. At the Crab Shack, Joy tells Darnell she doesn't care what he thought about guns, and Randy still can't get the sticker of a beer bottle. Earl is having trouble figuring out how to make up to Johnny in one day. Catalina suggests skipping the item but Earl wants to finish The List. So, the next day, he goes to Johnny’s house wearing face protection, and tells Johnny about his brain damage. He doesn't believe Earl and goes to find Shelia, but when he sees her ass, he realizes Earl was right and rushes back to his house to take some sleeping pills.
The next day, Joy is outraged when she discovers that Darnell has traded her gun to the cops for the "guns for ham day". Meanwhile, Earl carries out everything that happened yesterday with Johnny. This time, he brings a crow bar to get to Johnny’s sleeping pills before he does, and calms him down by singing Livin' La Vida Loca. Johnny tells Earl he could help him by getting him to do his stunt, so Earl gets up to call the Crab Shack but Johnny falls asleep before he got though. The next day, Earl carries out the same plan one more time, and finally Johnny is ready to do his stunt. Earl is about to cross Johnny off his list, when he notices the parachute under the van. Earl runs to give it to Johnny, but he says he doesn't want to live anymore after seeing Shelia’s ass, so cuts the rope. Earl tries to hold him down but gets pulled into the air. Randy finally gets the sticker of a beer bottle when he sees and screams. Joy tells Darnell if he hadn't given away her gun she could have shot the balloon to help, and tells him to admit they might be better off having a gun. Darnell eventually agrees, and Joy reveals she had bought another gun and shoots the balloon, bringing Earl and Johnny back to the ground.
Johnny doesn't remember anything when he wakes up after hitting the ground, and still didn't remember the next day. Earl realises what he had done was selfish, as he was only trying to make himself feel better, so decides to leave Johnny on the list permanently.
Notes[]
- During the montage of Sweet Johnny recovering from his various injuries, in one shot Sweet Johnny is shown to have teeth missing (in that actor David Arquette has some of his teeth blacked out), when in the next shot Sweet Johnny has all of his teeth back, with no noticeable change in his biteline or dentures installed.
- The details of Sweet Johnny's brain trauma refers to a common misconception of anterograde amnesia. In reality, people suffering from anterograde amnesia are only able to remember information that they are processing at the moment. In other words, once someone with anterograde amnesia stops thinking about something, such as what they had for breakfast, that information is lost.
- Sheila says the accident happened 10 years ago, when the song "Livin' La Vida Loca" was big. The song was released in 1999, placing this episode in 2009.
Flashbacks[]
List[]
- Introduced in this episode
- #7 Slept with SJ's GF (SJ = Sweet Johnny, GF = girlfriend)
This episode marks the first time Earl has circled something on his list to keep instead of crossing it off (but not the first time he decides to leave an item on permanently).
Featured music[]
- "Love Hurts" by Nazareth (Johnny does his stunts)
- "Round and Round" by Ratt (Earl keeps trying to help Johnny)
- "Living la Vida Loca" sung by Jason Lee (Earl soothes Johnny)
Memorable quotes[]
- Joy: You're steppin' on my first amendment rights.
- Darnell: Freedom of speech is the first amendment.
- Joy: (holding up gun) And nothin' speaks louder than this.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Jason Lee as Earl Hickey
- Ethan Suplee as Randy Hickey
- Jaime Pressly as Joy Turner
- Nadine Velazquez as Catalina Aruca
- Eddie Steeples as Darnell Turner
Guest starring[]
- David Arquette as Sweet Johnny
- Katy Mixon as Sheila
- Hemky Madera as Carjacker
- Andy Siegel as Spectator Paul
 < Season 3
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My Name is Earl Season 4 |
| ||||||
| #01 | The Magic Hour | #08 | Little Bad Voodoo Brother | #15 | Darnell Outed (Part 1) | #22 | Pinky | |
| #02 | Monkeys Take a Bath | #09 | Sold a Guy a Lemon Car | #16 | Darnell Outed (Part 2) | #23 | Bullies | |
| #03 | Joy in a Bubble | #10 | Earl and Joy's Anniversary | #17 | Randy's List Item | #24 | Gospel | |
| #04 | Stole an RV | #11 | Nature's Game Show | #18 | Friends With Benefits | #25 | Inside Probe (Part 1) | |
| #05 | Sweet Johnny | #12 | Reading is a Fundamental Case | #19 | My Name is Alias | #26 | Inside Probe (Part 2) | |
| #06 | We've Got Spirit | #13 | Orphan Earl | #20 | Chaz Dalton's Space Academy | #27 | Dodge's Dad | |
| #07 | Quit Your Snitchin' | #14 | Got the Babysitter Pregnant | #21 | Witch Lady | |||