Pop-Culture Sighting of Excel

One of the popular new sitcoms in the USA this year is My Name is Earl. In the January 19, 2006 episode (#1ALJ14, written by J. B. Cook) - there is a funny scene involving Excel.

In the scene, Earl (Jason Lee) has faked his way into an office job in order to get back at a large corporation who burned down Pop's Hot Dog stand. Earl's new boss - a smiling fast talker named Brad has this interaction with Earl.

Brad: You bring up the middle section in Excel. (Earl nods) Then you bring up the Word document from pages 4 through 6. (Earl nods again) Part of this will be networked, so leave the weblinks embedded. (Earl nods) Oh - and put them on a disk for me. Thanks.

Earl: Will do.

Earl (voiceover): Since I had no idea what the hell an "Excel" was, I decided to hide out in the elevator for a while.


Sounds like the same way that many of us began our first job where we had to use Excel. Some fast-talking manager gave us just about that much training in this complex program.

I also thought this episode was cool because a recurring storyline was Pop's Hot Dog Stand. Being a fan of pop culture kitsch, I made sure to stop by the real Tail o' the Pup in Los Angeles back in July 2004. The guy behind the counter even looks like the actor who played Pop in the episode.

My Name is Earl airs in the US on Thursday nights - 9PM Eastern. I doubt that Earl will ever encounter Excel again - but check out Earl's continuing battle to regain karma in this well-written sitcom.