My Name is Earl Fodder

Michael Rapaport to Guest Star on 'My Name Is Earl'

According to the The Hollywood Report, Michael Rapaport will portray Frank Stump, a previous acquaintance of Earl's (Jason Lee), serving a 20-year sentence for robbery. The two meet up in jail and their relationship picks up where it left off and mayhem and hilarity will surely ensue, coincidentally enough during sweeps. Playing Stump's girlfriend will be Alyssa Milano (as previously reported by this blogger), who will portray Billie Cunningham, whom Earl first meets when she comes to visit her boyfriend, Rapaport. This blogger has visions of Joy (new mom Jaime Pressly), Catalina (the lovely Nadine Velazquez), and Billie (Ms. Milano) engaging in scantily clad and chocolate pudding-coated misadventures. My apologies.

In 1992, Rapaport made his film debut in Zebrahead, and received an Independent Spirit Award nomination, while the film itself won the 1993 Sundance Film Festival's Filmmaker's Trophy. Rapaport most recently starred in the TV comedy, The War at Home, and he previously starred in David E. Kelley's Boston Public.

Mr. Rapaport's film credits include Hitch, Live Free or Die, Twenty Nine Palms, Comic Book Villains, Small Time Crooks, and Bamboozled. Mr. Rapaport has also starred in several movies opposite A-list actors such as Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Men of Honor, John Travolta in Lucky Numbers, and Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Sixth Day.

MNIE Executive Producer and series creator Greg Garcia recently worked with Rapaport on a pilot for CBS called Fugly, starring Nikki Cox. Oddly enough, his character's name in Fugly is Jack Stump, so this has the feel of a tie-in/spin-off. No word on whether or not this is the same character or a cousin or just a typo. Fugly tells the story of three unattractive siblings from North Carolina who use their inheritance money to get elaborate plastic surgery for one in order to strike it rich in Hollywood. In a karmic twist, Billie Cunningham (Alyssa Milano's character in MNIE) is the name of a librarian at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC. Unfortunately, while there is a Camden County (MNIE's locale) in North Carolina, Salisbury is in Rowan County, not Camden.

Interesting Connections - Michael Rapaport is starring in Fugly, starring Nikki Cox, Marissa Winokur, and Jamie Hagan (Do yourself a favor and visit Jamie's website.) Ms. Hagan was in an episode of Las Vegas with Ms. Cox. Ms. Winokur was in Stacked with Pam Anderson. (Pam Anderson was Garcia's original choice for the lead role in Fugly but turned it down to star in Stacked.) Ms. Winokur also was in an episode of Boston Public with Michael Rapaport, and she appeared in an episode of Ms. Cox's short-lived series, Nikki. Michael Rapaport was in Comic Book Villains with Donal Logue and DJ Qualls (who has previously guest starred in MNIE). Mr. Rapaport was in Dr. Dolittle 2 with Eddie Murphy, and he was in Metro with Eddie Murphy and Donal Logue. Mr. Rapaport was also in Hitch with Will Smith, and Bamboozled with Jada Pinkett-Smith, aka Mrs. Will Smith, while Ms. Pinkett-Smith was in The Nutty Professor with Eddie Murphy. Ms. Cox was in The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps with, yup, Eddie Murphy. Ms. Cox and Mr. Rapaport also appeared in Murphy Brown, albeit in different episodes. Ms. Cox also appeared in an episode of Baywatch starring you know who, Pam Anderson. Mr. Rapaport also starred in Deep Blue Sea with Samuel L. Jackson, who was in Pulp Fiction with Mr. Travolta. Mr. Rapaport was also in King of the Jungle with John Leguizamo, who guest-starred in TV Fodder's premier blog of MNIE. Lastly, Mr. Rapaport was in Lucky Numbers with the aforementioned Mr. Travolta and Lisa Kudrow, who starred in TV's Friends, in several episodes of which Mr. Rapaport appeared.

That's it for now. I'm drained.

My Name Is Earl season premiere hits the airwaves with a one hour special on Thursday September 27 at 8/7c.

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Posted by Randy Welk on September 13, 2007 11:46 AM
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