"My Name Is" Jeff, and I'll be recapping your show tonight

Though the New York Times reported that the networks’ promos for scripted shows returning post-strike are all warm and fuzzy (“Far from going negative, many of the post-strike commercials take a triumphant tone, seeking to play off the affection that most viewers feel for their favorite shows”), the folks over at “My Name is Earl” decided “screw that” and even got NBC CEO Jeff Zucker to play along.

When “Earl” returns on April 3, it will be preceded by a “Previously on…” recap provided by Zucker himself, mock-mocking the writers: “Earl gets hit by a car, just like he did in the pilot episode,” Zucker explains. “Writers refer to that as a ‘callback.’ I call it getting paid twice for writing the same thing.”