My Name Is Earl: Reading Is a Fundamental Case

"Reading Is a Fundamental Case" is the twelfth episode of season four of the comedy series My Name Is Earl. It was directed by Tamra Davis and written by Hilary Winston. It first aired on NBC on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 at 8:00 pm. In this episode, Earl tries to make up for once faking his own death in order to get out of dating a clingy girlfriend named Natalie Duckworth. After revealing to her that he is actually alive, sets out to improve Natalie's sense of self worth. Unfortunately, Natalie's current boyfriend, Dirk, decides to take Earl's cue and fakes his own death as well in order to get out of the relationship.