Tonight is a special night. It marks the return of the first show that I actually care about which was stalled by the strike.

My Name is Earl is finally new again tonight with a special one-hour episode, entitled “I Won’t Die With a Little Help From My Friends”. Here’s the official description…

In the wake of being hit by a car, Earl slips into a coma and spirals into a bizarro sitcom world that includes an appearance by none other than Paris Hilton (appearing as herself). Meanwhile, the Camden County gang goes to extreme efforts to save Earl’s life. NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker provides a season recap.

I know that Scrubs did something very similar to the switching to sitcom format a while back. Hopefully this will be a fresh approach.

Earl is followed by four Office repeats: “Local Ad”, “Branch Wars”, “Survivor Man” and “The Deposition”.

Next week, NBC’s Thursday lineup is all new, with fresh episodes of Earl, 30 Rock, Office, Scrubs and ER.