‘Earl’ beats the competition, but don’t get cocky

“My Name Is Earl” had no reason to be sorry Tuesday.

The premiere of the NBC sitcom -- about a scruffy working-class guy who seeks to redeem his past misbehavior -- rounded up a better-than-expected 15.2 million viewers, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. That easily beat the competition, including CBS’ “Big Brother” finale (8.1 million viewers), handing NBC an overall victory for the night.

NBC may want to hold off celebrating, though. Over the years, a number of the network’s Tuesday comedies have started strong and then quickly faded, including “Father of the Pride,” “Hidden Hills” and “Whoopi.”