Earl Hickey is the kind of person you would cross the street to avoid.

As shown in this new sitcom, he’s the kind of scruffy-looking guy who goes into a convenience store “to pick up a pack of smokes, a couple of scratch-offs and a tall boy at 10 a.m.”

Earl, as played by indie film favorite Jason Lee (“Almost Famous,” “Chasing Amy”), has not led an exemplary life, making his living through petty thievery. But he’s paying the price, as he’s trapped in a loveless marriage to a white-trash blonde (Jamie Pressly) who has given him two children not his own.

His main companion is his equally slothful brother Randy (Ethan Suplee), who sleeps on Earl’s couch, and Catalina (Nadine Valazquez), the maid at the motel where the two brothers end up living.

Then Earl’s life takes an abrupt turn. One of those lottery scratch-offs yields $100,000, and immediately catastrophe strikes.

While recuperating in the hospital, Earl gets a sign. That late-night sage, Carson Daly, expounds on karma, and Earl decides that he must make changes. He drafts a lengthy list of all those whom he has wronged, and sets out to make amends, armed with the small fortune that he has won.

Now, Earl is no deep thinker. But he heads off on the path to redemption in his own bumbling way, with a different beneficiary each episode.

As envisioned by Greg Garcia (who also inexplicably created the putrid “Yes Dear”), “My Name is Earl” is a winning portrait of that TV stereotype, the rogue with the heart of gold. That’s thanks to Lee, who makes Earl likable despite his spotty past.

Slowly, ever so slowly, TV is determining that there’s comedy to be mined in the rural flyover states, that not all sitcoms need to be set in the city or the suburbs. First came the success of comics such as Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy. “My Name is Earl” is a natural next step in this evolution.

This character study is a promising development for those who bemoan the state of TV comedy. With Fox’s “House” the only proven hit in the 9 p.m. Tuesday time slot, NBC has a good chance to nurture “My Name is Earl” and help it grow.