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My Name Is Earl has just shut down production, because its star, Jason Lee, has come down with a highly contagious case of adult chickenpox:

"Jason Lee, if you haven't heard, has the chickenpox," Kevin Reilly, president of NBC Entertainment, announced Sunday at the Television Critics Association meeting in Pasadena. "Jason is actually quite sick and is going to be out of the show for about two or three weeks."

We wish Lee a speedy recovery. The diagnosis is so unusual, however, we can't help but wonder if perhaps there isn't some biblical-type curse shit going down on perpetually doomed network NBC. While it may seem slightly premature to make fire and brimstone proclamations based on a single case of chickenpox, we shall remain on high alert for any further plague-like acts of divine intervention against the embattled network; say, the entire cast of Four Kings being devoured by a pack of feral mountain lions who happen to wander into the studio during a live taping.