Jason Lee To Guest Star On Raising Hope

It seemed destined to happen but who could predict it would be so soon? I am of course referring to the news that Jason Lee is set to guest star in Fox’s excellent new comedy series Raising Hope.

Fox made the announcement today, stating that the My Name is Earl star will be appearing on Raising Hope in the upcoming “Burt Rocks” episode of the series. Here’s what Fox said of Lee’s role in the episode.

Lee will play SMOKEY DANIELS, a washed-up rock star who is hired as the lead act at “Grocery-Palooza,” a rock concert at the supermarket where SABRINA (Shannon Woodward) works. Smokey was once BURT’s (Garret Dillahunt) musical idol, and Burt hopes to relive his rock-star years by playing backup for him at the concert.

Do I see a mustache in Lee’s future? He did sport one when he starred in Greg Garcia’s My Name Is Earl but as I recall, he was going sans facial hair on his TNT series Memphis Beat. Still, this being a reunion for Lee and Garcia (who also happens to be the creator of Raising Hope), I’m thinking a mustache may be part of the ensemble. Or maybe I'm just hearing words like "Burt" and "Smokey" thrown around and all I can think is mustache. Either way, Lee’s appearance will definitely be a must-see.

Fox also released the following information about a double-episode Raising Hope has coming up next week…

“In the one-hour “Happy Halloween/Family Secrets” episode of RAISING HOPE, airing Tuesday, Oct. 26 (9:01-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX, SABRINA’s (Shannon Woodward) boyfriend can’t make it to the deli guy’s Halloween party, so JIMMY (Lucas Neff) offers to put on his costume and go in his place. VIRGINIA (Martha Plimpton) takes MAW MAW (Cloris Leachman), who is dressed as a cat, trick-or-treating while BURT (Garret Dillahunt) plots ways to play tricks on Jimmy. Meanwhile, when a box containing videos of Hope’s mother arrives from prison, Jimmy must decide whether or not to let HOPE see them. Virginia explains that children need to be protected from the truth, leading Jimmy to question what exactly his parents have been keeping from him.”

Raising Hope airs on Tuesdays at 9/8c on Fox.

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.