Episode 412 * : Life in the Faust Lane Earl sells his soul to the Devil for a collectible mug that becomes more important to him than his job , family , or friends . Everyone is fed up with Earl and leaves him . Lonely , Earl realizes that people mean more to him than objects , and he discovers a loophole that puts him out of the deal with the devil . Story . The Sinclair Family and Roy Hess enjoy a fun night of playing board games , and Earl Sinclair is happier than usual , feeling thankful for his family and everything he has . As he is about to get ready for bed he realises that he had so much fun that he didn ' t even watch TV , and decides to watch a little bit of television . He watches a little bit of a few shows about rich people , and soon feels that he needs what the rich people have . While watching the " Dino - Shopping Network " , he sees Cap ' n Willie , a mug from the Fernhill Mint company , being advertised , and hears on the TV that having one is the key to happiness . It ' s an exclusive item , and only a select few callers will get one , so Earl hurries to order one , only for the operator to hang up as soon as he says his name is Earl Sinclair . He wants one so badly that he says out loud that he ' d sell his soul for one , and then the devil appears to make a deal . Earl sells his soul and gets the mug . He shows it to his friends at work , and they are impressed with it . B . P . Richfield orders him to come to his trailer . Earl shows Richfield the mug , stating that he ' s entitled to have possessions , and Richfield agrees that there ' s nothing that he can do about that ( legally ) . Richfield reveals to Earl that he also owns not just one , but 13 Fernhill mugs . He tells Earl that now that he owns a Fernhill mug that he has to start acting like a Fernhill mug owner , which means that he has to stop hanging out with his friends , who Richfield believes will try to steal it from him , and also says that Earl has to subscribe to an expensive Fernhill magazine and join a club with an expensive fee . Earl buys an expensive display case , and comes home to find that Cap ' n Willie is missing . He accuses the Baby of breaking it , but Fran informs Earl that Roy borrowed it to impress a date . This convicnes Earl that Mr . Richfield was right about what he said about Earl ' s friends . Earl berates Roy for borrowing his mug , and when Fran tells Earl that it ' s just a mug , he tells her that she ' s just as dumb as Roy , prompting Roy to break off his friendship with Earl . Earl watches a news report about recent thieves regarding Fernhill mugs and buys a security system . Fran informs Earl that she couldn ' t buy any groceries because the store wouldn ' t accept her checks , and Earl tells her that he had to spend all of the money from his bank account to pay for the security system , and has a yard sale , selling his families items ( including Robbie ' s school books and Charlene ' s diary ) at really expensive prices . Fran gets so mad that she tells Earl that if it weren ' t for the security system she would break the mug . The Baby then sees this as a bad mug . The Baby dresses in black and sneaks into the living room , puts a pill in Hank the security guard ' s coffee , which makes him fall asleep . He then uses a number of elaborate gadgets to get past the security system , and he succeeds until he touches the mug , causing the alarm to go off and the various cages to fall down , trapping the Baby . When Earl finds out , he yells at the Baby , and threatens to put charges against the Baby , but Fran decides to take the Baby and the rest of their kids and leave Earl , until he comes to his senses . Earl is okay with this , because he still has his mug . A few days pass , and Earl starts to be unhappy with just the mug . Lonely , Earl tries to keep Hank from going leaving , and after he learns that Hank has a family , Hank shows Earl pictures of his family , stating that they aren ' t much , but they ' re all he has , and that ' s enough to make him happy . Earl tells Hank that he has a picture of his mug , but Hank just leaves , muttering " loser " . Earl realizes that he lost his family and his friends because of the mug , and realizes that the mug isn ' t making him happy anymore , and the devil appears , deciding that it ' s time for him to go , seeing that he no longer has anything to live for . Earl asks if he can take his mug with him , as a reminder of his selfish ways , and the devil says that everyone he takes is entitled to one carry - on . Earl puts Cap ' n Willie in the box that it came in , so that it doesn ' t get lost in transit , and notices that the box has a legal document stating that if the customer is not satisfied with his product within seven days he can get a full refund . The devil reluctantly gives Earl his soul back , and brings Earl back to the moment where he sold his soul , and everything is back to normal .