The peacock network has decided they’ve had enough of Jason Lee and his show about karma. They’ve cancelled the My Name Is Earl sitcom after four seasons on the air.
Revolving around a petty criminal (Lee) who’s hit by a car and decides to atone for his long list of wrong doings, My Name Is Earl also stars Ethan Suplee, Jaime Pressly, Nadine Velazquez, and Eddie Steeples.
The show began as a moderately successful show for NBC with 10.9 million viewers in year one. That audience has eroded over the years and currently averages about six million people per episode.
The cancellation move doesn’t come as a huge surprise. NBC held talks with the show’s studio, 20th Television, about renewing the show at a reduced price but it didn’t work out. Suplee twittered to fans, “Just got the call that My Name Is Earl has been canceled. They sure did take their time with that decision or rather informing us of it.”
Now that the show’s been cancelled by NBC, the studio is trying to cement a deal with another network to pick up the sitcom for season five. The show heads into syndication this Fall and, though there are already 98 installments, additional episodes would really pay off for the studio.
Image courtesy NBC.
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Had a good run, but many viewers are now burned out on it, as if often the case. But as you said, it COULD be picked up by another net.
HEY, CW, YOU LISTENING?
Oh so does this mean NBC can put on another Half hour a week of some crappy reality.game show?
Bite ME NBC, the only reason you get any of my time is because of The Office. Earl was starting to get good again and then you go and cancel it.
One of the funniest shows on television. Thursday night might never be the same.
You know, I can’t help thinking….it isn’t just that the Nielsens are outdated, but that the very notion of what constitutes a “successful series” is outdated. It seems that all of my favorite shows cancelled this year: Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, Kyle XY, Earl….all average about 6 million viewers per week. The CW renews shows that average around 2-3 million (but only if they star hot teens and are not called Angel or Reaper – douches!)
I guess my point is maybe it’s time for the nets to accept that some shows appeal to a small segment of the viewing populace and feed that market. In the case of each show mentioned, above the fanbase ranges from rabid to strongly interested. Chuck was barely saved. LOST would be gone already if it didn’t have an enddate DESPITE THE RABID FANBASE.
I don’t get it. What’s so wrong with niche programming? Works on cable. Target advertisers who will feed the needs of a smaller show’s audience. We matter too!
I cannot believe one of the few good shows, that I and my friends and family LOVE is being cancelled. What is wrong with NBC?? Are they totally clueless concerning the taste of the viewers. NBC is keeping total garbage, the list is too long to list, but to renew “Parks and Recreation” one of the lamest shows and not keep Earl. Forget about it. If Earl is not renewed, we will no longer suffer with this ignorance of NBC’s part. RENEW or suffer the consequences!!!!!
The only reason I tuned into NBC anymore was to watch Heroes, Scrubs, Medium, and Earl. The only one left is Heroes and it isn’t even scheduled for an entire season. NBC sold off the rest to other networks or canceled them altogether. Why do they think we need Jay Leno at an earlier hour? He will be as unfunny at 10 o’clock as he was at 11:30. I agree with Marie, not all shows need to pull in 20 million viewers to be a successful, well written and well acted show. Smaller viewing audiences may simply mean that only true lovers of television art (yes it’s an art form, albeit a dying one) are watching. Someone throw NBC a life preserver because I think they’re circling the drain.
I can’t believe this. NBC keeps and starts all of these crappy reality shows, and ditches Earl. Earl was one of only a few shows I watched on NBC. They are making a HUGE mistake! Hopefully it will get picked up by someone else like Scrubs did. Earl deserves better than NBC anyway.
I agree that a shows success should not require 20 million viewers. Do these studios forget that there are not only a dozen or so channels anymore like it was years ago? Viewers have literally hundreds of channels to choose from at any given time, plus DVR. It’s going to thin out the number watching any show. Bad move NBC. I will miss Earl.
I’ve grown tired of Earl, it has become seriously far fetched over the past few seasons. I still watched it, but couldn’t care less if I missed it, and I really won’t miss it much when it’s gone. If it does go another season there’s always TBS. I was upset to find out about Medium, which led me to this site, so I’m pleased to find that CBS saved the day!
EARL is the best show to come from network TV since “the Andy Griffith Show” . NBC just lost another family of viewers …MINE !
“Do bad things …and bad things happen” . are you listening NBC ?
How could NBC take “My Name Is Earl” off TV?! It’s just crime. I know some people don’t like it, but what about the people that DO like it?! I will never watch NBC again!
You people need to at least let the Finale Earl be filmed so that he can make up everything else on his list!
Also thanks everyone thats tring to get Earl to come on another network!
its ridiculous networks like the nbc just think that they can do what they want just because it has less viewers it means they have to cancell it it’s what all networks do it’s pathetic, what are other people supposed to do just stick with it i woudlnt think so it’s because networks suck nowdays i think the network its self should be shut down .
all they do is sit on their fat arses and look at the viewer response and take it from there the storyplot in the show could be amazing but because “they don’t get enough viewers” they cancell it television nowdays suck tottaly pahetic.
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