My Name Is Earl aired for four seasons on NBC before it was cancelled, and the creator has revealed how he would have ended the series if it had continued on to a natural end. The series ended with a bit of a cliffhanger, but Greg Garcia did have a plan in mind for how to wrap things up.
In a Reddit AMA, he revealed how he would have ended the comedy series if he had been able to close it out. He said:
“I had always had an ending to Earl and I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to see it happen. You’ve got a show about a guy with a list so not seeing him finish it is a bummer. But the truth is, he wasn’t ever going to finish the list. The basic idea of the ending was that while he was stuck on a really hard list item he was going to start to get frustrated that he was never going to finish it. Then he runs into someone who had a list of their own and Earl was on it. They needed to make up for something bad they had done to Earl. He asks them where they got the idea of making a list and they tell him that someone came to them with a list and that person got the idea from someone else. Earl eventually realizes that his list started a chain reaction of people with list and that he’s finally put more good into the world than bad. So at that point he was going to tear up his list and go live his life. Walk into the sunset a free man. With good karma.”
Garcia also revealed that he had asked the network if it was okay for him to end the season on a cliffhanger. The network told him to go ahead, and it was only after that NBC decided to cancel the series. Garcia might have written a different season four finale if he had known the network was going to cancel the series.
In addition, Garcia also planned to reveal who Earl Jr’s father was before the show ended. The writers were thinking that it would be someone famous who’d been in town for just one night. The writers didn’t get to decide who that would be, but the baby daddy was intended to be revealed before the series ended.
Were you a fan of My Name is Earl? Did Garcia’s reveal give you closure for this series? Tell us what you think.
Watched entire series on Netflix. I thought it was so good. I am disappointed on how it ended though. It would be awesome if Netflix could somehow get a season 5 to happen. I don’t know how it is for other people but I never liked unfinished business.
i loved this show so much but damn its sad to see it end. hopefully by some miracle this show would come back, that would make a lot of people happy
Man I definitely loved this show and would love for it to get brought back or even to get a tie up episode!
I absolutely love this show. I’ve seen every episode at least 4-5 times. They make me laugh every time. I also hope Netflix will do a deal to make season 5, 6, 7, 8 and a proper finale.
I was really looking forward to watching season 5 , I’m upset it got cancelled ! But ohh well , nothing i can do .
I really enjoyed my name is earl I was very disappointed that the show was cancelled I could really associate myself with Earl because of my past and looking forward to a good future with no regrets.
Good read. Thank you. My all time favorite TV comedy!
I’ve been a fan of the show since it was on NBC. This show for me has characters that are easy to relate with and that have the type of qualities that make them very likable. It made me sad when I heard it was cancelled, and I’m glad to know that I am not alone in being a big fan of My Name Is Earl. Would also love to see a Season 5, but I realize that is not very likely to happen. Maybe Netflix can make it happen??? That would be great. Until then, I will continue to… Read more »
I am still not satisfied. I want a real episode made. I need visual closure. Haha. I am glad people are still talking About this show seven years later. I am re watching the series on my DVDs because my computer is broken temporarily.
A good show with great humor. I was sad to hear it was cancelled. I like the ending for the show that Greg came up with, to wrap things up. Good story ending.
I’m form the UK I loved watching my name is earl listen to us fans put it back on the fans made the show big
If everything is about money im sure bring my name is earl back would make alot its a funny show and theres not that many funny shows to watch. Plus we the fans want it
I was watching it on Netflix it was a good show I loved it. I was mad they did not have session 5 and continued. What make me more mad was that they stopped it saying that it was not crab mans son and did not say who it was. All I’m saying is that they need to continue “my name is earl”
Hey Ive just been watching the show on Netflix and it’s really fun always puts me in a good mood it would b amazing if maybe the creator could talk to Netflix about putting that last season there to you know to compete a really good thing you’ve created really give us fans and yourself the true ending it deserves the ending you explained sounds really perfect and suited for the show but you know I would love hearing Earl say this
A great show that ended too soon. I guess it speaks for the way life and Earl treated one another. If you bring back the show (10 years into the list) I would be one of many to tune back in for every episode. There are more than just 3-4 networks out there now entertaining millions. Please bring back all cast members and writers as they had a combination of talent that is difficult to replicate.