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.
This was a great show, funny, real and with a good message. It showed the real hardness of American life that people and television pretend doesn’t exist. My Name is Earl should be brought back with Trump as president, these are Trump’s people, and somehow Trump is the father of Joy’s baby and Trump gets his karma!
Show could of gone on for years ,the characters were brilliant and even at series 4 I had not seen a single episode that wasn’t entertaining
I continue to watch reruns on Amazon Prime. I didn’t see the “ending” until last week. It’s a little late for comment, but I would like to add that I believe the network upset a lot of people.
Disapointed that it was cancelled
Sucks that my name is earl was cancelled I am mad they would give such a cool show a crap ending way to go NBC
That ending would have been so cool
I never liked NBC or many of their shows, but cancelling Earl has made me hate them. I haven’t watched ANY of their show since.
I’m so disappointed. I loved this show and I really think that it should’ve been continued please bring the show back.
I am still super disappointed. We never got to get the ending we deserved! It just cut off and even though he said how he was gonna end it doesn’t help it’s not the end that just matters it’s the getting there that’s the true fun. And we got screwed!! Bring it back!!
I’m very disappointed cause my show is over i have just been frustrated knowing it’s over we will miss u earl.
I feel cheated. Devoted time to watch the series only to be left with unanswered questions. Who’s Earl Jrs father? Does Randy ever find someone he falls in love with and lives his own life separate from Earls? I’m glad to read how the list essentially doesn’t get finished… but I’m still left with a feeling of emptiness.
This will forever be my favorite show, and it truly truly sucks getting devoted into it, just for it to end the way it did. I’m at least glad to know Earl this whole time was Dodges father.
Viewers shouldn’t have been left hanging like this at least tell who the father of Earl Jr is.
I’ve waited so many years for this, although it’s not the best ending, it gave me closer. Thank you!
This isn’t okay. That is a crap way to end the show.
I agree that was a crap way to end the series. We devote all this time into the show to have it end with questions unanswered. That BS.