News recently surfaced that, in light of NBC’s cancellation of My Name Is Earl, TBS was interested in picking up the show for 13 new episodes. The cable channel currently airs the first three seasons and is scheduled to add season four in the Fall.

Unfortunately, all sides weren’t able to come to an agreement so there won’t be a fifth season of the sitcom. The Hollywood Reporter reports that series creator Greg Garcia and producing studio 20th Century Fox TV decided not pursue the deal after looking at the necessary budget cuts. Meanwhile, the LA Times believes that TBS felt they wouldn’t be able to afford the show and cut the discussions short. Either way, the end result’s the same.

Yesterday, actor Ethan Suplee (Randy on Earl) indicated that the deal was still possible. On Twitter, he wrote, “I heard TBS MIGHT stand for TheBestStation.” Earlier today, he changed his tune and wrote, “TBS isn’t TheBestStation for reviving Earl. Good news is I’m now available to play Shia Laboof’s better looking brother in Transformers 3.”

A little while ago, 20th Century Fox TV issued a statement that said, “Greg Garcia’s brilliant My Name Is Earl kept America laughing for the past four seasons and certainly deserved to continue for many more.”

“While we had hoped to find a way to produce additional episodes for TBS, in the final analysis we simply could not make the economics work without seriously undermining the artistic integrity of the series. As none of us, Greg included, want the show to go out on anything but a high note, we regret that we must put to rest any speculation that Earl will continue.”

“We are grateful to everyone at TBS for their enthusiasm for the series and wish to offer our heartfelt thanks to the cast and crew of My Name Is Earl for their incredible work.”

So, the sitcom is apparently over. Unfortunately, the viewers have been left hanging. If you had your choice, how would you like to see the Earl story concluded?

Image courtesy 20th Century Fox TV.