The once popular My Name Is Earl sitcom was cancelled last month. After four seasons on NBC, the show’s executive producer, Greg Garcia, was informed early in the morning, just 30 minutes before the news was given to the press.
While being dumped by the peacock network didn’t come as a huge surprise, Garcia wasn’t ready for the show to end. He told the LA Times, “There’s a lot of reasons the show would work well on another network, and I think we’d do very well with some promotion. We certainly feel like we have more stories to tell. That’s why we left the show on season four on a cliffhanger. And I know we’ve got at least another season in us and a lot of great ideas. So if another network wants to put us on, fantastic. Nothing that would make me happier.”
It was largely presumed that the FOX network would take on Earl since the sitcom’s produced by a sister company, 20th Century Fox Television. Execs at the network apparently downplayed the possibility and, when the time came, decided to pass.
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Ethan Suplee, “Randy” on the show, broke the news to fans, writing, “Thanks for the effort guys, we appreciate it. It seems that Earl is actually dead. Fox has passed. The mustache will live on in our hearts.”
Now, TBS is apparently interested in keeping Earl going. The cable channel has been airing the show in syndication and expressed some interest in picking up the show at the May upfronts.
Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, told Company Town that the network likes to develop original programming but that new episodes of an established show like Earl would be an asset in drawing viewers to sample them. At the time, Koonin hadn’t been approached by 20th Century Fox but said, “Tell them to give me a call. We’re in the book.”
The discussions for 13 new episodes of Earl are still in the early stages and there are a some major hurdles that would need to be overcome before they could become a reality. The actors and writers have all been released from their contracts and they’d have to be renegotiated. Also, the show is an expensive single-camera comedy and the overall budget would be an issue as well.
On the positive side however, the show is already in syndication and more episodes would mean additional rerun money for years to come. With that in mind, the studio and participating talent will likely want to make the deal work if at all possible.
While Earl’s return is still considered a longshot, the fact that there are discussions to revive the series is certainly a good sign. What do you think?
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Image courtesy 20th Century Fox.
I finished watching my name is earl today after watching seasons 1-4 on my computer i luved the show it showed me that i could be a better person by fixing my mistakes with people i have hurt, humiliated, etc. i was hoping for a season 5 so i could see if earl finishes his list and if he gets a great reward at the end of it.
Please bring Earl back!!!!
I recently found earl on netflix on a friends account, so i started watching non stop iv fell in love with this show, so my friend left and took his account lol so i went straight and signed up for netflix. when im done with all episodes itll be a sad day : (
Quite a predicament I think for the show. The way they ended season 4 is no way to end a series, especially one with the type of creativity involved with this show. Although 8 years is a long time to come back from, it’s potentially losing its fame the longer it takes.
Earl is one of the best shoes I have ever watched and they need to be a little more presice on how the end ENDS.They need to make at least 2 more seasons to explain what happens the characters.How the last episodes unravels it like when you read a book and there is no more books to that series and the end says “To Be Continued”
Plz more earl
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BRING BACK EARL!!!!
I just want to say My name is Earl is one of my favorite shows, after 8 years you would think they would come out with season 5, they leave it at a cliffhanger and makes everyone wonder what’s going to happen next, well I kind of want to know what happens next. I wanna know who earl jrs dad is if its not crabman, and I feel bad for people who watched this 8 years ago and have been waiting to know. Please air it or just get netflix to add it to the collection.
i dont usually watch tv shows but i give a try with this one and i mast say i dont regret one min watching it its funny and u learn a lot about life i hope season 5 will come soon because this show deserves because.
i love my name is earl i want it to come back it is intrusting very funny they should make the 5 season or at least give us a great ending we can remember
Please bring that show back!
Plz make more I love that show I was watching it all the time and then it ended on to be continued and we never got to find out who the real father was
I shall make my own network and put you guys from my name is earl back on it..also I wish to help with any issue…come on you guys are awsome
I want a proper ending at least! Please! My whole family loves this show. We were tore up when we got to episode 4 season 27 only to be left hanging… Forever !
8 years later and still refuse to air it. Feb 17th it was supposed to air, then got cancelled again.
I love my name is earl, such a great show and I can’t belive it was cancelled. Such a disappointment to all the Earl fans including myself, I really hope they bring this show back, Jason Lee is a genius and that show is amazing. Hopefully they make the right decision and bring this show back!
Seeing as this was written in 2009, the likelihood of the show coming back is low.. I’d love it, but we all just want to know what happens. I’d be content with a wrap-up story.
I seriously hope it comes back. This was such a great show!
The shows creator did an AMA on Reddit and said how it would have ended. It was such a good ending too…