Need good karma? Save Earl

Just watch sports with them instead. Be prepared to change channels the instant it goes to commercial though, unless you want to have to explain Cialis or Viagra to the young 'uns.

 

I don't think syndication $$ has anything to do with NBC's call. The show is produced and owned by 20th Century Fox, so NBC wouldn't get any slice of the syndication anyway. (That would also be another reason that Fox might take the show.) But it's not like NBC just screwed itself out of millions in syndication money. They may have screwed 20th Century Fox and Earl's creators, but that's not NBC's problem.

Medium is a similar story. It's owned/produced by CBS's in-house TV studio, which made the potential economics better for CBS since as a corporate entity it would get the shot at syndication $$, whereas NBC would not since it doesn't own the show. The networks don't "buy" the shows they air but essentially lease them, though they each operate their own TV production arm that can sell its shows to any network.

 

I would disagree with anyone saying Earl is tired. The Office has had far, far, far more moments in the last few years when it looked like it was running out of ideas. It would be a shame if Earl didn't get picked up for at least another year. To me, one of the best things about the show is that it's full of quirky characters, but they seem very real in the show -- as in, nobody is writing it as, "Look at this guy's quirk!"

 

My name is Earl is awesome. Although, if this ultimately leads to the woman who plays Catalina turning to porn, I'm OK with this decision.

 

Reaching 100 episodes is not required for syndication. The awful "Still Standing" is in syndication and they did 88 shows.

 

As stated previously, I thought the season in which Earl was in jail was not very good. But I don't quite get all this "tired" stuff. I don't think "My Name is Earl" is any more tired than any other show after four years. When I first saw the show, I thought it had the potential to be on for quite some time. The premise was he was going to make up for his past mistakes and the list at the start of the series had approximately 200 items. As he made up for some past mistakes, he added new ones to the list, meaning the show could have gone on and on. I think the writing is superb and the casting is fantastic. I think the two fellows who play Earl and Randy as kids in the flashback scenes have gotten better and better. They also get guest stars to play zany characters that you wouldn't expect from some of the previous roles the actors have taken on.

 

Oh my, Betty White as the crazy lady mom of the day hooker was phenomenally funny.

I agree about the actors who play Earl and Randy when they're younger, but I wish Dodge and Earl Jr. had stayed a little younger. I liked them more as tots than grade school fiends.

Mr. Turtle could use some more airtime.

 

100 eps has been the gold standard for syndication, though as pointed out, not the mininum standard. Hell, Clerks: The Animated Series gets shown on [adult swim] -- all six episodes.

ABC picked up Scrubs, and it was said to be interested in King of the Hill, so it wouldn't shock me if they made a play for Earl.

 

I'm on the tired side. It did pretty much jump the shark when he went to jail. This year was better, but not as strong as pre-jail episodes. Still funny, but not something I rush home and watch right away.

I'd be happy if they just turned it into a show with Joy, Catalina and Billie doing strip teases all the time.

 

One of the all-time lines in terms of context was when Catalina returned to the strip club but said, "I will not jump for Joy." That's up there with "The Simpsons" episode when Milhouse lost his girlfriend. In the schoolyard, one of the kids saw Milhouse crying and said, "It's recess everywhere, but in his heart." Classic.

 

Awful?

"Still Standing" was/is hilarious.

 

Wow. That show blows ass. My wife enjoys it, though. Didn't it used to come on before King of Queens? I think that's the only reason I ever watched it.

I enjoyed the first couple seasons of Earl. Skipped the season when he was in jail and watched a few episodes this season. I got tired of it. Didn't work for me anymore.