Need good karma? Save Earl

[writestuff1]

NBC apparently has cancelled "My Name is Earl." Granted, the season in which he was in jail was terrible, but I really thought the show bounced back this season. Hopefully, another broadcast network or cable network will pick up the series. "Family Guy" was off the air for awhile after being cancelled and then was shown as reruns. It's popularity grew and it came back better than ever. Lets hope the same happens for Earl. We all need good karma.

 

[BYH]

Someone will rescue Earl for at least one more year. It's at 96 episodes, four shy of the magic syndication number.

Major respect for Earl creator Greg Garcia, BTW, for telling NBC to go **** itself on his way out the door: "It’s hard to be too upset about being thrown off the Titanic." Story here: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/05/my-name-is-earl-creator-greg-garcia-is-a-writer-because-he-has-a-way-with-wordsasked-for-his-take-on-nbcs-unceremonious-canc.html

(And yes, I recognize the irony of the LA Times quoting someone who is not too upset about being thrown off the Titanic)

 

[lantaur]

NBC apparently has cancelled "My Name is Earl." Granted, the season in which he was in jail was terrible, but I really thought the show bounced back this season.

Wow, I thought the show just ran out of ideas - I mean the whole stuff with Crabman being in witness protection and some super spy was ridiculous. The show went wayyyyyyy off course. Although in that final episode they were really getting away with a lot of risque stuff.

Anyway, I read that TBS is thinking about picking it up. Fox was originally rumored to do so, but I think that idea has been passed over.

 

[BYH]

Yeah I gotta mostly agree with Lantaur. Doing a two-part Geraldo Rivera show was a.) lame and b.) already done w/Cops. Still a funny show, though, and I'd like to see it get a 13-episode order from TBS or somebody to get it to the 100 episode mark. (And to resolve that cliffhanger)

 

[linotype]

It surely has been mentioned here before, but once again: Much love to Greg Garcia, who a lifetime ago ran the board for Kornheiser's original radio show in DC.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Someone will rescue Earl for at least one more year. It's at 96 episodes, four shy of the magic syndication number.

Major respect for Earl creator Greg Garcia, BTW, for telling NBC to go **** itself on his way out the door: "It’s hard to be too upset about being thrown off the Titanic." Story here: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/05/my-name-is-earl-creator-greg-garcia-is-a-writer-because-he-has-a-way-with-wordsasked-for-his-take-on-nbcs-unceremonious-canc.html

(And yes, I recognize the irony of the LA Times quoting someone who is not too upset about being thrown off the Titanic)

I didn't realize it was that close to syndication. That's just insanely stupid on NBC's part.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I was always a big Jason Lee fan from Kevin Smith's movies. I just can't believe NBC would cancel a show that close to the big syndication number. Maybe they figure they can do it anyway with 96. It's also possible that some contracts are up and they want to cut everyone loose so they don't have to pay a significant chunk to the stars. I think that was one of the reasons they ditched Scrubs last year.

 

[mediaguy]

It's no longer must-watch for me, but still a consistent laugh. It's a great show for syndication, so I'm sure somebody will help them get there ...

 

[Mizzougrad96]

It's no longer must-watch for me, but still a consistent laugh. It's a great show for syndication, so I'm sure somebody will help them get there ...

My money is on ABC. ABC did a masterful job of milking According to Jim for about three more seasons because it wanted the syndication $$$.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

CBS picked up Medium, which is a good show that NBC never seemed to know what to do with.

I was watching Cheers this morning and I would do anything for more family comedies and ensemble cast comedies (News Radio, Friends, Cheers, Just Shoot Me, Seinfeld)

The only family comedies left on the Big Four networks are all about divorced families (New Adventures of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried and 2 1/2 Men) None are exactly shows I want to watch with my kids.

 

[I Digress]

Earl was much better this season than it had been for a while. There were more of those 'did they just say that' moments.
But overall, I agree that it's pretty tired.

 

[Some Guy]

Isn't Earl already in syndication? They show old episodes on TBS all the time.

 

[dixiehack]

CBS picked up Medium, which is a good show that NBC never seemed to know what to do with.

I was watching Cheers this morning and I would do anything for more family comedies and ensemble cast comedies (News Radio, Friends, Cheers, Just Shoot Me, Seinfeld)

The only family comedies left on the Big Four networks are all about divorced families (New Adventures of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried and 2 1/2 Men) None are exactly shows I want to watch with my kids.

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.

 

[Pete]

Someone will rescue Earl for at least one more year. It's at 96 episodes, four shy of the magic syndication number.

Major respect for Earl creator Greg Garcia, BTW, for telling NBC to go **** itself on his way out the door: "It’s hard to be too upset about being thrown off the Titanic." Story here: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/05/my-name-is-earl-creator-greg-garcia-is-a-writer-because-he-has-a-way-with-wordsasked-for-his-take-on-nbcs-unceremonious-canc.html

(And yes, I recognize the irony of the LA Times quoting someone who is not too upset about being thrown off the Titanic)

I didn't realize it was that close to syndication. That's just insanely stupid on NBC's part.

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.

 

[Bob Cook]

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!"

 

[schiezainc]

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.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

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

 

[writestuff1]

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.

 

[KJIM]

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.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

"Family Guy" was off the air for awhile

it came back better than ever.

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.