I'm confirmed that NBC is considering cancelling My Name Is Earl due to low ratings and escalating costs. The 20th Century TV show's producers are resisting the drastically reduced licensing fee they're being offered. So word is that Kevin Reilly could pick up the show, which he originally developed when he was NBC Entertainment prez, for the Fox network, where he is now. Fox's own comedy development is weak, with Boldly Going Nowhere dead and projects like the derivative Cop House a better fit for Comedy Central. But 20th TV needs a few more years of Earl for syndication value. As for NBC, everything is low-rated, even its critical hits like 30 Rock. But I bet if NBC owned the show, it would stay on the air. So maybe the network execs will reconsider if they realize the show may head to a competitor.
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Posts: 4148 | Location: Mooby's | Registered: January 09, 2005
Based on money/ratings, I would say that it would be smart for NBC to cancel My Name is Earl, but it has improved in quality so much this season that I hope they don't. But if they do I'm glad to know it has a chance to live on Fox.
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I've really adored "My Name is Earl" over the seasons, but it has always been treated like the bastard stepchild of NBC's Thursday comedy lineup. Kudos for "30 Rock" and "The Office." Raspberries for "Earl." Given the show's weak ratings this season and Leno's engulfing of the 10pm timeslot next season, I'm surprised this is the first time I'm hearing that it's at risk of cancellation, but I hope it survives, whether on NBC or FOX. Come to think of it, FOX might be a good fit. The show is similar in comic tone to "Malcolm in the Middle," and other than "Malcolm" and "Arrested Development" FOX has been rather tone-deaf when it comes to half-hour live-action comedies this decade, so picking up "Earl" might be good for them.
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
MNIE has really been great the past few weeks, almost season one quality. I hope if NBC does cancel it, another network will pick it up. It'll be a shame if it goes away forever.
Posts: 3790 | Location: Earth | Registered: April 11, 2005
My Name is Earl's fate @ NBC hinges on 20th Century Television lowering its licensing fee, which would double as the show reaches the 100 episode mark next season.
Other news: NBC is considering bringing back the Thursday edition of Weekend Update CBS is pitching Ghost Whisperer & Old Christine to other networks
NBC’s plan with “Update” is further feeding speculation that the network may pass on renewing another Thursday comedy, “My Name Is Earl,” and slide the “Weekend Update” shows into its place on Thursdays, at least at the start of the season.
NBC executives are said to be high on a new comedy entry called “Community.” That show coincidentally co-stars yet another former “Update” anchor, Chevy Chase. The network may hold off on introducing “Community” on Thursdays until later in the fall, presumably after using up however many “Update” specials are produced.
The decision to pass on retaining “Earl,” a hit for NBC when it played at 9 p.m. Thursday, and still a reliable performer at 8, may be part of a networkwide trend this spring.
A number of shows with passable but not hit ratings are heading into renewal years at their respective networks, which usually means increases in the license fees networks pay to bring them back. “Earl,” for example, would be in its fifth season and that would cause about a doubling of the fee charged by its studio, 20th Century Fox.
Shows like “Ghost Whisperer” and “Old Christine” on CBS have been offered to other networks, several network executives said, because CBS has balked at increasing the fees it pays.
All the shows may stay on the networks they have been on, but because of tighter budgets this year, several executives said it was more likely this season that such shows might move to other networks.
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Posts: 4148 | Location: Mooby's | Registered: January 09, 2005
NBC has ordered full seasons of The Office and 30 Rock and given pick-ups to Parks and Recreation, Thursday Saturday Night Live Weekend Update, Community and 100 Questions. I do not see how My Name is Earl can fit in the schedule.
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