TVSquad

If any of you Hickey fans were hoping that the show might live on in cable, it's time for me to shatter all your hopes and dreams like that first girl who told you you just weren't all that. The truth hurts. It looks like the producers couldn't make the numbers work, so new episodes of My Name Is Earl won't be coming to TBS after all. I'm of mixed feelings about this now. I really enjoyed the show for the most part, but now that I have some distance from it, I don't think I'll be too shattered if it's gone.

TBS is currently running repeats of My Name Is Earl, and to pretty solid ratings. With NBC cancelling Earl, it looked like all that might end. Well, not the re-reuns -- they can run forever -- but that influx of new episodes. But in this era of cross-network deals and shows jumping ship to keep costs down, it may not be the end of the road for the Hickey boys after all. Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, loves the show and would be more than willing to discuss having My Name Is Earl move to TBS for a fifth season.

He hasn't approached them, but he's said "I'm in the book" about them approaching him. "We'd definitely look," he says about trying to work out a deal to keep the show on the air. Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Friday Night Lights have already found new life in cable deals, though theirs involved sharing with NBC, so it's not unprecedented. And with TBS trying to ramp up its original slate it wouldn't be a bad move to take an established property to anchor the schedule.

The CW may have kicked off its fall season on Labor Day, but for most of the other networks, things are just getting started. So what does that mean for you? Heavy promotion for not only the new shows premiering this fall, but for returning favorites as well. To that end, My Name Is Earl creator Greg Garcia and star Jason Lee spoke with reporters recently about Earl's upcoming 4th season.

My Name Is Earl returns for its 4th season on NBC with two back-to-back episodes, September 25 at 8pm. Not only did Garcia and Lee give us a taste of what to expect when we catch up with our favorite Camdenites, but they also dished the dirt on dream guest stars, what previous guest star peed over by craft services, if an Earl movie is in the works, and perhaps a word or two about a famously abrasive 30 Rock star. All of the details are after the jump.

(S03E18) " I got shoulder-humped by a doberman...to completion." - Tiffany Henson

I was wondering when the hospital would get around to giving Earl the boot. It only makes sense that Camden County's health care facilities are run just like everything else in the area. I love the idea of Camden Cash. I think I'll pitch the idea to some of our overcrowded hospitals here in Los Angeles.

Remember a few weeks ago, when I said how much I envied Jason Lee? Well, after seeing him wedged in that shopping cart and bounced around in that wheelchair, I am forced to rescind that statement. It's good to see Mr. Lee is still willing to work for a living.

(S03E16) "This is what someone told me reading a book is like." - Randy Hickey

I really can't decide if the writers for Earl are geniuses or drunks. Right when people start to complain that the show is getting stale they take it in a new direction that no one could see coming and yet is perfectly believable.

A big part of why I love this show is seeing the flashbacks where Earl was a complete reprobate. Even better is seeing Randy as the same kind of reprobate and yet just as simple. Joy, of course, remains exactly the same, no matter where or when she is, even if she's only in Earl's imagination.

(S03E14) "I bet you wish you had more than one God now, eh?" - Ravi Kapoor as Earl's doctor

Boy, that Jeff Zucker is one hell of an actor, isn't he?

Generally, I love it when a high-paid executive is willing to make fun of himself for his company. Case in point; when Les Moonves talks to Dave Letterman on the phone I think it's hilarious. The key, however is that the executive in question has to be able to effectively deliver a joke. I think My Name is Earl missed an opportunity for some real nice comedy. Too bad Jerry Seinfeld didn't have another movie to promote.

(S03E13) "There's no room at the motel and it's Christmas eve. Just like Jesus' baby." -- Randy Hickey

I don't know about you but I really have a problem watching holiday episodes after New Years. I guess, like many people, I have just had enough "holiday cheer" and when I see those references, I feel like I'm watching an old episode. Maybe I should just be happy that there are new episodes at all.

As I've said before, I always love to see recurring characters. Seeing Ralph and gay Kenny actually crossing paths was one of the high points of this episode.

Charmed fans rejoice! Alyssa Milano will be back on the small screen this fall. However, it will be in a role and in a TV series quite opposite of what her role of Phoebe Halliwell and Charmed were all about.

Since The WB's Charmed ended in May 2006, Milano has not done much acting, leaving her dedicated fans out cold. Actually, if you look at her IMDb profile, you can notice that she had a role in a TV pilot that wasn't picked up and has two upcoming movies. But still nothing her fans can chew their teeth on in the near future. This will change when Milano guest stars in NBC's My Name Is Earl.

Spoilers after the jump!

Jason Lee, star of My Name is Earl, also has another career apart from television: crapping all over my childhood memories. Lee will not only provide the voice of Underdog in the upcoming live-action feature based on the beloved children's cartoon, but has also joined the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie as Dave Seville, the human "father" to Alvin, Simon and Theodore (the Chipmunks will be computer generated). Seville was the stage name of songwriter and performer Ross Bagdasarian, who first used the sped-up voice technique on his song "The Witch Doctor" and later used the same technique for his Chipmunk records.

The film is being produced by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and his wife Janice Karman. Tim Hill, director of the second Garfield feature film, will direct.

[via Toon Zone]

I managed to get a copy of the first three episodes of the new season of My Name Is Earl yesterday, and I watched the first episode "Very Bad Things" last night. After a successful first season and a summer of wondering how the show will evolve, I, at the very least, got a chance to get some perspective on how things will go.

I'm not sure I like this news. The television reporter at the Washington Post is reporting that every episode of My Name is Earl will not be about checking something off his list. According to Lisa de Moraes, the writers/creators felt confined by the format and only stuck with it to see if they could get through the first season (and be renewed). Apparently, some episodes will have nothing to do with the list. The Post reporter doesn't say what the other episodes will be about. The writing on the show is definitely hilarious but I kind of liked the gimmick of Earl having to cross something off his list each week. Although, I can see how that would get old after a few seasons. Guess we'll have to see what they come up with. See how I talked myself off the edge?

How do you feel about this change?

Yes, My Name is Earl is getting its own comic book. Oni Press announced it yesterday ahead of Comic-Con. Earl staff writer and script coordinator Hunter Covington is taking on the project. Oni says he's a comics fanatic and he also wrote possibly the best episode last year, The Bountyhunter, starring Juliette Lewis.

So, comic book fans... would you buy a comic of Earl working to cross other things off his list?

[Via TV Tattle]

The news about September TV on DVD releases just keeps coming! This time it's the first season of My Name Is Earl, but wait til you hear about the extras.

This is going to be a 4 DVD superset, and extras will include not only the usual commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes, and gag reel, but also the never used alternate pilot episode, where Earl was changed not by watching Carson Daly on TV, but by watching Stewie from Family Guy. It was supposed to be sort of a crossover ep, but they went with Daly instead.

That should be pretty cool, as will guest commentaries from Jon Favreau and Juliette Lewis.

OK, you owners of the Video Tape Recorder, I'm putting you on alert. NBC is 'super-sizing' some of its Thursday night shows during May sweeps. This, of course, will be putting your VCRs into a state of apoplexy.

On May 11th Will & Grace and the season finales of My Name is Earl and The Office will expand to 40-minutes apiece in a ratings-grabbing scheme that hasn't been seen on Thursday nights since Friends was on the air. The belief is, by adding an additional ten minutes to each show, viewers are less likely to surf to other networks.

This will be the next-to-last episode of Will & Grace and will feature a bit of baby drama for the two main characters. On Earl, the main character (Jason Lee) will encounter some problems as he tries to cross off the number one item on the list. The finale of The Office, written by star Steve Carell, will feature a charity casino night.

In a related story, ER will be ten minutes shorter that evening to see if anyone really notices. Heh. Heh.

He has the pox! Production for My Name is Earl was halted over the weekend because Jason Lee has red, itchy spots all over his body. So far, no one else in the cast or on the production crew has chicken pox. NBC says Jason is pretty miserable and highly contagious, so he'll be out of commission for several weeks.

Of course, show creator Greg Garcia had a great comment about Jason's misery. He said, "I saw him shake Charlie Sheen's hand at the Golden Globes, and the next morning he woke up with bumps all over him."