Jason Lee reveals Lee starred in the comedy series as Earl Hickey, a small-time thief living in the rundown town of Camden whose life is upended when he is hit by a car and loses his $100,000 winning lottery scratch-off ticket. Upon learning about the nature of karma while in the hospital and recovering his ticket, Earl sets out to change his life by making a list of every bad deed he's ever done and every person he's wronged and working to make it up to them.
Alongside Lee, the My Name is Earl cast included Ethan Suplee as Earl's mindless brother Randy, Jaime Pressly as Earl's hothead ex-wife Joy, Nadine Velazquez as Catalina, the maid of the motel Earl and Randy live in, and Eddie Steeples as Darnell "Crabman" Turner, Joy's current husband and cook at the local bar. Created by Greg Garcia, My Name is Earl received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike across its four seasons for its charming sense of humor, performances and heartwarming stories. Though a modest ratings earner for NBC, the series would ultimately be cancelled after season 4 and one star is opening up about their initial reaction to the cancelation.
While recently appearing on The Nine Club podcast, Jason Lee opened up about My Name is Earl's cancelation. The star revealed that he was devastated when the fan-favorite sitcom was axed by NBC, revealing he still is asked by fans why it ended and even accusing him of being the reason behind its cancelation. See what Lee shared below:
"It was really devastating. There's probably not 4 days that goes by without somebody messaging me on Instagram, like, 'Dude, what happened to Earl?' Or some people thinking it's my fault, like 'Dude, you left us stranded, what the hell?' Like, I'm not NBC, man. I didn't cancel the show. It was out of my hands. Greg Garcia the creator of the show...what he did with that show is incredible. He showed up on set one day and said, 'Hey, I have bad news, guys, looks like we're getting cancelled.' So like, 'Clean out your lockers' kind of vibe, and we're out of here."
My Name is Earl's cancelation came as quite a surprise at the time of its announcement given season 4 ended with the caption of "To Be Continued" as Earl learned he was Dodge's real father and had been evicted from the motel and his bank frozen by Norm Macdonald's Little Chubby. Producer 20th Century Fox Television attempted to sell the show to a number of other networks, including Fox, TBS and TNT, though reported creative differences prevented it from moving forward elsewhere. Though talks of a potential series finale movie have surfaced over the years, My Name is Earl has effectively remained dormant for over a decade now.
Though a finale movie never got off the ground to deliver closure for the series and its character, My Name is Earl did get a pseudo conclusion in Garcia's follow-up sitcom, Raising Hope. The pilot included a TV in the background confirming Lee's titular character had finished his list, but in a joking nod to the show's sudden cancelation the TV cuts off with the tease of "you'll never guess how it ended." Audiences can revisit the entirety of My Name is Earl available to stream on Hulu now.
Source: The Nine Club