Writers' strike worked well for 'Earl'
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
| |||
 |
|
||
Karma and the writers' strike have treated "My Name is Earl" quite gently.
"They gave us a cliffhanger we hadn't planned," said Greg Garcia, the show's creator.
That's when Earl Hickey (Jason Lee) was hit by a car.
"We left him there on the road," Garcia said.
Now the show is back, as TV reassembles its best night. If everything goes as planned:
CBS will be back to new episodes Thursdays, starting April 3. It has "Survivor," "CSI" and "Without a Trace."
NBC has an hourlong "Earl" at 7 p.m. The rest of the lineup returns a week later, with "30 Rock," "The Office," "Scrubs" and "ER."
ABC waits until April 24 for new rounds of "Ugly Betty," "Grey's Anatomy" and a transplanted "Lost."
Those networks have turned Thursdays into TV's top night in ratings and in prestige.
"Earl" moved there in January 2006, during its first season.
"It's great," co-star Jaime Pressly said at the time. "I like that I'm on the same night that 'Cheers' was and 'Friends' and 'Will & Grace' and 'Seinfeld.' "
NBC has stuffed Thursdays with strong shows, from "Hill Street Blues" and "The Cosby Show" to the current ones.
"It's a great group of shows," Garcia said. "I'm shocked that more people don't watch it."
These days, NBC often finishes third on Thursdays, despite praise and honors:
"Earl" can't match that, but it does have prestige in the industry. (Before negotiations with "Today" frazzled, Mariah Carey's management reportedly demanded a guest spot on "Earl.") It also has five Emmys, including ones for Pressly (supporting actress) and Garcia. His was for the pilot script. Before Emmy night, he fretted about the acceptance speech.
"Probably, you're only going to get one chance to get up there," Garcia said. "I thought, 'I'd better be funny.' "
Instead of a list of people to thank, he pulled out a list of ones to not thank, including one of his old teachers.
"He actually called me the next day," Garcia said. "I told him that lots of teachers told me to sit down and shut up. I just used him because he had a funnier name."
One teacher even cut a deal. If Garcia was quiet for the rest of the class, he could have the final five minutes to be funny.
To no one's surprise, he became a comedy writer and producer. "Yes, Dear" drew shrugs from critics; "Earl" didn't. The show is about a cheerful loser who wins the lottery. He credits karma and makes a list of bad deeds to undo.
"In the first season we were very much about the list and crossing one thing off each week," Garcia said.
Earl was getting support from his little brother, Randy (Ethan Suplee), and criticism from his ex-wife, Joy.
"Joy was always going to be a (tough), crazy woman," Garcia said. "But we didn't know she was going to be there every week. É Not until Jaime Pressly took the role did we see how important she would be."
The second season was mostly about Joy's troubles with the law, he said. As it ended, Earl took the rap for her.
"We didn't know how long he was going to be in prison," Garcia said. "We might have just said, 'It's two years later and now he's out.' "
He stayed behind bars for 11 episodes. His first week out, he lost faith in karma; his second, he got hit by a car.
Then came the strike.
Earl stayed in limbo and on the pavement. Now he'll finally be revived.
The show expects to have nine new episodes this spring. Despite the strike, it will have done the expected 22 this season.
