"My Name Is Earl" to TBS? Only in Reruns, Unfortunately

It looks as though talk that the cancelled NBC series “My Name Is Earl” may live a new life on TBS is over, despite a Twit-ition of fans wanting to keep the show on air and talks between TBS and “Earl”’s producers about creating new episodes. The series will only appear on the cable net as reruns.

There was never any real doubt that, should the show continue, it would do so in reduced financial circumstances. Since the ecomomics of TV and cable are different, the two parties were looking at a reduced licensing fee, maybe in the range of ten to fifteen percent, which no doubt would have had a trickle-down effect to everyone associated with the show. According to a spokesperson at Twentieth Century Fox Television, which produced “Earl”: “In the final analysis, we simply could not make the economics work without seriously undermining the artistic integrity of the series.” While one can wonder whether it was artistic integrity at stake, or just the more base instinct of not wanting to stoop to doing the same job for less, lower licensing fees look to be the wave of the future, even in situations not as dramatic as the fight to save “Earl.” In the recent two-year contract extension to produce “The Late Show with David Letterman” for CBS, Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants, agreed to having CBS pay it a smaller licensing fee.

While it’s one thing for a network to pay a smaller licensing fee when a series goes from broadcast to cable, it’s entirely another when a network pays a smaller fee to extend the contract for the same show to appear exactly as it has been, particularly when you consider the dynamic at work with Letterman right now. CBS is the no. 1 network, and, therefore, theoretically, has the deepest pockets, and for now, Letterman is staging a ratings rally against Conan O’Brien, who just began his run at the helm of “The Tonight Show.” On the other hand, the ad market is in terrible shape no matter which network you’re working for. Yep, times are tough all over.