“My Name Is Earl,” the 2000s sitcom was about the titular character Earl learning about karma and turning his life around. He created a list of all of the bad deeds he had done in his life and works to right those wrongs. Though the show was well renowned, many fans are disappointed by its cliffhanger ending. The show ends without resolving Earl’s list, the father of Earl Junior or the father of Dodge. However two out of show endings exist for the show.
A Nod To The Ending of Earl
In the first episode of “Raising Hope” there’s a news story in the background on TV. The TV reporter announces that “…A small-time crook with a long list of wrongs he was making amends for has finally finished, and you’ll never guess how it ended.” This implies that in Universe Earl has finished his list and gotten news attention about it.
Yet that’s not the only closure that fans can get from the ending. In a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” the show’s writer announced his plan for the eventual ending of the show. Greg Garcia stated that Dodge’s father was in fact going to be Earl. He also wrote that Earl Jr.’s father wasn’t decisively determined but it was going to be a famous guest actor. As for the ending of the show as a whole, Earl was never supposed to finish his list.
The Intended Ending Revealed by Greg Garcia
Garcia wrote in the AMA “…he was stuck on a really hard list item he was going to start to get frustrated that he was never going to finish it. Then he runs into someone who had a list of their own and Earl was on it. They needed to make up for something bad they had done to Earl. He asks them where they got the idea of making a list and they tell him that someone came to them with a list and that person got the idea from someone else. Earl eventually realizes that his list started a chain reaction of people with lists and that he’s finally put more good into the world than bad. So at that point he was going to tear up his list and go live his life. Walk into the sunset a free man. With good karma.”
Although it’s disappointing that we never got to see this ending play out on screen, it’s nice for fans to have some closure from the show’s writer. Despite the show’s cliffhanger ending it’s an excellent show that fans are still enjoying on streaming services almost 20 years after its release.