"My Name is Earl" Creator Greg Garcia Blasts NBC

Not since Cuban blogger Perez Hilton blasted Eduardo Verastegui over Proposition 8 have I been so amused and entertained by the verbal fisticuffs of someone in the public eye. Greg Garcia—the very, very pissed, peeved, ticked off writer/creator of My Name is Earl made my day Tuesday when he spanked NBC with a few choice words that are bound to make the peacock network shake its extravagant tail feather!

Upon receiving word that Garcia’s show Earl (which has aired on NBC since 2005 and won multiple Emmy's) had been cancelled by the network, Garcia lashed out against the network with a parade of big and brutal insults of titanic proportions. Asked what he made of his show being dumped by the network, Garcia replied: “it’s hard to be too upset about being thrown off the Titanic.” Now I know what you’re thinking: Why is Garcia comparing NBC to a big sinking ship? Here’s why: In a way, NBC is going down. NBC currently ranks 4th (that’s right, last place) among the major networks, and the L.A. Times recently reported that of the seven new shows the network launched this season, “five of them failed and the other two have not broken out.” So it seems that Garcia's analogy makes sense.

Apparently the reason Garcia and several Earl cast members are so livid at the network, is that NBC didn’t break the news about the show's demise to Garcia until just 30 minutes before they released their fall schedule to the press. "They woke me up at 7:30 to let me know," Garcia said. "I e-mailed Jeff Zucker [president and chief executive of NBC Universal] on Sunday, and I never got a response. But this is show business. The writing was on the wall. When you go to bed the night before the schedule is out, and no one has spoken to you, you know what’s happening. You get somewhat frustrated with how it’s being handled, but that’s the business we work in. I’ve never fooled myself that it’s a fair or friendly business." Garcia is certainly not on “friendly” terms with NBC now.  When Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment said that the reason NBC passed on Earl is that neither advertisers nor fans had waged a campaign to try and save the show. Garcia told reporters he doesn't buy that argument “I don’t believe that for one second,” he said.  “But if that’s true, if that’s how they’re deciding what shows to pick up, wow. If that’s how they’re running their network, good luck to them."

Still, if you’re a MNIE die-hard fan, there’s hope for you yet. The show’s star Jason Lee told Garcia he would do the show for another network, and Garcia agreed that he will try to sell the show to one of NBC’s competitors, either Fox or ABC. “I know we’ve got at least another season in us and a lot of great ideas. So if another network wants to put us on, fantastic," Garcia said. "Nothing would make me happier."