TV Shows Like My Name Is Earl
If you like My Name Is Earl, here are 9 similar TV shows — each with its current AI renewal verdict, so you can see which are still going and which have been cancelled.
NBC · Comedy · My Name Is Earl is cancelled
My Name Is Earl works because it takes a genuinely unpleasant person and makes him sympathetic without sanding down his rough edges. Earl Hickey is not a good guy reformed by a lottery ticket, though the money does trigger something in him. He is a chaotic man who genuinely wants to fix the damage he has caused, even when it is inconvenient and difficult and yields almost no practical reward. The show builds its comedy around this contradiction: Earl's sincerity is real, but his execution is always going to be imperfect because he is still Earl. He will mess things up. He will misunderstand. He will make questionable decisions. And somehow, often by accident, things will work out.
The best shows like My Name Is Earl
1. How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother shares Earl's investment in a close circle of people and their long, winding relationships with each other. The show's comedy emerges from how these characters know and affect each other over time, just as Earl's grows from his genuine, complicated bonds with Randy, Joy, Darnell, and Catalina.
Stream on Hulu, USA Network
Ended0%
2. Will & Grace
Will & Grace is a masterclass in friendship as the foundation of a show. The two leads have a rapport that needs almost no explanation, and the show trusts that their dynamic is funny and touching on its own, much like Earl's trust in the relationship between Earl and Randy as the heart of the whole series.
Stream on Hulu
Ended0%
3. Shifting Gears
Shifting Gears places an imperfect person in a situation that requires him to change, but the comedy comes from how that person actually is, not who he might become. Matt and Earl are both stubborn men forced to care about other people, and both shows find humor in that genuine conflict.
Stream on Disney Plus, Hulu, YouTube TV
Likely Renewed62%
4. Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is built on a father-son relationship where both people drive each other crazy but ultimately depend on each other, a dynamic that mirrors Earl and Randy. The show balances the specific sting of their arguments with real affection underneath.
Stream on Peacock Premium, YouTube TV, Philo, Peacock Premium Plus
Ended0%
5. One Day at a Time
One Day at a Time focuses on a household of people bound together by necessity and circumstance, where comedy emerges from how they navigate real problems and still support each other. It shares Earl's understanding that struggle and humor can exist in the same moment.
Ended0%
More on shows like My Name Is Earl
Fans of Earl are drawn to character-driven comedies where the characters matter more than the premises, where genuine warmth exists alongside genuine weirdness, and where messy real people navigate an imperfect world without a laugh track tidying up every moment. The best Earl episodes are not about whether Earl will succeed in his redemption list. They are about who Earl is as a person, what he cares about, and how he relates to the people around him.
The shows recommended here all share something fundamental with Earl: they are built on character chemistry and the specific ways people care about each other despite their flaws. How I Met Your Mother follows a group of friends through years of their lives with the same focus on relationships and small, specific moments. Will & Grace depends entirely on the dynamic between two people who genuinely get each other. Sanford and Son is a classic sitcom built on the friction and love between a father and son. One Day at a Time traces a struggling household where people need each other to survive. Shifting Gears puts a stubborn old man and his estranged family together and watches what happens when they have to learn to coexist. None of these shows promise easy answers, and all of them understand that comedy comes from who people are, not just from their circumstances.
More shows like My Name Is Earl
Frequently asked
- What is the most popular show like My Name Is Earl?
- How I Met Your Mother is the most popular show similar to My Name Is Earl in the IsItRenewed catalogue.
- Are shows like My Name Is Earl still on the air?
- Of the 9 shows similar to My Name Is Earl listed here, 0 currently carry a renewed verdict — the rest are cancelled, ended, or awaiting a decision.
- How does IsItRenewed pick shows like My Name Is Earl?
- The recommendations come from TMDB's similar-titles data, and each is shown with its current AI renewal verdict so you know which are still going.