Brace yourselves, Raising Hope fans: there are some major changes headed to Natesville next season. Maw Maw will still be viciously honest, Jimmy will remain awkwardly adorable, and Hope will still hold the title of the cutest baby on your TV screens — but the show’s creator Greg Garcia will not be back for its recently announced fourth season.
Hollywood.com confirms that Garcia will be stepping down as showrunner of his FOX comedy and naming Mike Mariano as his successor. As first reported by Deadline, Garcia, who recently inked a four-year contract with CBS Entertainment, is stepping down to work on his two new pilots — Super Clyde, starring Harry Potter’s Rupert Grint, and a comedy centered around Will Arnett.
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But let’s address the most important question: Is this showrunner switcharoo going to affect the always-eccentric adventures of the Chance family? Nope!
Mariano is already familiar with the outrageous characters Garcia created, having served as an executive producer and writer on the comedy since 2010. And if you’re worried that our beloved My Name is Earl reunions and Easter eggs will soon disappear, we have great news: Mariano also worked with Garcia on the short-lived yet still-missed NBC comedy, so we’re pretty confident that he’s still got Jason Lee’s number on speed dial. Phew!
Keep in mind TV viewers, this change-up is completely different from the Dan Harmon fiasco that plagued Community. Garcia’s decision to step down from the show was his choice, and it’s clear that he has left our favorite dysfunctional family in very capable and familiar hands. So let’s all exhale a collective sigh of relief and just enjoy the fact that the Chance family will be faced with an entirely new set of hilarious problems next year.
Follow Leanne on Twitter @LeanneAguilera
[Photo Credit: Jordin Althaus/FOX]
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