TCA Press Tour: Todd Holland says 'Sons of Tucson' is the anti-'My Name is Earl'

Fox's "Sons of Tucson" is a new comedy following three brothers who hire a slacker-turned-schemer to stand in as their father when the real one goes to prison.

It's a premise not entirely unlike NBC's recently canned "My Name Is Earl," which starred Jason Lee as a slacker hillbilly trying to make good. 

But "Sons" executive producer Todd Holland says, if anything, his new show is "the anti-'Earl.' "

"We heard about 'Earl' a lot" while the show was being developed, he said. "So we really worked hard" to distinguish it. 

Holland said the show was much more a hybrid of his previous series "Malcolm in the Middle" and "The Larry Sanders Show."

"Sons of Tucson" stars Tyler Labine, who most recently starred in "Reaper," as the dad-for-hire. Matthew Levy, Frank Dolce and Benjamin Stockham play his surrogate sons.

Asked about the cancellation of "Reaper," Labine said the "writing was on the wall for a long time."

"I love that show. It was a real point of pride for me," he said. "I didn't jump ship." He said he was "just being a smart actor" when he took the next job.

"Sons of Tucson" premieres March 14 at 9:30 p.m.

-- Denise Martin

Photo: Benjamin Stockham, Tyler Labine, Frank Dolce and Matthew Levy in "Sons of Tucson." Credit: Fox