Greg Garcia in Los Angeles on Sunday. (AP)

Los Angeles, Aug. 28 (Reuters): Who says you have to say thank you at an awards ceremony?

Producer and writer Greg Garcia did not have the time to thank everybody who helped him win an Emmy for writing My Name is Earl last night. So he talked about the people he didn’t want to thank. It may have been an Emmy acceptance speech breakthrough — trashing the people who annoyed you on the way to the top.

“My eighth-grade social studies teacher who told me to sit down and shut up because I wasn’t funny. No, thank you Mr McAdoo,” Garcia said from the stage of the 58th annual Emmy Awards amid laughter. He added: “My boss when I was a production assistant on the show Step by Step who made me clean the gum off the executive producer’s shoe. .... And finally God. I am sure you are responsible in some way, but you took my hair and that’s not cool man.”

Backstage, the balding Garcia assured reporters he was only “ribbing” God, but the other two remained on his list.