'Scrubs' Lives on -- Officially -- at ABC

Network Unveils Fall Lineup With Few Additions

AP/AOL

Posted: 2008-05-13 14:38:41

Filed Under: TV News

NEW YORK (May 13) - "Scrubs" fans can officially breathe a sigh of relief -- the May 8 "Princess Bride"-themed episode was not the series finale.

After months of speculation that the medical sitcom would make the jump from NBC to ABC for an eighth and final season, ABC confirmed the move Monday when it unveiled its fall lineup. "Scrubs" will return midseason for an 18-episode run.

Zach Braff Photos

ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson, who has feuded with his NBC counterpart Ben Silverman over the comedy's fate, noted Tuesday that "Scrubs" had 17 different time slots at NBC and received little promotion.

In addition to "Scrubs," ABC will introduce only two new series in the fall, one of them scripted, in a schedule the network admits was severely affected by the 100-day TV writers strike.

The new David E. Kelley-produced drama, "Life on Mars," is about a police detective transported back to 1973. ABC gave it a plum Thursday time slot following "Grey's Anatomy."

The second new series, "Opportunity Knocks," is a game where producers show up at a home with a truckload of prizes and quiz family members on what they know about each other.

ABC is also picking up the NBC comedy "Scrubs" for midseason.

McPherson has been bold in the past in bringing forward new shows: ABC had eight last fall. But the strike impaired development. ABC has 17 series in development for midseason or beyond, but McPherson said he wasn't comfortable committing to new series unless pilots had been filmed.

"If you needed a ton of development for the fall schedule, the strike would have been a really bad bet," he said. "You'd have to rush it or put stuff on before you knew what it was."

The result is another chance for series that in normal years may not have gotten one, such as "Eli Stone," "Pushing Daisies" or "Dirty Sexy Money." Some longer-running shows considered on the bubble, "Boston Legal" and "According to Jim," were kept in production.

"Lost" will be back in midseason next year.

It was a good day for Ashton Kutcher, too. His production company is behind "Opportunity Knocks" and an untitled beauty pageant picked up for midseason. ABC also gave a midseason go-ahead to a Mike Judge animated series, "The Goode Family," about people obsessed with doing the right thing.

"Notes From the Underbelly," "October Road" and "Women's Murder Club" were left off ABC's schedule.

News programming was absent from the schedule, with the exception of the occasional "Primetime" series that sets up social situations and tests how people react.

Broadcast networks will need to make a special effort this fall to counter lingering effects of the strike, he said. ABC plans to devote more promotional time than it normally does to returning shows instead of new series, he said.

"We certainly saw the affect of the strike," McPherson said. "People found other things to do."

2008-05-13 10:16:47

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mitcheastmeck122 07:12:02 PM May 21 2008

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IT SHOULD BE OVER ON THECW SOON

etgumbyf82 07:19:12 PM May 14 2008

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zach braff loves benny castrejon

dvalentine63 05:01:00 PM May 14 2008

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We need more humor in this world. I, for one, am looking forward to its return!

LEGENDOF4060 04:25:26 PM May 14 2008

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I used to absolutely love "Scrubs"; but, I don't even watch it anymore, because it was no longer interesting to me. Like the last season or so of "Frasier", which once upon a time was my favorite show to watch, "Scrubs" ended up turning into nothing more than a show about how many girlfriends the main character could go through each couple of weeks. But, I haven't watched it in a minute. Has it gotten any better in anyone's opinion???

ReedSaysNey 02:38:03 PM May 14 2008

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yay! scrubs is definitely one of my two favorite shows and i cant wait to see it finally get the respect it deserves from ABC

IMACALIFQT 12:49:19 PM May 14 2008

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leesto36
how would you know if scrubs sucks unless you have watched it
now who is the moron

ccjc522c 10:57:49 AM May 14 2008

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BOO I love October Road and Notes From the Underbelly!!! I'm ticked!

ccjc522c 10:56:16 AM May 14 2008

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BOO I love October Road and Notes From the Underbelly!!! I'm ticked!

nwhillriders 12:02:32 AM May 14 2008

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Rock on Scrubs and Dr. Jan Itor.

nwhillriders 12:01:13 AM May 14 2008

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Rock on Scrubs and Dr. Jan Itor.

Leesto36 11:30:07 PM May 13 2008

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SCRUBS SUCKS! ONLY MORONS WATCH THIS CRAP!

kjkelly618 11:19:29 PM May 13 2008

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long live scrubs!!!!!!

limdel 10:48:25 AM May 13 2008

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is the life on mars show the excellent british tv show or has it been remade for america? if it's the original show it may bomb in the usa. it has a the sweeny type theme to it and everyone mentioned in it are all tv personalities of british tv. a lot of the humour will go over peoples heads.

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