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Updated: Scrubs moves to ABC, Readies Announcement on Season 8

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Jan 4, 2002
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Veteran comedy "Scrubs" is caught in a tug-of-war between NBC and ABC.

ABC is in negotiations to pick up 18 episodes of the series from ABC Studios, which has produced the comedy for NBC since 2001.

NBC brass are said to have been caught off guard when THR.com broke the story Thursday.

A network insider said NBC is still in "first negotiation period" -- a period of exclusive negotiations -- with ABC Studios.

ABC Studios chose not to respond.

Given the history between NBC and ABC Studios, which have been at odds over the quirky medical comedy since the get-go, industry observers are preparing for an ugly battle between the two over a series considered to be on its final lap.

A broadcast series switching networks, though often discussed during contract renewals, is a rare event. Recent network jumpers include "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (the WB Network to UPN) and "JAG" (NBC to CBS).

The WGA strike cut short NBC's 18-episode final season order for the Zach Braff medical series to 12 episodes. Sources said the network has been reluctant to order additional episodes for the fall, citing the fact that it already has some remaining originals in the can. NBC reportedly floated various endgame scenarios to producers, including ordering one final episode or producing the remaining episodes direct to DVD.

Details of the ABC deal are still being hammered out and negotiations are currently underway to bring back the show's cast -- including Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison, John C. McGinley and Judy Reyes (who already has a talent deal with ABC Studios).

After struggling in recent years to launch a hit comedy, ABC scored this season with freshman "Samantha Who?" The "Scrubs" pickup will give ABC another half-hour title with a built-in audience. It also makes financial sense for parent company Disney because ABC Studios produces the show.

ABC president of entertainment Steve McPherson has a history with "Scrubs," having developed the comedy during his tenure overseeing the studio when it was known as Touchstone Television. McPherson also has been vocal about his intent to pick up the show should NBC drop it.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i492e5ae858955bfeb599f446da50b913
 
NBC only has 5 episodes left to air, they might either scrap the rest of the season or do a direct to dvd. ABC studios owns the show and if NBC decides not to finish the series ABC would pick up the show and give it a true final season.
 
i can only pray.
i don't know why...but its my favorite tv series of all time (along with house)
:D
 
I'd like to see the end of the series, even though just about anybody can predict what's going to happen in the finale.
 
man, it's been awhile since i last posted....

but i'm glad it's about SCRUBS:D i love that show, as long as it's shown, i'm happy, if it goes to dvd, i'm paying.

currently working on owning all the seasons:D
 
Scrubs is my second favorite show, after Firefly. I own five of the six seasons that are out on DVD. I even bought the season pass on iTunes for season six when the broadcast time was inconvenient for me.
 
Is it just me or did Scrubs really falter after the fourth season? I haven't been following it lately but from what I've seen from the sixth seasons, etc., the show has lost its look and feel and just really isn't funny anymore...
 
1-3 were very solid seasons and probably the best. Season 4 began to lose the hilarity and irony, and Season 5 was very hit or miss (either really good or really bad.) Seasons 6-7 have too much baby stuff and has resorted to old time devices such as five hour long flashbacks and other characters poking fun at JD's narration.
 
Rereading this, I actually do remember hearing about this, very vaguely...
 
Scrubs: ABC Readies Announcement on Season 8

April 28, 2008 - Next week will see the final episode of Scrubs air on NBC… and yet at this moment, new episodes of the series are being produced. Scrubs is produced by ABC Studios, and it has been assumed for weeks now that ABC will be airing an 8th season of the series. However, there has still been no confirmation from either the network or anyone involved in the show, even as production has resumed following the writers' strike that shortened the seventh season, which was originally intended to be the last.

This past week I spoke to Scrubs star Sarah Chalke on the set of How I Met Your Mother, where she was filming her second guest appearance. I asked her if she could clarify the current situation with Scrubs: Season 8, noting it was a bit confusing, and she replied, "I can't! And it is [confusing]!" She added, "We're just going to work and filming them and keeping our fingers crossed."

Chalke told me Scrubs was, "The best job I ever had. It's very strange, because everyone's sort of just trying to enjoy every last second that we get to do it. We didn't know if [season] seven would be our last, and now we're just so lucky that we're getting to come back and shoot some more and, post-strike, for the writers and [Scrubs creator] Bill Lawrence to get to finish the show the way he wants to."

Meanwhile, the Hollywood Reporter is noting that it's "the worst-kept secret in Hollywood" that Scrubs is moving to ABC and that, "The long-pending deal for ABC to pick up 18 episodes of Scrubs for next season is effectively, pretty much, essentially, done." However, they note that while the show has been back in production for weeks, "cast and crew have been encouraged to keep quiet."

Hollywood Reporter says ABC is planning to confirm their acquisition of Scrubs at their Upfront presentation in May. While it isn't unusual for networks to sit on announcements until the Upfronts, the Reporter says ABC also wants to allow Scrubs to end its NBC run before making this particular announcement. When word of Scrubs moving to ABC first leaked, NBC accused ABC of making the deal without NBC being offered their contractual right of first refusal to pick up the series for another season. Since then, ABC and NBC have mended fences, but ABC doesn't want to cause any new tension by making their announcement until after what is now the Season 7 finale, airing May 8th on NBC.
 
NBC doesn't have that much, they could at least burn the last couple of shows off. Couldn't be that bad for them. Fox had the same problem with Drive and Firefly. The last 2 episodes of Drive went to MySpace and Firefly went to DVD, after which Scifi showed all of them. ABC had a bunch of Drew Carey episodes left and just burned them off during the Summer, also showed in syndication.

I work with network and industry people, and even though you probably already knew this, I can confirm that yes, most of them are idiots.
 
Just read all this on Zack Braff's Blog:
A Funny Interview with Scrubs creator, Bill Lawrence
You gotta love my good friend, Bill Lawrence; he never censors himself.
This was in TV Guide:

Scrubs Boss Blasts NBC, Previews "Serious" Changes


One of the many reasons I love Bill Lawrence is that the dude doesn't mince words. At a time when sound-bites have become as carefully crafted as a Martha Stewart petit four, Bill continues to tell it like it is. And on the heels of the official confirmation that Scrubs is headed to ABC for an 18-episode final season, he has a lot to tell. About the show's network-hop. About the beef he has with the suits at NBC. And about the somewhat radical changes in store for J.D. and Co.

Why'd it take so long to announce this thing?
Bill Lawrence: As I understand it, it was legally very important not to say anything officially until after the show had finished its run on NBC.

What led to the break-up with NBC?
Lawrence: When the strike ended, we told NBC that, even though we had another seven episodes mapped out, we could do it in three, and they just didn't have any interest. Total harsh buzz of not giving a **** about a show that had been on the network for seven years and made them millions of dollars. And I'd be more bitter, except that it worked out good for us.

They didn't want to do any kind of wrap-up?
Lawrence: Not only did they not want to do any kind of wrap-up, but they took an episode that was supposed to air in the middle of the season — the fairytale episode — and marketed it as a series finale. Which was bulls--t. It was never supposed to be a series finale, much less a season finale, and I think it ended up getting judged kind of harshly because of it. If it was just a regular episode that people had tuned into I think they would've thought it was cool and funny.

I was under the impression NBC was willing to give you one episode to finish things off. No?
Lawrence: Well, here's the thing. When the strike ended, NBC said, "You can shoot an hour-long finale, but we'll only pay for half of it." They wanted [ABC Studios] to suck up all the expenses, and ABC said that was unacceptable. And it felt especially harsh because Scrubs was pulling in better [ratings] than 30 Rock and My Name is Earl — even though I love those two shows — and they were encouraged to do as many f--king episodes as they can after the strike. And after seven years, I ask for three episodes to wrap up the series and they say, "Tough ****."

How do you go from three episodes on NBC to 18 on ABC?
Lawrence: It was weird, man. I was thinking we'd put these last six episodes on DVD, just so we can wrap the show up and be proud of it, but the head of ABC Studios, Mark Pedowitz, said, "Bill, if you can make the show a little cheaper, I can probably get us a full season on ABC." I didn't answer right away. The first thing I did was call the cast and the writers together and I said, "Look, if we're going to do this, we have to get back to something we creatively can all be excited about." Because, personally, I felt like this past season we were less than inspired comedically. So I said to them, "This means you guys working harder. It means having emotional stakes and losing all the goofy, broad stuff that I think is easy to write… " And everyone said they were on board for one more season.

Will the show still be a comedy?
Lawrence: It's still a comedy, but when we first did the show, it was a drama with elements of comedy and lots of stupid sound effects. But some of the strongest episodes in the second and third year had character comedy. You can still do things like kill Brendan Fraser and have the lady that loved musical theater die and then sing a song at the end. This became a very Simpsons-esque show with incredibly broad, unrealistic moments and fantasies that were both in reality and not in reality. When you've been writing this show for seven years, it's so easy to get into these patterns of writing the same jokes over and over: J.D. loves Turk, J.D. wants Dr. Cox's approval, Elliot's whiny and neurotic. But this year the stuff is really f--king good. I think our old stand-by fans are really going to dig these shows.

Is Ken Jenkins (Kelso) still a series regular?
Lawrence: He's still a series regular. The core of his participation this year is with Dr. Cox, who becomes Chief of Medicine. Now that Dr. Kelso is no longer a hospital bureaucrat, he is actually a decent human being and is Dr. Cox's confidant because Cox can't really talk to anyone else about how much that job sucks.

I heard you were looking to cast a new Chief.
Lawrence: That's just a piece of stunt casting that we're going to do for three episodes.

Talk to me about these budget cuts that ABC requested. Are we going to notice anything missing?
Lawrence: No. We have a smaller writing staff and we're filming the show in four-and-a-half days instead of five. And, you'll never notice it because we have so many actors on the show, but every cast member is taking two episodes off.

Even Zach?
Lawrence: Even Zach. Remember, I've done one or two episodes every year where J.D. isn't in the show except for one line, and some other character has the voiceover. It wasn't all that noticeable. It just looks like a cool creative choice.
Click to expand...
 
Wow. Thanks for that, iTeen.

I'm glad Bill Lawrence also sees my complaint about how the show has become a routine comedy with the same jokes recently. It sounds like Season 8 will go back to the style of the earlier seasons; the ones I enjoyed the most.

Oh, and NBC does sound pretty careless.
 
So who saw the first two episodes? I thought the last two seasons were kind of weak, but that these two new episodes were actually really good. Kind of reminded me of pre-Season 6 stuff. Maybe they actually will go out on a high note!
 
MattG said:
So who saw the first two episodes? I thought the last two seasons were kind of weak, but that these two new episodes were actually really good. Kind of reminded me of pre-Season 6 stuff. Maybe they actually will go out on a high note!
Click to expand...
Yea I thought the new episodes were really good, and the 2nd one was actually really deep. They better keep it up!
Scrubs FTW!
 
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