Scrubs Diagnosis: Wanderlust

Actors on godawful series thank their lucky stars every time that their audiences shrink. But, since Zach Braff headlines the cast of NBC's sublime hospital sitcom Scrubs, he's kinda eager for more viewers to tune in. Unfortunately, frequent time-slot changes have made a chore of finding his show, never mind getting hooked on it. This week, for example, the show has yet another brand-new berth: tonight at 9:30 pm/ET.

"My parents called and told me they sometimes can't figure out when we're on," the endearingly dorky 28-year-old says. "So [if we just stayed in one place] that would be two more people who would be watching every week."

On the plus side, outside of the United States, Braff and Co. are revered like the A-listers of Friends. Who knew "zany" lost so little in translation? "I had thought of Scrubs as such an American show," he notes. "There's a lot of pop-culture references to [the States]. Yet when we went on a big press tour down in South America, it was one of their most popular shows. We were huge!"

In time, Braff is confident that the hoopla will reach his native land. As a matter of fact, he thinks that, secretly, it already might have. "Because we move around a lot, it may be hard for the Nielsens to show that. But, to us, it feels like the audience is growing." If he's mistaken, there's always international syndication. "My friend just got back from Israel and said it was everyone's favorite show there. That made me feel cool."