I saw in the Biz column that ...
Question: I saw in the Biz
column that NBC has not yet decided if they will renew
Scrubs. So this leads to a series of questions: Why would a network that has a limited number of quality shows even think about letting one of them go off the air? If the show is struggling, why does NBC refuse to put it on Thursday, where it could become part of a great comedy lineup? Finally, if it isn't renewed by NBC, could it be picked up by ABC? I think I read that someone at ABC was part of the team that developed it for NBC. I really do hope it survives, because it is a shame to see shows go off the air that have some sense of originality and can actually make you laugh. Thanks for the time.
Answer: All are legitimate questions, and most have been asked repeatedly during a season when NBC often treated
Scrubs, despite its Emmy nominations and general acclaim, as if it were toxic and contagious. We've speculated before that if NBC dropped
Scrubs at this point, ABC might jump at it, given that the show is produced by Touchstone (also part of ABC's parent company, Disney) and that ABC's entertainment president ran Touchstone when
Scrubs was developed. That's still a guess, and for all I know the show may be getting prohibitively expensive to produce as it gets older. We may have to wait until May to see what NBC does, and then to see if ABC will counter with a pickup. But should NBC drop
Scrubs, let's just say it won't be the first jaw-droppingly clueless move the network has made in recent times.
On another Scrubs front, this from Jim: "I think it's time for some overdue praise for Donald Faison and the amazing work he's doing this season on Scrubs. The "Poison" performance alone is Emmy-worthy and is one of the main reasons the show is having one of its best seasons ever. Can you think of some other veteran shows that have been recharged by supporting cast members, such as Matt LeBlanc in the last seasons of Friends?"
Quite a few shout-outs to Donald Faison lately, so happy to pass it on. But I'm not sure Scrubs needed "recharging." The ensemble cast has always been a scream, up and down the line. To answer your final question (though I usually duck ones that are this broad), one show came to mind: Everybody Loves Raymond, which found new avenues of comedy in later seasons when Amy's family was introduced, including Chris Elliot, Fred Willard and especially the uproarious Georgia Engel.
