Scrubs resuscitated on ABC

After years spent likes some neglected step-child on NBC, Scrubs is back for another season, but this time on ABC. And from all accounts, this last-minute extension has revitalized the show, with less trying-too-hard weirdness that's been around the past few seasons, and more of the type of show that captured a fanbase in the first few seasons that stuck with them through 9 timeslot changes over 7 years on NBC.

Alan Sepinwall's had a look at the first 2 new episodes and the prognosis is good. He proclaims the second of the two episodes on tonight is one of the best Scrubs episodes in its entire run, on far and in tone with the classic "My Old Lady" from Season 1 where a young JD (Zach Braff) takes the death of patient hard. I've loved this show from the start, but I found the past few seasons I had started to watch out of habit more than anything else. JD had turned into a man-child who despite 7 years of talking about what he was learning, never seemed to actually grow-up. But I stuck it through and there are gems in there, and now things are looking up since last time I checked in on the crew at Sacred Heart Hospital:

The past season has seen great work from the actors, but some lousy plotting. "Scrubs" has slipped down from my #1 TV comedy spot, as it is now bring up the rear behind "The Office" and "How I Met Your Mother". If "30 Rock" comes strong next season, it's going to slip further. I've got faith that the "Scrubs" can turn it around in the home stretch, now that a firm end is in sight.

By all accounts, the new season of Scrubs which starts Tuesday January 6th shouldn't exist. When the writer's strike came about last year, NBC denied Scrubs the opportunity to produce a small number of episodes to effectively end the series. In fact they outright said that was it for them. But in came ABC to offer an 18-episode eighth season. An ABC has been promoting the move heavily - I don't think I've seen more commercials for Scrubs on ABC in the past month then in all the years on NBC. They even have a slick new website set up with video clips, interviews with the cast and primers on the show:
Scrubs operating at ABC

It's likely the last season of Scrubs in it's current form. Producer Bill Lawrence and actor Zach Braff are both moving on after this season. But if ratings are decent, ABC may bring the show back in some incarnation or another next year. The show is in syndication, DVD sales are good, and once you remove Braff and Lawrence's salaries it's cheaper to continue the show then to produce new pilots. We'll see how it goes.

ABC (and City TV in Canada) is running back-to-back new episodes tonight. But really, what it comes down to, is any excuse to run Turk's dancing to Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison" (updated: oh well, looks like Uncle Walt pulled the clip):