ABC Picks Up Scrubs, Announces Schedule
May 13, 2008

ABC officially announced their 2008-2009 schedule this morning and the rumors were true - Scrubs has been saved from the bin of cancellation and will move from NBC to ABC in the middle of next season. The network has yet to pick a time slot for the show, as it won't premiere at the beginning of the season, but the plot synopsis in this morning's press release from ABC also seems to answer a question of Scrubs fans worldwide - would everyone come back? According to the release, Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes, John C. McGinley, Ken Jenkins, and Neil Flynn all star in ABC's Scrubs. Spectacular news.

Of course, the Scrubs miracle renewal wasn't the only news this morning. Eli Stone fans will be happy to know that their series was saved from the axe and will return this fall along with a few other struggling freshmen from the 2007-2008 season - Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, and Samantha Who? Other returning series on the fall schedule include America's Funniest Home Videos, Boston Legal, Brothers & Sisters, Dancing With the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Grey's Anatomy, Supernanny, Ugly Betty, Wife Swap, and 20/20. Of course, Lost will return mid-season, along with According to Jim (do you believe it?!?!), The Bachelor, and Primetime: What Would You Do?. The new slate is small but comes with some pretty big names including Mike Judge's comedy The Goode Family, which will debut mid-season and, one would presume, is a likely partner with Scrubs (PLEASE don't pair the show with According to Jim, a David E. Kelley remake of the hit BBC show Life on Mars, Opportunity Knocks, and a new project from the team of Ashton Kutcher and Tyra Banks. Kutcher also produced Opportunity Knocks.

For the Fall, Monday nights will feature Dancing With the Stars, Samantha Who?, and Boston Legal. Tuesday nights start with the new reality show Opportunity Knocks, Dancing With the Stars, and Eli Stone. The pattern of three shows a night continues on Wednesday with Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, and Dirty Sexy Money and Thursdays feature Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy and Life on Mars. Fridays and Saturdays are all reality with Wife Swap, Supernanny, and 20/20 on the first night and college football on the second one. Sundays are the only night with more than three programs, as ABC puts out America's Funniest Home Videos, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters. If you've been paying attention, you'll notice that the Fall ABC schedule includes only two new shows and only one half-hour program. The writer's strike clearly affected development and probably kept a few struggling shows on the schedule.

As for the new shows, Life on Mars is described by ABC thusly, "“Life on Mars” is based on the BBC series created by Matthew Graham, Tony Jordan and Ashley Pharoah. The series revolves around Sam Tyler, a modern-day police detective who, after a car crash, mysteriously finds himself transported back to 1973 and still working as a detective." Opportunity Knocks is described as "“Opportunity Knocks” is a new show that breaks the mold of typical game and reality shows. We will be showing up on America’s doorstep and testing how well they know their family. Our mobile team will arrive at “Anywhere, America” in a semi-truck that is full of flat screen TVs, new furniture and big cash prizes that the family can win right there. We will take the action of a game show directly into our contestants’ homes, setting up shop in a family’s front lawn. The instant our host, JD Roth, knocks on the front door, the game will begin. Hollywood will invade a suburban neighborhood, and each week one lucky family will play the game of a lifetime in front of all their friends and neighbors. The host poses trivia questions to family members based directly on their lives, each other and articles found in and around their home. If they’re able to prove they know their family inside and out, they’ll win the prizes of their dreams."