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More Chuck, Less Trauma, and Scrubs On the Way!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:30:24 -0700

Earlier this week I broke down the ins and outs of Fall TV with my scorecard, but there are a few new developments to add. First, we've got another one to add to the R.I.P. list - NBC has pulled the plug on Trauma, and the show will be removed from the lineup after the initial 13 episodes are aired. I can't say I'm particularly sad about this development, since it means good news for one of my favorites: NBC has ordered six more episodes of Chuck, which was originally intended to have a shortened season. Plus, now that Trauma is out, it's more likely that Chuck will be back even sooner than March!

That's not all the news for today: the new (and improved?) Scrubs is officially on its way, with the season premiere scheduled for December 1 at 9 p.m. Hopefully the show will add some much-needed punch to the Tuesday night lineup which is a little lackluster right now.

So, will you miss Trauma? Or are you too excited about more Chuck and Scrubs to care?

Meet the New Scrubs, Not Exactly Like the Old Scrubs

BuzzSugar — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:30:16 -0700

"Scrubs is over. I wrote the finale." That's what Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence told me Saturday night at ABC's party at the TCA press tour. It might seem like an odd thing to say, considering that the show is very much alive and well on ABC's schedule - so Lawrence explained a little more.

"I'm writing the first Scrubs like it's a new pilot," he said, moving the setting to medical school and introducing a new cast to surround a few of our Sacred Heart regulars. He even wanted to change the name of the show (to Scrubs Med), but that didn't fly with the network, which wanted to keep the Scrubs brand.

Viewers will see plenty of familiar characters, though: John C. McGinley, Donald Faison, and Eliza Coupe are all regulars, and Zach Braff will be around for at least the show's first six episodes. Lawrence and the show's production team built a new set, shooting medical school scenes in a building across from a slightly renovated version of Sacred Heart. And when the characters head out of the classroom and into the hospital, they'll see other familiar faces (including Judy Reyes, Sarah Chalke, Ken Jenkins, and Neil Flynn - who apparently wrote his own exit from the show) whom Lawrence can hire for an episode or two at a time.

Three new major characters will also be introduced; the "new, young actors" are testing with the network this coming week for their roles. And while the tone will be similar to Scrubs (actually, Lawrence described it as Paper Chase with a hospital set), the show's focus truly will be "21-year-old students in med school starting their first day of hospital care."

Lawrence promises Scrubs 2.0 won't be "a lame, pale imitation" of what we've already seen, and that certainly makes me more curious to tune in when the show returns next season after Dancing with the Stars finishes its next run. What about you?

Scrubs Goes to Med School For Season Nine

BuzzSugar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:50:34 -0700

The return of Scrubs for a ninth season was one of the more surprising stories of this year's Upfronts, and ever since, I've been curious to see how creator Bill Lawrence plans to make things work now that Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, and many of the show's other stars won't be back full-time. Well, now we have an answer: Scrubs 2.0 will move from Sacred Heart to medical school, turning Turk (Donald Faison) and Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) into professors for a new crop of up-and-coming young doctors.

As Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly:

It's going to be a different show. It'll still be life-and-death stakes, but if the show is just Scrubs again in the hospital with a different person's voiceover, it would be a disaster and people would be mad.

Sacred Heart will still be a part of the show, even if it's not the primary setting: The students Cox and Turk teach will rotate through its halls and, presumably, encounter some familiar characters along the way.

As for those students, Lawrence suggests we should expect "half the cast, if not 60 percent of it" to consist of new faces - though Braff, Chalke, Judy Reyes, and Ken Jenkins will all be making guest appearances. Of the newbies, one "will be fairly famous," as ABC reportedly wants Lawrence to hire a big name for the role.

Do you think Scrubs can make the jump from hospital to classroom? Or do you wish - despite what Lawrence thought - that we'd just be staying put in the same ol' Sacred Heart? And what do you think of the idea of Turk heading up a classroom?

Buzz News Roundup, 5/20

BuzzSugar — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:30:47 -0700

Working Title production company is developing a live musical version of their hit Bridget Jones's Diary films. - Variety
Focus Features has set George Clooney to play an assassin in A Very Private Gentleman, an adaptation of the Martin Booth novel. - ComingSoon
American Idol's Tuesday show was the lowest rated finale performance episode of the series. - TV Week
A contemporary, 3-D adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's classic story The Fall of the House of Usher is in the works. - The Hollywood Reporter
Scrubs could possibly be set somewhere other than Sacred Heart next season. - TV Guide
Green Day topped this week's album sales charts. - Billboard
George Orwell's Catalonia will get a big screen adaptation with Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey attached to star. - ComingSoon
The CW's Fall plans: hot singles, hot vampires, hot models. - TV.com
Oscar nominee Melissa Leo will play the mother to Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale's characters in The Fighter. - Variety

Source

Listen Up: The Scrubs Finale Song "The Book of Love"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:30:19 -0700

Scrubs has always been creative with its music, and on Wednesday's maybe season finale, maybe series finale, the show knocked it out of the park once more. As JD prepares to leave Sacred Heart one last time, he envisions a possible future for himself, filmed in old-school home movie style. Playing behind the montage is Peter Gabriel's take on "The Book of Love," originally recorded for the Shall We Dance soundtrack.

That song's always guaranteed to get me a little weepy, but I actually prefer the original version, from the Magnetic Fields album 69 Love Songs. You can check out both versions for yourself - and watch that final Scrubs blooper reel - if you read more.

TV Tonight: The Scrubs Finale

BuzzSugar — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:30:00 -0700

It's hard to know what exactly to call tonight's episode of Scrubs. Series finale? Season finale? The Last Time You'll See Zach Braff On Scrubs Except Maybe That's Not Even True?

This was all a bit more clear-cut a year ago, when Scrubs made the leap from NBC to ABC for what was supposed to be its final season. Braff said he was done (though he's said he'd be willing to drop by again), and creator Bill Lawrence started working on another show. But within the past few months, there have been rumblings that Scrubs could keep going, even without Braff, Lawrence, or any of the other original cast members who move on to other jobs.

So maybe we should just call tonight JD's big farewell and leave it at that? The episode takes place during his final shift at Sacred Heart, and it's designed to give closure to a number of storylines. Whether we need that closure or not remains to be seen, but it looks like it should be a sweet reward for Scrubs fans who have stuck by the show for all these years. Will you be watching the finale - and do you think it should be the last episode of Scrubs ever? To check out a couple of clips, just read more.

Scrubs Could Return For a Ninth Season

BuzzSugar — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:15:54 -0700

I was so excited when ABC picked up Scrubs from NBC last year, because I thought that would give the show an opportunity to go out with the kind of finale it deserved. Well, that finale is just a week away now - and there's word that it might not be the end of the show after all.

This isn't the first time we've heard Scrubs renewal buzz, but it's starting to seem more serious, considering that ABC and Executive Producer Bill Lawrence are reportedly talking about budget and which cast members could return for a possible ninth season. Zach Braff has said this season would be his last, and several of the others (Donald Faison, John C. McGinley, and Neil Flynn among them) have been cast in pilots that are currently under consideration. But that wouldn't necessarily keep some or all of them from returning part-time, and the show does have a new crop of interns who could keep things going.

Scrubs hasn't exactly been going crazy in the ratings, but apparently it's been consistent enough that ABC might want to keep it around. And the Hollywood Reporter suggests that its renewal could mean good things for Better Off Ted, too, as there's talk of "possibly extending the pairing into next season." But would people keep watching Scrubs for another year - especially if the original cast members were only around occasionally? Has the show already told its best stories, or is there life in it yet?

Should Jack Bauer - and Scrubs - Keep Coming Back?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 07:30:30 -0700

Jack is (officially) back! Kiefer Sutherland said he's totally on board for an eighth season of 24, which is supposed to start shooting in May. Sutherland likened 24 to a girlfriend that had been really good to him and said he'd continue to play Jack Bauer as long as the writers keep the character alive.

24's seventh season sure took a while to get off the ground, but once it started, it got a pretty positive initial reaction and has held fairly steady in the ratings. But few shows this year see an eighth season. Is there enough going on in 24 to keep it fresh for another season-long "day"?

It's interesting to consider that alongside what's happening with Scrubs. The show's current season is widely presumed to be its last, but there's a new report that ABC's entertainment president would be happy to bring the show back for a ninth season - if Zach Braff agreed to do a handful of episodes. It might seem like a long shot, but Braff did say he'd like to come back to Scrubs even if he wasn't a full-time cast member anymore.

Now, if ABC is serious, they might want to move fast, since Donald Faison and John C. McGinley have landed roles in new pilots and creator Bill Lawrence is keeping himself busy working with Courteney Cox on Cougar Town. But this rumor raises a bigger question for me: Would we even want a ninth season of Scrubs or an eighth of 24? Is there a time that shows should just move over and make room for the next new thing?

Photo courtesy of Fox

TV Tonight: The Muppets Take Sacred Heart

BuzzSugar — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:35:28 -0800

When the puppets of Avenue Q stopped by Scrubs a while back, the result was a fun and slightly off-color musical romp through Sacred Heart. Tonight, some more familiar Muppets - including Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and Elmo - are swinging by the hospital, and while this episode seems a little sweeter, it looks like it will still have a lot of laughs.

I mean, just look at that picture! In this episode, Oscar briefly pretends to be the new chief of medicine, Grover goes around looking for a "high four," and Elmo tries to make the blunt Denise care. But I'm not sure how well that's going to turn out; the official episode description says "J.D. learns the hard way that not even Elmo can teach the gift of compassion to those who don't care to learn."

Oh, and the episode's title? "My ABC's." Of course! To check out a couple of clips, read more.

ABC Launches Thursday Comedy Lineup in March

BuzzSugar — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:30:05 -0800

ABC revealed some major changes to its comedy lineup today, and maybe the biggest news of all is that the network will be challenging NBC head-on by launching a Thursday comedy block of its own.

Starting March 26, Samantha Who? will air at 8 p.m. Thursdays, followed by the new comedy In the Motherhood. That means Samantha will be battling My Name is Earl, while Motherhood will have a head start on its major competitor, the new Amy Poehler show, which premieres April 9. The new comedy block means Ugly Betty will take a hiatus (though ABC says it will return once the comedies have finished their runs).

There are a couple of other changes in the works, too: Scrubs will move to Wednesdays at 8 p.m. starting March 18, leading into the new series Better Off Ted at 8:30 p.m. (That makes way for the Dancing with the Stars results show to take over Tuesdays in the Spring.)

What do you make of the news? Do you think ABC's comedies can take on NBC's? And will you miss Betty?