Last spring, ABC renewed venerable comedy Scrubs and newbie Better Off Ted, despite their low ratings. Now that they’re back, the network is in a hurry to get rid of them.
Scrubs follows hospital life as seen through the eyes of Dr. J.D. Dorian (Zach Braff). After having left Sacred Heart last season, he’s returned to help teach a new crop of med students. Others in the current cast include Donald Faison, John C. McGinley, Ken Jenkins, Sarah Chalke, Eliza Coupe, Kerry Bishe, Michael Mosley, and Dave Franco.
Better Off Ted follows Ted Crisp (Jay Harrington) and the other employees at Veridian Dynamics, a heartless technology company. The rest of the cast includes Andrea Anders, Jonathan Slavin, Malcolm Barrett, and Portia de Rossi.
Based simply on the ratings, neither ABC sitcom should have been renewed last season. Scrubs had dwindled to an average of 4.97 million viewers and a 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic. It was ultimately saved because ABC’s production studio produces the show and another season would bring more money in syndication.
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Last May, Better Off Ted had only aired half of its completed episodes and was averaging a disappointing 1.76 rating and 4.39 million. Though the ratings were quite low, ABC decided to bring the sitcom back for another season. The network programmers supposedly liked the pairing of Ted and Scrubs and hoped that the ratings would improve. When the network began airing the rest of Ted’s first season during the summer, the ratings dropped much further, to an average of 0.74 in the demo and 2.09 million viewers.
The sitcoms have now both returned for the 2009-10 schedule and the ratings are still terrible. Scrubs kicked off this season with a low 2.0 rating in the demo and only 4.5 million viewers. The numbers have dropped since then and last Tuesday’s episode brought in a 1.8 rating and 4.26 million.
Ted debuted with a 1.5 in the demo and 3.82 million. Last week’s installment attracted just a 1.3 and 3.18 million.
To little surprise, ABC has decided to burn off the unaired episodes of both series as quickly as possible. Single installments of each sitcom will air tomorrow night and on the 29th. On New Year’s Day, two episodes of Ted and one of Scrubs will follow the Rose Bowl Game. Then, beginning on January 5th, two installments of each sitcom will run on Tuesday nights. By the end of the month, both sitcoms are expected to have run through their full 13 episode orders.
While the network hasn’t indicated that either series has been cancelled, the decision to burn through the seasons in 60 days certainly isn’t a vote of confidence. Neither Scrubs nor Ted is expected to return, especially in light of the much better performance from newcomers Modern Family and Cougar Town.
What do you think? Do you think Better Off Ted and Scrubs will be cancelled? Will you be sorry to see either one end?
Image courtesy ABC.
I love BOT, the dialogues are hilarious, Portia de Rossi is at her best and the scientist pairing is always pitch perfect. I will be sad to see this show go… What a great cast!
Replacing “Better Off Ted” with “Cougar Town” and “American Family”? Okay, it’s time for “Scrubs” to go, I’ll give you that. The novelty’s gone, the plot lines have been milked, it’s time to put that one into syndication and be done. But BOT is just hitting it’s stride. It’s funny, it’s original, and the cast is brilliant. So, naturally, put it in a time slot that nobody can find and then cancel it because of ratings. Next season, you could get rid of the writers and hire the hacks from Fox that were doing the final season of “Arrested Development”… Read more »
I just found BOT on hulu and thought it was hilarious! I think it’s my new favorite. ABC did not promote it well, because I kind of remember ads for it during Lost, but it didn’t catch my attention. If they would have showed clips from the show, with all that great witty dialogue, I may have tuned in before!
BoT is suffering the same fate as Andy Richter Controls the Universe (also Victor Fresco). Time slot/day changes ruined any chance the show had to gain momentum, then the network got impatient and cancelled. Sad.
I had given up on Network TV until someone mentioned BOT. The writing was so unbelievably witty I was an instant addict. When I’d burned through all the available episodes on the Internet I tried Cougar Town and Modern Family and turned each off in disgust after 10 minutes. I guess I’ll be going back to Netflix.
I love Better Off Ted, but I kinda wish that they would cancel it so I don’t have to watch ABC anymore.
Better off Ted should not be canceled!
I will definitely miss Better Off Ted.
But, I’m used to ABC murdering every show that showed a bit of creativity and heart like what Scrubs and Better Off Ted. =/
Both shows, by the way, are twice as creative as “Cougar Town” will EVER be.
Better off Ted is way to funny to be canceled. Are you kidding me. There has to be another reason for the low ratings. What a shame. Of course, I have to admit, I don’t watch any TV except for the Vikings. I just google “Better off Ted” and I find it online.
Scrubs is funny too. Too bad.
Our family loves Better Off Ted! It’s so much better than most of the sit-coms.
If ted is cancelled, that’s just sad. The show is awesome and hilarious. I’m constantly rewinding just b/c something made me laugh so hard. The concept is great and so are all the characters. I fully agree with the statements saying it didn’t get as big a following as it should b/c it kept getting moved. On top of that though, it was also never advertised so how are people even going to be reminded of it. It looks like Portia de Rossi will have been in 2 of the best and most underappreciated sitcoms of this era (BoT &… Read more »
I would miss BOT like burning. It’s so quirky and random, it’s a pleasure to watch.
Ted is the best show the networks offer – by far. I watch each episode numerous times and laugh even more with each viewing. I cannot believe they are going to cancel it.
I would miss Better Off Ted! It’s such a funny show and Portia is awesome at the dead pan jokes. It’s great writing.
In all honesty Better Off Ted is just too intelligent of a comedy for today’s audiences. Arrested Development had the same problem. Without slapstick or a “clown” character these comedies rely on verbal jokes that fly over your average inattentive watcher’s head. Put Better Off Ted on after Lost and watch the viewers increase.