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.
Loading ...
|
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 absolutely completely and utterly am in love with Better Off Ted! It is by far one of, if not THE funniest show on TV! ABC should seriously keep it because it is fantastic! Makes me laugh every episode. Keep this show!
Scrubs is not the same with Bill Lawrence gone, so while it has been my favorite sitcom for many years it is now time to go. Better off Ted on the other hand is now along with Modern Family one of the greatest sitcoms on TV! I laugh my you know what off with every episode. ABC should not give up on the show and move it to a better slot.
Well put PortlandBob! I couldn’t agree more. Ted is drop dead hilarious and charming…. everything that the old scrubs was and the new “scrubs” is not. I don’t let Ted become another arrested development.
Better Off Ted is far away the best thing on TV for comedy. However, Modern Family and The Middle are great too. ABC!!!! What are you thinking get rid of TED! This is a new fresh fun show with just a bit of bite. It reminds me of Seinfeld and a little of Moon Lighting. Quick and fun. It pokes fun in a fun way and being set in an office works!!
Jay Harrington is hot, I wish they’d show his cute butt more.
Better Off Ted is a refreshing, bold and vibrant portion of the comedy/sitcoms genre with witty, engaging dialogue, diversified characters and actors who portrayal in their respective roles have kept me coming back for reruns via http://www.hulu.com!
Please save the show …
I Love BOT!! One of the most fresh and original shows out there! They should move it to WED nights and pair it w/ The Middle or something. Screw Scrubs.
Better Off Ted is very funny and I look forward to it so of course if would be cancelled. This is truly too bad. The writing is send up and spot on. Anyone who has worked in a corporate product mill or with engineers knows how close this show hits. The only upside is being introduced to some great talent. I look forward to seeing them in new venues. ABC, you totally blew this one.
Old Scrubs was cool. New Scrubs sucks. You have jumped the shark. Time to go.
Of course only the shows I like (and there are few) always get canned. The “popular” shows are the same mindless, overdramatically rehashed crap we see over and over. These two shows are the best in writing and comedy because the humor is fresh and quick and unexpected. Intelligent people love this! The pairing of Ted and Scrubs on the same night is fantastic! Ratings may be low, but people are still watching – not every show can be number one on TV. And it would be nice to extend the run time rather than group all the shows together… Read more »
I love better off Ted and hope that it survives. But people, Modern Family is excellent too! If you haven’t seen it yet, try it out. It totally deserves to do well. Also clever, great cast, love it.
I agree with everyone, the show just needs to move to Wednesday night and ABC will own Wednesday Nights!
Better off Ted is one of the best shows on TV. If ABC would figure out that you can’t run 2 episodes of a show and then take 14 weeks off and then play 2 more episodes and a rerun and then maybe one more and then another 4 weeks off. And expect that they are going to keep their audience interested. WHAT THE HECK!! This seems to be a commom trend with ABC lately. Perhaps they would have better ratings if they kept a more consistant Schedule. It’s really sad looking back at older shows and seeing how many… Read more »
I wish I could say that I was surprised. I only recently found out about Better Off Ted and thought that the writing was simply amazing. As soon as it dawned on me that the show is good I was expecting a cancellation. It seems that’s what happens with good shows.
I bet you Modern Family will run for the rest of my life. Ugh!
The show Better Off Ted is BY FAR the freshest comedy to come out in quite a while. I find the small quips and quick responses to be an absolute treat. I look forward to watching the show. The two “examples” (and I use the term loosely) “of the much better performance from newcomers Modern Family and Cougar Town. ” are simply “re-hash” of tired and worn out sitcom formulas. It requires attention and thought to understand most of the humor delivered and that could possibly be why the ratings are so low. Please do not get rid of Better… Read more »
I’m so sad they’re going to cancel Better Off Ted. This show is so funny I always end up laughing until I can’t breathe! This is a well written show and the cast has great chemistry. I really am starting to hate network tv.