Thanks to syndication profits, Scrubs is one of those shows that seems to just keep going and going. Could this finally be the end of the road?
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. The current cast includes Donald Faison, John C. McGinley, Ken Jenkins, Sarah Chalke, Eliza Coupe, Kerry Bishe, Michael Mosley, and Dave Franco.
Based simply on the ratings, ABC shouldn’t have been renewed the show last season. Scrubs had dwindled to an average of just 4.97 million viewers and a low 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic. It was saved because ABC’s production studio produces the show and another season would bring more money in syndication.
This season, with several members of the cast only popping in occasionally, the ratings have gotten even worse. Thus far, Scrubs has averaged just a 1.6 rating and 3.7 million viewers. That’s bad — like “do not resuscitate” bad.
Next week’s episode of Scrubs marks the season finale and is titled “Our Thanks.” Or is it the series finale as the ABC.com website says. It’s possible that it’s just a website error but either way, it seems unthinkable that ABC wouldn’t finally cancel the venerable sitcom.
UPDATE: An ABC rep emailed us to say that it’s actually the season finale and that a decision hasn’t been made about the show’s future. She didn’t however return a second email to address why ABC.com is still calling it the series finale, even 24 hours later, nor why the (supposedly official) Facebook page (as pointed out by “Derek” in our comments) describes this week’s and next week’s as “the final two episodes of the series.”
What do you think? Is next week’s really the last episode of Scrubs? Do you think it’s finally time to say goodbye or is there still some life left in it?
I must have watched every episode from seasons 1 to 8 at least 7 or 8 times by now. I loved the concept of the show that far: I enjoyed JD’s daydreaming sequences and the various character traits of all of the cast (i.e. Zach Braff, Donald Faison, John C. McGinley, Ken Jenkins, Sarah Chalke, Neil Flynn, Judy Reyes, Robert Maschio, Sam Lloyd, Aloma Wright, Christa Miller, and all the other regulars…), especially so JD’s sheepish type, Turk’s self confident attitude, Cox’s self-loving personality with its hard outer shell and soft core, Kelso’s new-found grandpa role, and of course the… Read more »
Fair dues mate, you’ve got some valid points there. I completely agree on carrying on with the show, but to somehow bring the old characters back. That’d be awesome, unfortunately, no one, with the power to make a decision, to put it in Bob Kelso’s words, is going to “give a rat’s ass” on what we write here…
Will the producers please kick off the character Cole played by Dave Franco! He’s killing the show and his character is not only annoying but pointless!
Cancel it already!!! You canceled the forgotten! This should be a no-brainer!!!
I think ABC never gave the new version a real chance. If it was treated as a spin-off instead of a continuance of the former series I think more people would have judged it on its own merits instead of writing it off as simply another season of a show that went massively downhill from its lofty heights early in its run. I also think it was a mistake to have Zach Braff in the new version at all as JD’s devolution into a one dimensional character only increased the perception that Scrubs: Med School brought nothing new to the… Read more »
Don’t know whether you guys saw it, but Zach Braff posted on his Facebook that Scrubs was now finished. Here’s the exact quote from his status update:-
“Many of you have asked, so here it is: it appears that “New Scrubs”, “Scrubs 2.0”, “Scrubs with new kids”, “Scrubbier”, “Scrubs without JD” is no more. It was worth a try, but alas… it didn’t work. zb”
@Kefrif: Yes. ABC still officially maintains that it hasn’t been cancelled. I’d be VERY surprised to see it return.
It has. The web site canned it.
i dont think this is finito,abc have just pulled the series finale from the homepage to wednsdays 8/7 c .this was spotted at around 9 pm on the 16th of march.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well put-together the Med School episodes are. I was also thinking it would be a sign of another show that just didn’t know how to go out with dignity, but it’s not bad at all. Of course it’s different without J.D., but the strength of the writing is still there, and the new characters are fun in and of themselves. Those who balked at it simply because of the change without giving it a chance to succeed with them on its own merits are truly missing out. I’ll miss Med School.
You know what I think? I think everyone who can’t let go and we’re BEGGING for the new scrubs, now letting go because of some changes. Come on you guys, scrubs is a great show, Dr. Cox is always still in it, Turk is in it. Did you even watched the episodes? I don’t even think you clicked online, you guys are so STUPID, I’m sorry but the girl who plays Lucy, is practicly the new J.D. and I would hate it, ABC if you do close up the show, cause it’s just started, you can go all kind of… Read more »
Well stated. The last year was there best so far and so long as they keep Dr. Cox, I don’t see that chaning. Scrubs Season 10 must come back if not for their DVD sales alone.
I think they should kick it off. There is no sense in having the show wihtout the guy who made it what it was,J.D. If u want to know my oppinion on shows they should bring back my name is earl.
JD was one of the weaker characters in the show even though the main character. This last season was one of their best.
SCRUBS IS ONE OF THOSE SHOWS THAT WOULDNT DIE LIKE ACORDING TO JIM
BOTH OF THESE SHOWS MADE IT PAST THEIR MATURITY DATE AND OTHERS
LIKE LIFE I JUST DONT BEALIVE IT
its been a great run ,and i would have been happy with the show if they actually brought back the super seven original cast members,however i do think theres still some life left in it(like at the most another season ) .
Scrubs is one of my favorite television shows ever, however they should have ended it after the very heartfelt finale last season. Scrubs without JD would be like… The Tonight Show without Conan O’brien. :’-(
I agree they should’ve let the show go with season 8, what’s Scrubs without the janitor, ted the lawyer plus of course the place:” Sacred heart”.
Scrubs is also one of my favorite shows, but I must disagree with you on the idea that they should of ended after season 8. Although I agree that it would have been a better ending, you have to really think about how many more people got to keep there jobs for another year thanks to ABC’s and Lawerence’s decision. I mean think about it that decision helped give probably somewhere between 150 to 200 people guaranteed work for another season. Its rough out there for people in the TV industry, believe me I have been trying to make it… Read more »
This last year without JD was one of the best.
Everyone said goodbye to this one last year when they wrote and produced a beautiful finale called MY FINALE. Bringing it back was doomed to fail by falling in the shadows of the earlier series. So I won’t miss it. Better Off Ted, on the other hand, was one of the freshest and most hillarious sitcoms in years, so I do find the similar cancellation of it to be a travesty.
When shows like SCRUBS wrap with their original cast and central trappings, and then still attempt to keep the magic going in some new format, it’s usually big ol’ jump the shark time (think M*A*S*H and AfterMASH). As a SCRUBS fan from the get-go, I figured that this is what would happen with SCRUBS. However valiant, SCRUBS: MED SCHOOL just was gonna pale and peter, and in the bargain maybe even be a bit embarrassing to watch. Instead, the producers and writers did something I can’t recall in any other similar situation — they pulled it off. I find the… Read more »
Wow. Very well said, and your comments echo my thoughts exactly. Scrubs: Med School has been much more than I could have hoped for, and in the end I even found myself pulling for Cole, a character I detested in the beginning. I’d be interested in following this group for another year, but realize that the series has probably been played out with the general TV viewing public. I’ll miss Scrubs, but like a patient who’s been on life support longer than is natural, I’m ready to let it go.
This last year of Scrubs was as good as I could possibly have imagined…I didn’t watch it much because of my schedule but watched it when I could on my friend’s DVR and I can honestly say that this last year of Scrubs was they best they have ever had…and I have all of the DVDs going back to Season 1…I hope by some miracle they come back.
Love and Peace,
John
The Scrubs facebook fan page says it’s the last episode ever.