Scrubs set for prime time
It isn't often a network decides to try its luck moving a late night show to a premium 8pm slot.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under Programming
Seven will attempt Scrubs in a premium timeslot, moving wards to 8pm Mondays from next week.
It will follow a new episode of How I Met Your Mother at 7:30pm.
Last week Mother managed 938,000 across its hour, beaten by Customs‘ 1.37m and So You Think You Can Dance Australia‘s 993,000 viewers. That didn’t help Desperate Housewives‘ lead in, especially when it is being whipped by Underbelly.
Shifting the comedy, which had been playing late on Thursdays (now in repeat), is a bold move by Seven.
If it works could it pave the way for a re-think on 30 Rock -surely a show enjoying its glory days more than Scrubs which last year moved from NBC to ABC.
Similarly, TEN’s late night visits to The Office remain another show that fans want to see moved to a better home.
Good to see Seven shaking things up a bit.
42 Responses
I think that’s still a good number for Monday at such a competitive time as the ABC usually rates well on that day.
I still think moving it back to Thursday (get rid off GW) would be better.
this is great news!!! it probably wont work but at least seven are trying. love this show!
i have heard burt’s theory a few times. there are people out there that do not find 30rock funny. i can’t imagine why. but it’s true. (maybe the same people that only laugh at 2.5men because sex jokes is all they understand). It’s very american and only gets a max of 8mil viewers there. while 2.5men get almost 17mil.
anyway. 30 rock will probably be seen at 10:30 or maybe 9:30-10:00 in a comedy double but i doubt any earlier than that it’s not really made for early evening. it is rating well enough to be bumped up to 10:30 soon. maybe it will be the long term replacement of boston legal that has been there for years.
The 30 Rock show only appeals to a very small number of viewers, so would never work for Seven (from a high ratings point of view) at an 8pm timeslot, as it rates fairly poorly even in the US. At least at an 11.30pm slot, it gets aired here.
i think seven should move this to Seven SD2 when it finally hits our tvs, Scrubs for 2 or 3 hours one weeknight from 7:30pm-9:30pm or weekends from 3pm-5pm or something like then even if they are shown on channel 7 first, also i think the new season is in HD so i would like to see it in HD first anyway.
Does anyone else think that we should see more marathon type programming blocks on FTA networks like on Pay tv. i dont mean the same eps. on everyday i mean 3 or 4 different shows repeated twice a week.
Awesome!!
i have waited long time for this! i love it!
will they be up to speed with america when new episodes return to the states in just under 2-3 weeks.
I guess Channel Seven have noticed that Scrubs episodes have been in the top ten downloads of iTunes for the last few weeks, second only to BSG (hot of the satellite) and Underbelly…
@mac
i said “IMO” are made night fillers. if i wasn’t clear i meant; the way they are made just feels like they belong in a night position.
@toriwannabe
you’d think that but the repeat at 8:00 actually rates better than the new ep at 7:30 mostly because of the competition with 2.5men at 7:30
Why revive an ailing show in its 7th season? It only has 1.5 seasons to go after this. Seven have a lot of comedies they could have premiered here, like Gary Unmarried, or they could have brought back Samantha Who or My Name is Earl. Also, Scrubs is the type of humour that doesn’t really mesh with a lot of people, I enjoy the show but its like The Office, the humour takes a backseat to the drama of the characters at times. Still, good they’re attempting something different, although if they were to try it with 30 Rock it’d be better as that show has a lot more seasons ahead of it + critical acclaim
Wow! I’m not a Scrubs fan but Wow! I know a lot of people will be very happy. Given its the last season (presumably) it’s a good send-off.
I give it one week at that time slot. Great show, byut been treated so badly by Seven over the years, they wont gain many new viewers now. I havent watched it on Seven since season 3. DVD and Dowloads have been the best source. Comedy Channel have treated it well, except to many repeats.
It is going to be a new experience seeing Scrubs at a prime time slot on free to air TV.
Good idea for it to follow How I Met Your Mother.
It is too bad Scrubs was not scheduled to its new slot earlier when Sarah Chalke was still in How I Met Your Mother, it would have been a treat to see her in both shows within an hour.
They’re a bit late with the movement, but this could persuade me to start watching Ch 7 again.
If they put Scrubs and 30 Rock back to back, they would surely win the younger demographic instantly.
The most sensible programming move in a long while. I just hope they give the show time to build the ratings.
Wow, it’s only taken…how many years? Pity we’re already up to the last seasons of Scrubs… Here’s hoping for 30Rock to follow.
How I Met your Mother would have reduced number in the second hour due to it being a repeat episode. Although, I guess Two and Half Men has been rating well, despite us being up to the 4th repeat, so who knows?
@ella boston legal and family arnt ‘made’ to be night time fillers as they are ‘made’ for networks primetime schedule in the usa.
good move even though i dont watch scrubs, as soon has i read the title i though seven should do the same with scrubs and ten with the office, infact i just said it to someone 2 days ago and it seems you think so too.
Reminds me of MacGyver – a show that was treated dreadfully by Seven until they strangely managed to revive it a year after it was cancelled in the states!!
I love when a revival like this happens – its rare, but its great!
awsome move
yayyy, best programming news in a long time.
i know a guy that wrote to ch7 asking if they would do exactly this. good to see they got the message. i hope it gets a good promotion so many people will be happy about this.
i am aware that coming into primetime sometimes does not help but the unit, BL, FG ect. IMO are all made to be nightfillers. I don’t think scrubs is one of them. it just feels like an early evening show.
I don’t watch Scrubs, but good on 7 for making this move…
I was surprised when I read it in TV Week, maybe they (ch7) listened to us? Its great news and I hope it works.
One of the best programming moves ever. Finally a quality show gets a good timeslot. Hopefully it works.
Here is to hoping it succeeds, at least matching what mother is currently getting, I would love to see 30 Rock in primetime, if it can pull close to 300k in an 11.30 pm timeslot it deserves a shot in an earlier slot – though 30 Rock is very Americanised I’m not sure it would work here, would love it to though.
And The Office has been screaming out for a 7pm run even if only during summer, come on TEN!!!!
i hope this is sucessful so it gives them another reason to move 30 rock into primetime. there was once in the summer when it scored almost 700k at 10:30 so i’d hope it would score just as well as a HIMYM repeat at 8:00.
but i’m not going to get my hopes up. all the shows from late night that are given a new life go straight back to 10:30 sometimes even scoring less in primetime. like boston legal, family guy, the unit.