Posts with tag Bill Lawrence
Posted Sep 9th 2008 1:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Scrubs, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Remember that slogan NBC had in the 80s, "NBC let's all be there!" They'd run commercials with it and you'd have stars like Philip Michael Thomas pop up in a box and point his two index fingers at you. I think that "be there" philosophy is gone for good at NBC, at least when it comes to stars being on
certain shows.
Last week, the now-on-ABC show
Scrubs filmed the probable series finale, which will air next spring. The epic episode will feature many of the guest stars that have appeared on the show over the years, but two of them are now on NBC shows and
the network won't let them appear on it, even though both wanted to appear. The two stars in question are Masi Oka from
Heroes and Sarah Lancaster from
Chuck.
I'd love to hear NBC's side of this story, but if true, it seems like another of the dumb moves that NBC seems to be making nowadays. You would think that the network would just say "fine, you can be on the show," since it seems like a really trivial thing. Maybe even to just look good. I guess there's real animosity between NBC and creator
Bill Lawrence.
Posted Jul 16th 2008 10:21PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Scrubs, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free
By far, the funniest panel of ABC's first day at the press tour -- one that had Jimmy Kimmel question the network president and had Ashton Kutcher and his fellow producers bring up critics to play a miniature version of
Opportunity Knocks -- was the one for
Scrubs, which will air its eighth season on the network.
A panel with Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, and John C. McGinley couldn't
help but be funny, right? But if you've ever read interviews from the show, you'd know that creator Bill Lawrence is usually the one who steals the show. This time around, though, he had an assist from Neil Flynn, who had a few good zingers thrown in for good measure. One of them came when someone asked him if he knows the name of his character, which for seven years has always been known as "The Janitor."
More after the jump, including an episode spoiler...
Continue reading Scrubs panel: funny lines, backhanded remarks, and a "name" for the Janitor - TCA Report
Posted Jul 16th 2008 6:25PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, Lost, Scrubs, Grey's Anatomy, TCA Press Tour, Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Reality-Free
After
Jimmy Kimmel left the room, ABC Entertainment Steve McPherson got on with the business of facing the press at his executive session. I kicked it off with a question about
Scrubs, following up on
what Bill Lawrence told me in May about a possible "next generation" ninth season.
"We do think there's an opportunity after (this eighth season)," said McPherson. "If any or all the cast is a part of that, I think there's a growth (opportunity) there. It's a show that, despite being moved around into like 17 time periods and really never being given the marketing support, has really performed unbelievably well on NBC." He went on to say that they hope "it won't be a one-season situation."
Other than that, most of the conversation revolved around the network's returning shows, which makes sense, since the network is only debuting a few new shows (none of which had pilots that the network thought were suitable for preview) this fall.
Continue reading ABC president: We're prioritizing returning shows, and Heigl is staying - TCA Report
Posted Jun 13th 2008 12:02PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Scrubs, The Office, Casting, Reality-Free
Aziz Ansari seems to be the hottest name around Hollywood casting circles. According to
Variety, the stand-up comedian, who's also one-third of the MTV's acclaimed sketch team
Human Giant, has been c
ast in the upcoming Office spin-off. He's also signed a one-year talent hold deal with Universal Media Studios.
What's interesting about this news is that Ansari was also tapped to play
one of the new interns on the eighth season of Scrubs, which is produced by and will now air on ABC. What I'm guessing is that, since
Scrubs will finish shooting in August, this deal will start after his deal with the veteran medical comedy ends. If there happens to be
a ninth season of the show, as Bill Lawrence told me might happen, I'd imagine he'd come back after his Universal deal ends or they'll just replace him with someone else.
Continue reading Aziz Ansari cast on Office spin-off; is he still on Scrubs?
Posted May 22nd 2008 2:19PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, Scrubs, Interviews, Celebrities, Reality-Free
As I found out
when I first spoke to Bill Lawrence last year, it doesn't take much to get the creator of
Scrubs going. All it might take is a quick question and he'll go off on a monologue that is not only funny, but has a lot of good information as well.
That's what I got from him when I spoke to him earlier this week. Yes, we went over what happened with NBC after the writers' strike and how his show was able to make the shift to ABC. But, since he already
spoke about that at length, we talked more about why NBC treated the show like it did, what creative shifts he's going to make to the show this year (expect to see less baby and relationship stuff this year, and more of the medical drama and comedy that got people hooked on the show). And, of course, he also dropped the mini-bombshell that I posted about earlier in the week,
that there might be a ninth, "next generation" season of Scrubs.
I'll warn you right now, this is a long transcript, which is why we're splitting it into three parts. But it's got a lot of good information, and if you're patient, you'll find some interesting spoilers about what's going to happen next year on the show (production on eighth season should be wrapped up by August, according to Lawrence). So, buckle up and enjoy the ride...
Continue reading Bill Lawrence of Scrubs: The TV Squad Interview
Posted May 20th 2008 10:21AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, Scrubs, Interviews, Casting, Reality-Free
I finally got a chance to speak with
Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence yesterday, and, as you'd expect, he had plenty to say about departing NBC. In addition to the circumstances behind the show's move from NBC to ABC, Lawrence also talked about NBC's treatment of the show and why he thinks it stuck around for so long, despite that treatment.
But he also dropped a bit of a bomb: next season may not be the show's final season. And if there is ninth season of
Scrubs, it likely will continue without him or Zach Braff on board.
More after the jump.
Continue reading There might be a ninth season of Scrubs, says Bill Lawrence
Posted May 15th 2008 11:03AM by Erin Martell
Filed under: Programming, Scrubs, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence recently did an interview with
TV Guide's Michael Ausiello and
took NBC to task for its shoddy treatment of the show. The network cut the comedy's final season short, but the show is
getting a second chance on ABC. Lawrence slammed his former network bosses for denying him the opportunity to conclude the show properly, and discussed
Scrubs' future on ABC. Here's a brief recap of the interview:
- Once the strike was over, Lawrence told NBC that he could finish up the season in three episodes instead of the planned seven. NBC had no interest in wrapping up the season in a way that would satisfy fans.
Continue reading Scrubs creator has harsh words for NBC
Posted Apr 11th 2008 12:00AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, Scrubs, Video, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S07E07) God, what a snoozer this episode was. And you can't really blame it on the writers being rusty after the strike; this is the first of the last five episodes made before the strike, which NBC held until it could pair it with new episodes of the rest of the Thursday lineup. In fact, as we found out, this is the first of the five
final NBC episodes, as the show wasn't picked up by the Peacock. We'll likely see an eighth season on ABC, but nothing has been set yet.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the boringness of this episode. There were two decent laughs in this one: "brinner" and... you know what? I can't think of the other. There was some story advancement in this episode, but overall it was so unmemorable that I'm just going to pretend that next week's episode is the first
Scrubs since the strike. Yeah, that'll work.
Continue reading Scrubs: My Bad Too - VIDEO
Posted Feb 29th 2008 7:34AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Scrubs
When
NBC announced the return of their shows after the strike, people were wondering why
Scrubs wasn't getting any love. Sure, NBC has never been the biggest supporter of the show, but you'd think that in the show's final season, the network would allow Bill Lawrence and friends to finish the show out the way he envisioned it. Heck, he even gave the network a break, telling them that he could finish out the season in 16 episodes instead of the originally-ordered 18.
But the network hemmed and hawed about making those wrap-up episodes. So now ABC Studios is finally talking about
making the long-threatened move of
moving the show to its parent network, ABC. According to
The Hollywood Reporter, the two Disney-owned companies are in negotiation to bring 18 episodes to the alphabet network, likely starting next fall.
Continue reading Is Scrubs on the way to ABC?
Posted Nov 12th 2007 7:25AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Scrubs, WGA Strike
Bill Lawrence, creator of
Scrubs, refused to write an "emergency" series finale to use in case of a strike. According to
The Hollywood Reporter, ABC studios, which produces Scrubs, asked Lawrence to quickly write a series finale before the strike began. The studio apparently asked Lawrence to write a finale where "two people kiss" to cap off the series. But Lawrence stuck to his regular writing schedule for
Scrubs, which means there is nothing written for a series finale.
Continue reading WGA Strike: Scrubs doesn't have a series finale
Posted Nov 2nd 2007 1:16AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, Scrubs, Episode Reviews
(S07E02) Despite what I knew about this episode going in -- that it would be the one where J.D. and Kim finally have their baby -- I didn't expect it to be so warm-hearted and almost gimmick-free.
We've been hearing rumblings from Bill Lawrence, Zach Braff and company that the final season of
Scrubs was going to be more reminiscent of the show's earlier seasons, where there were flights of fancy but J.D. was a more realistic character and the fantasies weren't quite as outlandish. While last week's season premiere didn't quite reach those standards, this episode did. In fact, this felt more like one of those first half-dozen first-season episodes that were slower-paced and relatively restrained, and it was quite refreshing to see.
Continue reading Scrubs: My Hard Labor
Posted Oct 25th 2007 11:04PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, Scrubs, Episode Reviews
(S07E01) One thing I can say about the season premiere of
Scrubs' seventh and last season: It wasn't as lurchingly awkward as last year's season premiere. Or most of the first half of last season, for that matter. But that doesn't mean it was good.
There were a few laugh-out-loud moments, but most of the jokes fell pretty flat. And none of the flatness had anything to do with the conclusion of last year's cliffhanger, where J.D. and Elliot, trying to escape some big life changes, lie next to each other, and kinda sorta lean in for a kiss...
Continue reading Scrubs: My Own Worst Enemy (season premiere)
Posted Jul 16th 2007 7:41PM by Michael Maloney
Filed under: Programming, Saturday Night Live, Scrubs, My Name Is Earl, The Office, Celebrities, 30 Rock, TCA Press Tour, Casting
NBC's press tour day continued with a panel on Sunday Night Football.
When it concluded, panelists including Tiki Barber, John Madden and Al Michaels tossed out signed footballs to 10 or so lucky members of the press. Score! I caught the ball thrown to me by 2006 Super Bowl champion Jerome Bettis, formerly of The Pittsburgh Steelers, now an NBC sports analyst.
In my dreams. It actually sailed over my head to a journalist behind me. "Fumble," he said as he scooped it up.
Sometimes press tour swag can be elusive.
Continue reading Free footballs and scoops from NBC's Thursday night sitcoms - TCA report
Posted Jun 15th 2007 2:40PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Scrubs, Celebrities
Well, sort of.
Aloma Wright will return to the show this fall, even though her character, Nurse Roberts, was killed off earlier this season. It's part of a deal that she made with Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence: if the show returned for another season, then she could return to the show as Roberts' twin sister Shirley. She'll wear a wig.
Lawrence wasn't sure if there would be another season of the show when he planned her death, but now that they are returning after all he's going to stick to the deal. Which is a good thing. I really liked her character, and if the character can't come back at least the actress can.
Posted May 4th 2007 12:21AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, Scrubs, Episode Reviews
(S06E19) Notgettingany Syndrome is an affliction that affects millions of American men, and it seems to run rampant at Sacred Heart, doesn't it? Carla's still not feelin' it months after having a baby, so Turk goes without. The Todd always talks a good game, but no one's getting into his banana hammock. Kelso can't find any interesting Asian massage therapists to befriend; he's so desperate, he's thinking of actually having sex with his wife. And, J.D.... Well, we all know what's going on with J.D.
What does all this mean? Lots of cold showers. A lot of thinking about your aunt's arm fat. And it also means we've found one of the funniest episodes of the season.
Continue reading Scrubs: My Cold Shower
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