TVSquad

The reverberations caused by the writers' strike continue to affect how the networks are doing business. Case in point: according to The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd, the networks may be more generous with renewals than they have in the past, due to the fact that even hit shows have been returning to diminished ratings. My guess is that, after a three-month break, most people realized they didn't give two craps about things like Meredith and McDreamy's latest breakup. But it may just be that the weather's nice outside.

Anyway, Hibberd goes on to mention the current status of some of the most prominent "bubble" shows. The good news: Reaper, Old Christine, and HIMYM and Moonlight have shifted over towards the "likely to certain" end of the spectrum, and Boston Legal will likely survive for another year. The bad news: Shark, Men In Trees (which is already gone, according to reports), Cashmere Mafia, and October Road are likely gone. And there's still no real feel for what's going to happen with Eli Stone or Women's Murder Club.

James Hibberd of The Hollywood Reporter has an interesting article about the low-key exit of Scrubs from NBC after seven seasons, and the show's even lower-key deal with ABC for an eighth season. Even the least-plugged-in fans of the show know by now that the show is crossing networks, and according to Hibberd, eighth season episodes are currently being produced under very hush-hush conditions (which is true; even the show's PR rep won't tell us exactly what's going on).

So... why all the secrecy, even though everyone seems to know what's what? It seems like there's a little cross-network courtesy going on. While ABC is waiting for its upfront presentation to officially announce that it's picked up the show, they're also waiting for the end of the show's run on NBC, which is either May 8 or 15, depending on your source (my guess is the 18th, considering only nine of the twelve produced episodes have aired). According to Hibberd, ABC is playing nice after ticking off NBC when the initial news about the show's move came out.