TVSquad

Thanks to Marc Cherry and Shonda Rhimes, the ABC show-runner panel was a good way to start the afternoon. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there, as the panels for Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice, and Desperate Housewives were surprisingly dull, especially considering the fact that Cherry and Rhimes returned for the DH and Practice panels, respectively.

Even something Cherry said that seemed like it would be news -- that he's going to end DH after the seventh season -- turned out to be old hat, as he announced the very same thing at the Winter 2007 tour. "Yeah, I've made the decision that after seven years, I will probably keel over in a hump and die," he said. "I love my baby, you know. I love working with these gals, but the idea of letting anyone else take the show from me kind of makes me sad and sick to my stomach."

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.

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...

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.

ABC released its 2008-09 prime-time schedule this morning during a press conference call conducted by Steve McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment. I listened in and got the rundown:

Returning: Boston Legal, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Grey's Anatomy, Lost (Midseason), Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Ugly Betty, According to Jim (Midseason), Samantha Who?, America's Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor (Midseason), Dancing With The Stars, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Supernanny, Wife Swap, Saturday Night College Football, Primetime: What Would You Do?

Out: October Road, Notes from the Underbelly, Men in Trees, Big Shots, Carpoolers, Cashmere Mafia, Cavemen, Miss/Guided, Women's Murder Club, Oprah's Big Give

New: Life on Mars, The Goode Family (Midseason), Scrubs (Midseason), Opportunity Knocks, Untitled Ashton Kutcher/Tyra Banks Project (Midseason)

This is disheartening. ABC has been looking to Lifetime as a new home for Men in Trees and October Road. Both dramatic series have not as yet been picked up for next year, and now this report makes it clear they are both skating on thin ice. The powers that be at Lifetime were given copies of both shows to review and chose not to pick up either of them. They basically threw the ball back to ABC, forcing the network to decide the fate of these two shows.

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• Will the writers strike boost DVD sales?
• Could Winona Ryder be Spock's mom in the new Star Trek movie?
• George Clooney got into a heated argument with ... Fabio?!
• NBC's "Green Week" reminds someone of something CBS did years ago with Elizabeth Taylor's perfume. [via TV Guidance]
• Ex-New York Daily News critic David Bianculli has launched a new TV blog.
• Mark Cuban thinks Bill O'Reilly is a moron.
• Meanwhile, NBC chief Ben Silverman thinks ABC chief Steve McPherson is a moron.

Even before this morning's presentation of the 2007-08 ABC fall schedule, George Lopez knew that his show wasn't going to be on it. That's because ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson, gave him the bad news over the weekend. Apparently, McPherson and ABC thought George Lopez was going to be a money loser if it got picked it up for another season. Lopez isn't buying it, as he told the LA Times today.

He not only told the newspaper that he should have gotten one more season to tie up some loose threads, but that his show outperformed other shows, like Notes from the Underbelly, that got renewed. "TV just became really, really white again," he told the Times.

ABC released its 2007-08 prime-time schedule this morning during a press conference conducted by Steve McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment, which I attended by phone. The changes in brief:

Returning: Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, October Road, Notes from the Underbelly, Men In Trees, Brothers & Sisters, Wife Swap, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars, Lost, Supernanny, America's Funniest Home Videos, Boston Legal, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, 20/20, Primetime (specials and special series)

Out: The Nine, Six Degrees, The Great American Dream Vote, Show Me The Money, Day Break, In Case of Emergency, The Knights of Prosperity, What About Brian, George Lopez, According to Jim (maybe... finally!)

New: Big Shots, Carpoolers, Cashmere Mafia, Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money, Cavemen, Miss/Guided, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Sam I Am, Women's Murder Club, Oprah's Big Give

Moving: Men In Trees moves from Thursdays at 10 to Fridays at 8. Notes from the Underbelly and October Road (along with Cashmere Mafia) will premiere when Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor end their seasons. Lost will begin airing in February and show no repeats, in a Wednesday time slot that's still to be determined.

Detailed descriptions of the new shows (and some notes on the schedule) after the jump.

In the "big surprise" department, we have this item: ABC has made the shocking move to pick up the Kate Walsh-fronted spin-off of Grey's Anatomy, tentatively titled Private Practice.

According to the New York Post, the show may get a new title (ya think?), and the network was very happy with the ratings for the Grey's episode that introduced the spin-off, despite the mixed reaction from the show's fans.

Of course, our snideness comes from the fact that we already knew the show was going to be picked up, for many reasons. Heck, even Walsh knew, as she got a "you're in pretty good shape" from ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson last week on the Ellen show.

On today's edition of Ellen, Ellen DeGeneres decided to take it upon herself to find out if Private Practice, the working title of the Grey's Anatomy spin-off starring Kate Walsh, is going to be picked up for the fall. With her guest, Walsh, looking on a bit sheepishly, DeGeneres decided to call ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson and ask him to cut the suspense and tell Kate and the audience whether the show was getting picked up.

For his part, McPherson was a good sport, and ended up telling Ellen and everyone that Kate is in "pretty good shape," meaning that the show's almost assured of a pick-up. Once Kate got on the phone to say hello to McPherson, the executive uttered a line that was at once funny and painful for him to say -- "This is going to be an interesting contract negotiation" -- meaning that the lovely and leggy Walsh might be in for a very good payday pretty soon. Video is after the jump.

[via the TV addict]

The first session of yesterday's ABC presentation started bright and early at 9 AM with a Q&A with network president Steve McPherson. He was cheekily introduced with a video showing the rehearsals of a "new cast member" of Dancing with the Stars. It turned out to be McPherson, at a scene that looked like it came from either a previous press tour or an upfront presentation. Everyone laughed but me, mainly because I wasn't grizzled enough of a TV veteran to get the inside joke.

Anyway, some of the information he gave at the Q&A after the jump.

After the TCA Lost session, the gathered reporters tried to get some one-on-ones with the stars and producers, but I decided to skip that and go straight to lunch (the closest I got to a one-on-one was when I saw Matthew Fox exit the bathroom as I was on my way in. Me: "Havin' fun?" Fox: "Yeaaaah." It was in a tone that told me that he'd have rather gotten a full-cavity body search at the airport than sit for that panel). So, there I was, sitting at a big empty table with an AOL colleague, innocently eating and chatting, when ABC President Steve McPherson sat down with two reporters in tow.

It seems that little bombshell the Lost producers dropped about an "endpoint" had the reporters all atwitter, as the two were peppering him with questions about it. Before we knew it the table was jam packed with reporters, asking McPherson if he knew about this endpoint and when it might be. When he speculated it might be after a seventh season, one reporter chimed in that "they said it might be after five." But McPherson was smooth throughout, telling everyone that he's been talking with the producers about an endpoint almost since the beginning of the series, and he didn't seem to be that concerned about it.

As the conversation turned from Lost to other shows, I decided to throw him a question about my favorite fall disappointment, The Nine.

The biggest news to come out of the pre-lunch session with the creators and most of the cast of Lost? Uh, nothing much, just that the producers see an endpoint to the show and are have been talking about such an endpoint to the network for some time now.

Interesting, huh? Executive producer Carlton Cuse let the news slip, when asked about whether they've planned on a closed end to the show, that they are in discussions with ABC to pick an endpoint for the show. No real timetable was confirmed -- speculation ranged from two more to four more seasons -- but the producers want to make sure the show doesn't overstay its welcome. "We don't want to be to the point where we're doing the stalling show," explained co-creator Damon Lindelof. He then joked by giving such an example: "We're building sand castles this week!" He cited The X-Files as a show that was great but went on "two seasons too long," and that once they've determined when the endpoint will be, they will announce it right away.

At lunch, reporters surrounded ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson (more on that later to day) about this little tidbit. He didn't know that the producers had mentioned this, but didn't seem to be surprised, as he told the group that they had been talking with the show's producers about an endpoint almost from the beginning of the series. I'm sure we'll hear more of this later.

More tidbits and some funny lines after the jump.

Hey, folks. I'm in Pasadena, at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. Thanks to Kevin Kelly for doing Friday's session as I was flying in from New Jersey. After a night's sleep and a tour of "beautiful" Hollywood (including a stop at legendary hot dog haven Pink's, where I waited for an hour in 45 degree cold to get a chili dog. Yes, I'm one of those guys), I'm refreshed and ready to go.

Anyway, today was the first of the broadcast network presentations, and we started with an announcement: the new season of Dancing with the Stars will be start on Monday, March 19th. Why Monday instead of the previous season's Tuesday timeslot? Two words, according to network president Steve McPherson: American Idol.