With the addition of “Scrubs” to its Thursday lineup tonight at 9 p.m., NBC is returning to the four-sitcom, one-drama Must See TV format that helped it dominate the night for two decades. Many critics are saying that NBC has assembled the best night of comedy since “Friends” and “Seinfeld” ruled the night in the late 1990s.
The evening leads off with “My Name is Earl,” followed by “The Office,” “Scrubs” and “30 Rock.” The quality of the shows is undisputed.
But just how many will watch them is the question. A test run of super-sized “Earl,” “Office” and “Rock” episodes two weeks ago was unimpressive. “Rock” averaged just a 2.4 rating and lost more than a third of its “Office” lead-in.
And it’s doubtful “Scrubs,” which averaged a 3.2 adults 18-49 rating last year, will perform any better in this new setting. The show may well be the best comedy on TV, with a great cast, outstanding writing, and an intriguing plotline that tonight has J.D.’s new girlfriend announcing she is pregnant after only a few weeks of dating.
Yet “Scrubs” has been hurt by erratic scheduling. It has bounced between Tuesday and Thursday nights for years, and over the the past two seasons NBC waited until midseason to bring the show back, leading many to wonder if it had been canceled.
Further, “Scrubs” faces tough competition from ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” TV’s top-rated show among 18-49s, and CBS’s “CSI.”
The risk for NBC is that its Thursday comedy lineup will be TiVoed. We're already seeing it with "The Office," which has become one of the most popular replays on TiVo and iTunes.
Faced with choosing among favorite shows, people may opt to watch one of the dramas live, since dramas carry more week-to-week urgency, while taping NBC’s sitcoms. Or they may abandon them altogether.
This reflects the new reality of network primetime. It's no longer good enough just to be good, not when the competition is suddenly so much stiffer for viewers' attention. It's either stand out or disappear, as we are seeing with so many of the high-concept new shows. That applies to older shows as well.
