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For NBC's 'Scrubs,'
a shot of adrenalin

Lead-in 'The Office' is up smartly this season

By Diego Vasquez
Oct 25, 2007

In some ways NBC’s “Scrubs” is the new “Arrested Development,” the long-running critic-adored but viewer-ignored show on Fox.

Critics love “Scrubs” yet viewers have never gravitated toward it in huge numbers.

But NBC continues to support the hospital comedy, trying one device or another to boost its ratings, and this season its hoping the sitcom, whose season premiere is tonight at 9:30, will catch some of the momentum from the early success of “The Office,” its lead-in at 9.

This season, “The Office” has averaged a 5.1 rating in adults 18-49 over four hour-long episodes, up 27 percent over last season's 4.0 and putting it at No. 8 in that demo in primetime. Moreover, it's grown against tough competition, CBS’s “CSI” and ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Tonight, "The Office” returns to half-hour episodes to make room for "Scrubs" at 9:30. But whether "Scrubs" will gain from "Office's" momentum is questionable.

Last season the show averaged a 3.1 rating among 18-49s last year, ranking No. 67 in the demo for the year, and it was leading out of "The Office" then as well. It lost a quarter of its audience.

The one difference this year: the later hour, 9 and 9:30 versus 8:30 and 9. Perhaps viewers will be less likely to switch channels on the half-hour. Or perhaps not.

On tonight’s premiere, J.D. and Elliot each takes a look at their own relationships, while Turk tries to monitor his sugar intake and Dr. Cox has trouble evaluating the symptoms of a patient.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	NBC	“Today” (N)	Renee Zellweger guests, and the crew looks at Halloween haunted houses.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Major League Baseball” (S)	Game two of the World Series.
8 p.m.	CW	“Smallville” (D)	Clark saves an actress from a potential accident, but was it really an accident?
9 p.m.	ABC	"Grey's Anatomy" (D)	Halloween episode has surprises in store for everyone at Seattle Grace.
9:30 p.m.	NBC	“Scrubs” (C)	Season premiere. J.D. and Elliot each look at their relationships.
10 p.m.	CBS	“Without a Trace” (D)	The police kill a man, and his girlfriend disappears soon after.
10 p.m.	FX	“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (C)	Mac tries to make the most of his relationship with his ex-con dad.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	ABC	“Good Morning America” (N)	Chef Wolfgang Puck and psychologist Richard Lerner both guest.
8 p.m.	Fox	"Next Great American Band" (R)	The 12 semifinalists perform.
8 p.m.	CBS	"Ghost Whisperer" (D)	Doing research on the past, Melinda ends up in a world underneath Grandview.
9 p.m.	ABC	"Women's Murder Club" (D)	Jill wants to help a teenager whose mother was murdered.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Moonlight” (D)	Mick tries to put a stop to a vampire who finds victims online.
10 p.m.	NBC	" Las Vegas" (D)	Piper dresses in various Halloween costumes, and Mike thinks he’s found the love of his life.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27
Time	Network	Program	Description
3:30 p.m.	CBS	"College Football" (S)	Florida takes on Georgia in an important SEC game.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Major League Baseball” (S)	Game three of the World Series.
8 p.m.	ABC	“College Football” (S)	Ohio State battles Penn State at Beaver Stadium.
8 p.m.	ABC Family	“Stephen King’s ‘It’” (M)	Part of the network’s 13 Days of Halloween.
9 p.m.	Sci Fi Channel	“Headless Horseman” (M)	One in a line of creepy Halloween offerings from Sci Fi.
10 p.m.	BBC America	"The Graham Norton Show" (T)	The Backstreet Boys – yes, you read that right – are interviewed.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28
Time	Network	Program	Description
2 p.m.	ABC	“NASCAR Racing” (S)	A Chase For the Cup race from Atlanta Motor Speedway.
8 p.m.	NBC	“The Bourne Supremacy” (M)	No football tonight because of the Series, so it’s a dose of Jason Bourne instead.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Major League Baseball” (S)	Game four of the World Series.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Desperate Housewives” (D)	Bob and Lee have a water sculpture that irks the neighborhood association.
10 p.m.	CBS	“Shark” (D)	Steroids are the focus after three mixed-martial-arts fighters commit suicide.
10 p.m.	HBO	"Curb Your Enthusiasm" (C)	Larry being Larry, an attempt to actually be nice blows up in his face.
10 p.m.	VH1	“The Salt-n-Pepa Show” (R)	Salt and a matchmaker try to find a date for Pepa.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.

Diego Vasquez is a staff writer for Media Life.

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