Ausiello says he likes Lawrence because he doesn’t mince words. I’d have to agree, based on his harsh trashing of NBC he did during the discussion.

Here are some of the highlights of the talk they had:

What led to the break-up with NBC?
Lawrence: When the strike ended, we told NBC that, even though we had another seven episodes mapped out, we could do it in three, and they just didn’t have any interest. Total harsh buzz of not giving a s–t about a show that had been on the network for seven years and made them millions of dollars. And I’d be more bitter, except that it worked out good for us.

We finally know why the heck that Princess Bride episode aired out of order. Not by their choosing:

They didn’t want to do any kind of wrap-up?
Lawrence: Not only did they not want to do any kind of wrap-up, but they took an episode that was supposed to air in the middle of the season — the fairytale episode — and marketed it as a series finale. Which was bulls–t. It was never supposed to be a series finale, much less a season finale, and I think it ended up getting judged kind of harshly because of it. If it was just a regular episode that people had tuned into I think they would’ve thought it was cool and funny.

I was under the impression NBC was willing to give you one episode to finish things off. No?
Lawrence: Well, here’s the thing. When the strike ended, NBC said, “You can shoot an hour-long finale, but we’ll only pay for half of it.” They wanted [ABC Studios] to suck up all the expenses, and ABC said that was unacceptable. And it felt especially harsh because Scrubs was pulling in better Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. than 30 Rock and My Name is Earl — even though I love those two shows — and they were encouraged to do as many f–king episodes as they can after the strike. And after seven years, I ask for three episodes to wrap up the series and they say, “Tough s–t.”

Here is how it ended up on ABC:

How do you go from three episodes on NBC to 18 on ABC?
Lawrence: It was weird, man. I was thinking we’d put these last six episodes on DVD, just so we can wrap the show up and be proud of it, but the head of ABC Studios, Mark Pedowitz, said, “Bill, if you can make the show a little cheaper, I can probably get us a full season on ABC.” I didn’t answer right away. The first thing I did was call the cast and the writers together and I said, “Look, if we’re going to do this, we have to get back to something we creatively can all be excited about.” Because, personally, I felt like this past season we were less than inspired comedically. So I said to them, “This means you guys working harder. It means having emotional stakes and losing all the goofy, broad stuff that I think is easy to write… ” And everyone said they were on board for one more season.

Read the entire article over on TV Guide, as it has a bit more about the way the show was sort of flat this year and how they’ll be saving money by having each actor take TWO episodes off next season.

Not only that, but he explained just a bit about the Princess Bride season finale called My Princess and addressed the confusion most people had seeing Dr. Kelso suddenly back in charge.

From Braff:

Dear friends,

Many of you have been understandably confused by the Fairy Tale episode of Scrubs serving as the series finale. It was not. I was not allowed to say it until today, but Scrubs will be moving to ABC for its final season. We are currently filming the 8th and final season. The true finale of the show will air on ABC in the fall. NBC merely promoted the Fairy Tale episode as the finale, as it was the last episode they owned.

Also, several of you were very confused by the fact that Dr. Kelso and Laverne were still working at the hospital in the Fairy Tale episode. Because of the writer’s strike, the last remaining episodes for NBC were aired out of order. This is why Dr. Kelso was still chief of medicine. That was not Laverne however, for those of you who have been following closely; it was a new nurse “Shirley” who no one thinks looks anything like Laverne except for JD.

Hope this clears some things up.

peace and love,
zb

Can’t wait to see this show still airing on ABC, especially after that finale which I just really didn’t find all that great.

The Scrubs season finale airs on Thursday night, which could be the last episode ever on NBC, but hopefully not the last one we’ll ever get to see.

There is still the rumors about ABC taking over production of Scrubs next year, so let’s all keep crossing our fingers on that. Zach Braff was asked recently about it, but everything is hush-hush right now.

He did say this though on his blog last week:

What I can tell you is that we are currently shooting 18 episodes for the 8th season. I am not allowed to discuss where one might watch them. (More news to come.)

But before it’s all over, we are getting the long-rumored Princess Bride episode, which pays homage to the cult classic fantasy comedy that we all love. At least I do.

Braff gives us the scoop on it:

But I can tell you that the coolest episode we’ve ever done is going to air on May 8th at 8:30(E/P). I directed it and it’s a GIANT homage to “The Princess Bride”. Dr. Cox has to make up a fairy tale for his son and he does so using everything that happened in the hospital that day. It’s by far the most epic (and expensive) episode we’ve ever done. (Monsters, potions, evil wizards, giants, hunchbacks, gnomes – like “World of Warcraft”, but Scrubs…)
I’ll be posting an exclusive clip on this site in a few days.

We’ll track his blog as usual and post a link to the exclusive clip whenever it’s available.

I’m psyched for this episode…Scrubs + The Princess Bride can only = gold.

Until I stumbled across this video, thanks to the Pop Candy blog. What can make a rotten day better in the wink of an eye? A nice, happy, moment, that makes you realize how great life truly is sometimes.
This video, from the set of Scrubs will likely cause a few wet eyes and a bunch of smiles. Who better than the cast of Scrubs to help make someone’s day change from ordinary to monumental?

Check it out…it appears to be a scene rehearsal between Zach Braff and John C. McGinley.

You do need to know that Anna works on the show and met Ted at the 100th episode party.

Enjoy!

The best thing about this season for Scrubs is that it’s their last. Now, I don’t mean that because I want it to end, but it’s the fact that they KNOW it’s the last, so we will likely be in store for some of their best writing and stories to date.

Some articles have popped up talking about what we can expect and all of it sounds perfect.

Anyone who enjoyed the Musical episode last year (and it was spectacular), will get a kick out of this season’s big number that USAToday talks about:

“In place of a musical, this season’s extravaganza, directed by Braff, will pay homage to The Princess Bride, centering on a bedtime story Dr. Cox tells his daughter. That means wild costumes for cast members who will play such characters as the village idiot (Braff), a giant (Flynn), a princess (Chalke) and a knight (McGinley).”

Holy crap I can’t wait.

Also the janitor is supposed to get a name and a girlfriend, since Niel Flynn asked for that if it reached a seventh season.

Laverne, who was killed off last year, will actually be back. The funny story there is that since they thought last season might be their final one, they wanted a big emotional event to happen, and they chose to have Laverne die.

But they never wanted to get rid of her, so she’s back, this time as a totally different nurse, but one who looks A LOT like Laverne of course. The big twist is that only J.D. thinks she looks like her.

Classic.

I’ve already seen a preview for tonight’s opener and the scene with Zach Braff is helping a woman give birth and out pops a guy from Men at Work (I think) who sings “I come from a land down under…”

Hahahahaha!

I love this show. They plan to take it down a notch on the crazy comedy this season and get back to their roots…those funny, yet touching scenes that really connected with the viewers. I think that’s the right way to go.

Plenty of answers and loose ends will be tied up over the course of a season, but the article in USAToday says that it wont be a “Ross and Rachel” finish where you are waiting until the final episode to see if J.D. and Elliot get together.

Creator Bill Lawrence had this to say on that stuff:

“We’re going to resolve those things during the year rather than build up to some overwrought, emotional finale. This is a comedy. All people want is a chance to say goodbye and that we tie up loose ends,” Lawrence says, then jokes: “Then we’re going to cut to black really quick and play a Journey song.”

I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve really loved this show and it probably wont hit me until it’s gone how much I’ll miss it.

To a great final season!