Still Vindictive After All These Years
May. 9th, 2008 11:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
billroperIf you're an old Quantum Leap fan, you may remember how NBC inserted the card in the final episode indicating that Sam never returned home in their final flipping of the bird to the fans of the series. QL had been bought by a since-departed group of NBC executives; their replacements never liked the show and went out of their way to make sure it would have low enough ratings to be killed.
Flash-forward to recent years, where we have yet another group of NBC executives who don't like Scrubs, but are afraid to cancel it, because the folks who originally bought it are now at ABC and would be delighted to pick it up. God forbid they should make it successful. So instead, the NBC execs mistreat the series for the balance of its run.
This season was supposed to be the last for Scrubs. When the writers' strike was imminent, NBC asked the creators of the series to pen a quick finale where Eliot and JD would kiss at the end. They said no way.
NBC didn't order additional episodes to let them finish the storylines. The Scrubs folks are writing them and filming them anyway. Maybe they'll show up on ABC next year. Maybe they'll go direct to DVD. I'm sure I'll see them eventually.
But then there's the fiasco that NBC aired last night as the "finale". This involves spoilers, of course.
Scrubs periodically does some pretty creative episodes. This one was framed as a fairy tale that Cox was telling to his son and was quite nicely done.
It wasn't the finale though. It couldn't have been, as Kelso had quit Sacred Heart, but was mysteriously back as the Chief of Medicine for this episode, which had obviously been written for an earlier point in the season, but held back by NBC to be shown now.
And the near-final point of the episode is that Eliot and JD never kiss, because they're both idiots.
Familiar, isn't it?
But at least this time, that particular bit of nonsense won't stand.
Flash-forward to recent years, where we have yet another group of NBC executives who don't like Scrubs, but are afraid to cancel it, because the folks who originally bought it are now at ABC and would be delighted to pick it up. God forbid they should make it successful. So instead, the NBC execs mistreat the series for the balance of its run.
This season was supposed to be the last for Scrubs. When the writers' strike was imminent, NBC asked the creators of the series to pen a quick finale where Eliot and JD would kiss at the end. They said no way.
NBC didn't order additional episodes to let them finish the storylines. The Scrubs folks are writing them and filming them anyway. Maybe they'll show up on ABC next year. Maybe they'll go direct to DVD. I'm sure I'll see them eventually.
But then there's the fiasco that NBC aired last night as the "finale". This involves spoilers, of course.
Scrubs periodically does some pretty creative episodes. This one was framed as a fairy tale that Cox was telling to his son and was quite nicely done.
It wasn't the finale though. It couldn't have been, as Kelso had quit Sacred Heart, but was mysteriously back as the Chief of Medicine for this episode, which had obviously been written for an earlier point in the season, but held back by NBC to be shown now.
And the near-final point of the episode is that Eliot and JD never kiss, because they're both idiots.
Familiar, isn't it?
But at least this time, that particular bit of nonsense won't stand.
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-10 05:36 am (UTC)Oh, yes, I remember. I was very heavily into QL fandom when it was cancelled, and we were all very upset about it.
Deborah Pratt, who used to be married to Don Bellasario (sp?) is working on doing a QL movie (probably TV movie). It will be focused on Sammy Jo (Sam's daughter from the "Trilogy" episode) and Sam and Al will be there, too, in some capacity.
Wow, no QL icon. Hmm... well, "Heroes" will work, since Sam is a hero.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-10 02:12 pm (UTC)YouTube has segments of an old Sci Fi program called "Sciography" focusing on the behind-the-scenes history of the show and featuring interviews with Don, Dean, Scott, Deborah and fans.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-10 10:03 am (UTC)Oh. My. Gods.
That was the network?
I never knew that. I hated that card. You know, for values of "hate" that are consistent with the emotional investment one has in a TV programme. I thought it was the writers trying to be all edgy and tragic for no good reason. That's why I never looked into it more closely. Bothered me for years afterwards.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-10 02:20 pm (UTC)This is also the network that renewed Remington Steele for a few episodes for no other reason than to keep Pierce Brosnan from playing Bond after Roger Moore quit...
no subject
Date: 2008-05-10 02:38 pm (UTC)That was about the same timeframe, wunnit? Was it the same group of executives?
no subject
Date: 2008-05-10 06:28 pm (UTC)