No Scabs, No Scrubs

I’ve got this idea for a new television show… It’s about a group of three young television writers — two best guy-pals from college (one writes wacky sitcoms and the other writes serious medical dramas) and an insecure blond girl from Connecticut (who writes night-time dramas) that join the WGA just before the guild decides to go on strike. The strike lasts for a number of years and we learn, laugh, and love with these three young television writers as they cross the picket line to write for a off-beat, yet endearing, one-camera hospital sitcom. The wacky sitcom writer is prone to daydreams, and is often taught life-lessons by a hardened and brash, narcissistic feature film writer forced to cross the picket line as well. The medical drama writer falls in love, and eventually marries a production assistant. The frazzled night-time drama writer falls in and out of love with the daydreaming wacky sitcom writer. The narcissistic feature writer is always budding heads with the show’s producer who feels that the show must go on and at whatever costs — even the integrity of the writers forced to cross the picket line. And, to top it all off, the daydreaming wacky sitcom writer is forever besieged by one of the studio’s security guards. I call the show Scabs.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Scrubs diagnosis unclear and a strike could cancel planned finale.

“On a personal level, yeah, it would be nice to finish work on ‘Scrubs’ the way I wanted to,” creator-executive producer Bill Lawrence said. “That it looks like it’s not happening is certainly disappointing, I can’t lie. But it’s also not the end of the world. The last thing anybody wants to hear right now is some idiot saying, ‘Hey, I worked really hard on my show, I want to end it the way I want to end it!’ It’s hard to care right now about any legacy.”

Lawrence hasn’t done much in the way of stockpiling “Scrubs” episodes in anticipation of a writers walkout. There are two scripts written and ready to shoot, “and with a single-camera show, once a script is locked, you have no real rewrites,” he said. That will take “Scrubs” up through Episode 12, six episodes short of the ending Lawrence had envisioned for the show.

Now, I support the WGA a hundred percent, and I’m ready to hunker down and go without any new scripted television programing and feature motion pictures should the strike drag on — but damnit! My favorite all-time television show looks as if it’ll fall six episodes short of fulfilling their seven season run. After a few different seasons of not knowing if Scrubs would actually be renewed for an additional season we’ve come this far to only fall just so short.

Again, I’m in the WGA’s corner on this one. But, I’m just bummed that one of the strike’s potential first victims has to be something so dear to me personally. I don’t mean to come off as selfish. The writers are only asking for what seems fair. I don’t blame them. In fact, I had hoped to be in within their ranks by now and would be there toting a sign in a picket line without hesitation if I were a member. I’m hoping that the differences are resolved soon and everybody can go to work and make the living that they deserve — and that I get to see the final six episodes of my favorite show.

Tags: scrubs, wga, writers' strike