'Quarterlife' Equals 1/22 of a Season on NBC

Did Carrie Underwood (right, with Amy Poehler, left, and Tina Fey) carry "Saturday Night Live" to big numbers? (Associated Press)

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It appears another NBC series, granted a longer-running one, may be moving elsewhere.

"Scrubs."

To ABC, according to industry sources.

Not so fast, says NBC.

While moving prime-time series from one broadcast network to another is not unheard of -- "Taxi," "Family Matters," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "JAG," etc. -- the "Scrubs" switch, if it happens, will have taken place in slow motion.

Rumors it would migrate to ABC have been floating around for two years, mostly because the show is produced by ABC Studios, and ABC programming chief Steve McPherson kept saying he'd pick it up if NBC passed on another season. McPherson developed "Scrubs" when he was head of ABC-parent Disney's TV development division (called Touchstone TV at the time; later changed to ABC Studios).

Most recently, last spring McPherson said he'd do so -- as did show creator Bill Lawrence in news accounts -- this TV season.

But NBC didn't pass. This season, however, the 18-episode order for "Scrubs" was slashed to 12 episodes in the wake of the writers' strike.

The series is scheduled to return to NBC's lineup in April for the rest of what was thought to be its final season.

It's unclear how many episodes ABC might order for next season if "Scrubs" finally does make the switch.

But late yesterday NBC Entertainment co-chair Marc Graboff told trade paper Variety that if in fact ABC is close to picking up the show, then ABC Studios would be in breach of contract and NBC would take legal action. "NBC has a license agreement with ABC Studios which includes a right of first negotiation and first refusal to extend the series term beyond this season," Graboff told Variety.