Back to today’s briefing

Story perspectives

ABC Renews Scrubs, Shifting Gears; RJ Decker Faces Cut

5/2/2026

41 6 Full Breakdown

Summary

**ABC Renews Series**

ABC put the police procedural RJ Decker on the chopping block, with Deadline reporting a 50-50 renewal chance.
ABC renewed the Scrubs reboot for a nine-episode season 2 after it earned the top comedy rating among adults 18-49 this season and drew 11 million online viewers in 35 days.
ABC also renewed Tim Allen’s sitcom Shifting Gears for season 3 after it posted strong ratings in the 2025-26 season.

Summary

**ABC Drops Pilot**

ABC dropped the comedy pilot “Do You Want Kids?” after renewing its three sitcoms.
ABC may cut episode orders on other dramas to fund RJ Decker and a possible Rookie: North spinoff.
The Rookie: North pilot, starring Jay Ellis, stays under review and could be ordered only if ABC trims series.
Shifting Gears drew 5.4 million linear viewers and about 7 million per episode after a week of streaming, per Nielsen.

History

Historical Context

NBC launched the sitcom *Friends* on September 22 1994, anchoring its Thursday “Must See TV” block and later eclipsing *Seinfeld* after its 1998 finale to become the network’s top-rated show, leading the 2001-02 season and totaling 236 episodes over ten seasons. The series’ success cemented NBC’s reliance on strong demographic ratings for future comedy line-ups.

1 of 3

**ABC Renews Series**

ABC put the police procedural RJ Decker on the chopping block, with Deadline reporting a 50-50 renewal chance.
ABC renewed the Scrubs reboot for a nine-episode season 2 after it earned the top comedy rating among adults 18-49 this season and drew 11 million online viewers in 35 days.
ABC also renewed Tim Allen’s sitcom Shifting Gears for season 3 after it posted strong ratings in the 2025-26 season.

1 / 3