It's the show that can't lose. Despite being bounced around NBC's schedule over the years, despite not making it onto the fall schedule this past season, despite doubts about renewal year after year, Scrubs is the Timex watch, the Energizer bunny, the Name-Your-Cliché-for-Durability of TV shows.

Its loyal fan base means ratings have remained steady, if never stellar, through the uncertainty. It's gained critical acclaim and nominations for best comedy and Zach Braff as lead comedy actor at the last Emmys, whose September broadcast might have given a boost to Scrubs' fifth season if the premiere hadn't had to wait until January.

The show can't lose with me, either. A cable package with both Eastern and Pacific time zone feeds became a necessity when it was scheduled against that other medical show I enjoy Tuesdays at 9 p.m. And despite getting stood up a few times for my interview with creator and executive producer Bill Lawrence, who's been rewriting a movie script and directing a television pilot during Scrubs' hiatus, I couldn't give up on the show that won't give up.

But the biggest indication the show can't lose is that Lawrence has been vocal lately about surefire renewal. If NBC doesn't pick the show up, he says, ABC is waiting in the wings.

"ABC not only owns the show, but the person who ran Touchstone Studios when it was developed is Steve McPherson, and he's president of the network now," said Lawrence. "So he's basically told us that if NBC can't work this financial deal out, it will be on ABC next year."

The unusual arrangement — being wholly owned by one network and aired on another — has contributed to its ugly treatment by NBC, who don't stand to gain as much financially from its success. But it's also led to a more promisingly unusual arrangement by making Scrubs' availability on iTunes "the first time two rival media companies have joined together in a digital download deal," according to the LA Times. It's a feat that isn't quite equivalent to peace in the Middle East, but means competitors NBC and Touchstone were able to work out a precedent-setting profit-sharing arrangement.

Reaching out to the audience: "We happen to know our core group of fans are very Internet savvy."

Explaining Scrubs' tenacity, a grateful Lawrence kept coming back to those loyal fans. "We lovingly call them our nerds. It's seriously a giant testament to them that the show's still alive."

"If you're not that giant hit, you have to tap into what people who love your show like, and keep it interesting and satisfying to them," he said, explaining the importance Scrubs has placed on iTunes, behind-the-scenes blogs, audio commentary, videos (such as excerpts from J.D.'s Dr. Acula movie, a running joke in the show), and other Internet-based extras, including a Name Carla and Turk's Baby contest.