'Private Practice' will be reunited with 'Grey's Anatomy'

As expected, ABC has shuffled its midseason deck, swapping two under-performing shows and programming the network premiere of " Scrubs."

Confirming industry skuttlebutt, ABC announced Friday (Nov. 21) that beginning on Jan. 8, " Private Practice" will move to Thursday nights at 10 p.m., following the show it spun off from, " Grey's Anatomy."

In its second season, "Private Practice" has averaged just over 9 million viewers per episode, well off the pace of its truncated first season. However, "Private Practice" performed far better than its Wedneday compatriots "Pushing Daisies" and " Dirty Sexy Money," which are expected to end their series runs after they compete their 13-episode orders. ABC hopes that giving the show an average lead-in of just under 17.7 million will help more than than the 6.7 million people watching "Daisies."

ABC will then shift the freshman drama " Life on Mars" to Wednesday, starting on Jan. 28. Despite its "Grey's Anatomy" lead-in, "Life on Mars" has averaged only 9.5 million viewers per episode, though the twists and turns of its new lead-in, " Lost," may prove more compatible.

The network also announced that "Scrubs" will make its ABC debut with two episodes on Tuesday, Jan. 6 starting at 9 p.m. ET. Two episodes will also run in the same slot the following week. The uninitiated will be able to catch up on the show's NBC run starting on Monday, Nov. 24, when episodes become available on ABC.com.