'Modern Family,' 'The Middle,' 'Cougar Town' here to stay

A little good news for comedy lovers: ABC's renewed "Modern Family" and "The Middle" for next season.

(Less exciting, at least to me: It's also renewed "Cougar Town.")

The love may not have spread to Tuesday nights, where the too-long-at-the-fair "Scrubs" has been struggling, along with "Better Off Ted" (which is the funniest show on television you're probably not watching).

Asked about the Tuesday night situation, ABC entertainment president Steve McPherson essentially ignored "Ted," to focus on "Scrubs," which is produced by ABC and which he was instrumental in keeping on the air after NBC canceled it two seasons ago.

"We have obviously been disappointed by how that's performed," he said. And while fans have  been worried about the network's double-running episodes of both shows, "our intent is not to burn them off," he said, not very convincingly.

On the plus side, original episodes of the Wednesday night comedies may turn up in the vacant "Hank" slot at 8 p.m., since the network's ordered more than 22 episodes for the season.