Longtime “Scrubs” writer-producers Garrett Donovan and Neil Goldman have inked a new two-year overall deal at Universal Media Studios.
Under the seven-figure pact, the duo join the recently picked-up NBC comedy series “Community” as executive producers/showrunners.
The single-camera project, created by Dan Harmon, is a co-production between Sony TV, which developed and produced the pilot, and UMS.
“Community,” about a group of misfits attending a community college, stars Joel McHale, Chevy Chase, Danny Pudi, Gillian Jacobs and Yvette Nicole Brown.
Donovan and Goldman will exec produce alongside Harmon, Russ Krasnoff and Gary Foster.
For the past eight years, Donovan and Goldman worked on “Scrubs,” which ran on NBC for seven seasons before migrating to ABC in the fall.
They joined the ABC Studios-produced series at its inception as co-producers, rising to exec producers for the past three seasons.
Having worked on the longest-running live-action comedy series currently on the air proved a huge advantage when the duo met with studios after their previous pact with UMS ended in April.
“What we found in taking those meetings was that the experience we had gained over the years having been on such a quality show isn’t that common because there haven’t been so many sitcoms out there,” Donovan said.
He praised their mentor, “Scrubs” creator/exec producer Bill Lawrence, for “showing us the ropes and teaching us the full aspect of showrunning.”
UMS, ABC Studios and 20th TV expressed interest in signing the duo, with UMS and ABC Studios making a serious play for them.
At ABC Studios, Donovan and Goldman probably would have stayed on “Scrubs” if it is picked up for another season, as rumored.
“We love ‘Scrubs,’ ” Donovan said. “It’s a show we were on for eight years, and we felt it was time to branch out a little bit.”
Donovan and Goldman are repped by UTA and attorneys P.J. Shapiro and Brian Wolf.
