Over the long winter break, I indulged in many of my favorite pastimes. I went to the movies. I ate junk food. I watched endless hours of Bravo and syndicated TV. I ate more junk food. And the list goes on and on.

In between a particularly wonderful “Law & Order” Christmas Day marathon and the overplayed episodes from the latest season of “Top Chef,” there was one show I couldn’t seem to escape no matter what channel or time of day: “Scrubs.”

Airing in many marathons on Comedy Central in addition to the syndicated repeats shown on local channels such as the CW and Fox, this was not the first time I was tempted to at least try and catch up with whatever Zach Braff and his Sacred Heart coworkers were up to. Although an Emmy and Peabody award-winning television show that has consistently managed to lure in top notch talented guest stars ranging from Michael J. Fox to Keri Russell, the show never reached its full potential as a successful network comedy.

Obviously “Scrubs” is not the first show to switch networks midway through its run to very mixed results. “JAG” was cancelled by NBC before running for nine seasons on CBS. After a huge bidding war, the WB lost one of its founding hits, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” to UPN in 2001 before leaving the air with slightly lower viewership in 2003. Even “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” switched from its successful run as part of ABC’s TGIF line-up to the WB as Sabrina moved on to college and eventually off the air.

The “Scrubs” flip makes great sense, too, since the show is produced by ABC Studios (formerly Touchstone Pictures). During its first seven seasons NBC famously moved “Scrubs” around five times on the primetime schedule, which confused fans and is blamed by many for the show’s low ratings ever since.

“Scrubs’” move to ABC, which came when last year’s supposed final season was interrupted by the writers’ strike only makes me wonder what could have been had “Scrubs” simply aired on ABC rather than NBC for its entire run.

Would there be“Scrubs” trivia games similar to “Sex and the City” and “The Office?”

Would Braff have become more of a breakout star (beyond “Garden State” anyway) and possibly actually won one of the Golden Globes or Emmys he was nominated for?

Would “Scrubs” co-star Sarah Chalke have become the new Jennifer Aniston and cemented her status as TV’s new sweetheart rather than the Hanes underwear spokesperson?

It’s amazing to think what difference a better time slot and a more aggresive marketing push can make (cough “Alias” cough) but some shows are better the cool kids club’s secret rather than the mainstream buzz show of the moment. Look how huge ratings and popularity have affected the gossip-laden cast of “Grey’s Anatomy,” for example.

That “Scrubs” continued running in light of the show’s poor ratings is impressive considering that current industry standards deem it reasonable to cancel a failed show after only as little as two episodes. Like many other underappreciated comedies (“Arrested Development,” “30 Rock”) maybe those select fans following J.D. and Turk since the beginning would rather keep their club on the small side, a way to ask one question (“Do you watch ‘Scrubs?’”) to tell the pop culture winners from the losers. And finally, what is a best actor Emmy really worth for Braff at this point? I’m sure that Grammy he received for the “Garden State” soundtrack is a great mantle decoration all on its own.

If you think “Scrubs” co-star Sarah Chalke is the mom on “How I Met Your Mother,” e-mail Stanhope at kstanhope@media.ucla.edu.