Higher ratings for U.S. television drama "ER" have scrapped plans by NBC to put the show on the sidelines for 13 weeks.

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NBC's original plan was to keep the Thursday timeslot "rerun free" for a full season by bringing in another new show rather than repeat "ER" episodes.

But then "ER" began topping the primetime ratings, causing NBC to reconsider and decide that a few reruns on Thursday wouldn't be too bad, the Zap2it Web site observed Thursday.

The new plan is to find a new slot for the replacement series, the drama "The Black Donnellys."

"It's actually really inspiring and gratifying that the network has quickly said this show's too strong, too good and too popular for us to mess around with it," said "ER" executive producer David Zabel.

Zap2it said a time for "Donnellys" has not been selected but slots should open at the end of NBC's Sunday night football schedule.