Scrubs

_***

Fresh out of medical school, John Dorian tries to navigate his way through a series of personal traumas, medical crises, and a variety of tasks no one had prepared him for.

Scrubs was a series that I never followed during it's original run; I would watch an episode if I saw that it was on, but I never sought it out, despite having enjoyed every moment that I had seen. It was later, when a number of seasons had already been released on DVD, that I marathoned a great number of episodes with a friend and became addicted to the humor of the series.

What makes this show unique is the combination of touching character moments with the hysterical fantasies of Zach Braff's J. D. The protagonist spends so much time in his head that he's almost disconnected with reality, imagining the morning's medical rounds as a game show, or picturing himself being mowed down as a deer in the headlights with antlers attached to his head. In moments where this series could quickly delve into lunacy, it is saved through J. D.'s exploration of who he is, who he wants to be, and who he needs to be.

Everyone here is written very believably, and while I wouldn't have expected any of these characters to be naturals when it comes to these unfamiliar procedures, I'm glad that they aren't shown as incredibly incompetent for comedic purposes. J.D. makes a number of mistakes during the episode, including his struggle to put in an IV, but his best moment comes when he pages Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) asking for advice on how much Tylenol to give to a patient; Cox's response, which is to take a handful and throw them at the patient's open mouth, is so ridiculous that it points out how absurd it is that J.D. didn't just read the label, and it's the same kind of mistake that many people would have made in the same situation.

The cut-away gags in the episode start coming rapid-fire as the story goes on, and it becomes an issue of too-much too-soon. There's something to be said about quality over quantity, and I often found myself wanting to skip over the cut-aways and continue on with the story at hand.

There was a severe lack of incidental music in this episode, which was made more noticeable due to the fact that Scrubs is one of the few sitcoms that doesn't rely on a laugh-track. On all television shows, no matter the genre, music has a time and a place, and I am in no way saying that there needs to be constant background noise happening, but this episode seems a little too quiet for a comedy and would have benefited from some traveling music or a few more hospital-related sounds.

It's the two protagonists that fall short in this episode, with Sarah Chalke's Elliot being played hard-edged and humorless, and Braff not quite having a grasp on his voice overs yet, but the rest of the cast is quite enjoyable. Turk and Carla (Donald Faison and Judy Reyes) have a good chemistry with one another, and where McGinley plays a delightful anti-hero in Cox, Ken Jenkins' Dr. Kelso makes a great villain to the piece.

Adam Bernstein directs the series premiere, and while he doesn't try to change the genre, he does a passable job. I did enjoy the emphasis on the difference between the jock-like surgical interns and the nerdier medical interns, but the overemphasis on cut away gags and lack of incidental music just seems odd.

The use of voice over to accompany J.D.'s antics make him immediately like able and endearing; from the moment the episode begins the audience understands how absolutely nervous and excited he is, and we care whether he sinks or swims. Bill Lawrence manages to inject so much humor into a very true-to-life hospital setting that it's a wonder the premise doesn't come off as somewhat insensitive, however unintentionally. The jaunty music of the opening comes to a grinding halt as J.D. steps into the hospital, the reality of his situation setting in, and it's a very understandable and relate able moment.

This is a natural alternative to the melodramatic medical genre so prominent on television since ER; while Scrubs certainly maintains a level of drama, both medical and personal, it also injects a knowing humor into it's stories that sets it apart from the others. This show has moments that make you cry, but they're offset by the moments that make you laugh, which is far less emotionally-manipulative than the Grey's Anatomys and Saving Hopes that are currently on the air.

Scrubs is in the running to become the feature for Fridays. The series ran from 2001 to 2010 on NBC and ABC with a total of 182 episodes.