Spoilers for the "Scrubs" musical episode coming up just as soon as I think of a good rhyme for hypothalamus...
As I mentioned in my column the other day, I wish I had seen "Guy Love" and "Everything Comes Down to Poo" for the first time in the context of the show. "Guy Love" in particular was my favorite number of the night, but having watched it a few times in advance, it had lost a lot of its kick by the time I got to it here. Still fun, but not rolling on the floor, crying my eyes out fun.
And that's the way I felt about the whole episode, I think. I'm glad they did it, I enjoyed a lot of the numbers -- particularly Carla and Turk's tango, the Les Miz-ish pre-intermission song (complete with curtain pull), and the "Avenue Q" songwriters getting around John C. McGinley's minimal singing ability by giving him a "Modern Major General"-type speak-sing number -- but I wasn't over the moon about it the way I was with, say, "Once More with Feeling" on "Buffy." I think I'd probably even put the "Chicago Hope" musical episode over this one.
Again, I don't want to sound too down over this. I've been very pleased with the last couple of episodes, but I was ecstatic when I first heard that they were doing a musical and that a bunch of "Avenue Q" people would be involved(*), and I built it up in my head beyond a point they could live up to.
((*) Keep in mind that "The Internet Is For Porn" was my ringtone for a really long time until I started to worry that my daughter could understand it; now it's Fountains of Wayne's "Maureen.")
What did everybody else think?
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Scrubs: You're the only man who's ever been inside me
Spoilers for the "Scrubs" musical episode coming up just as soon as I think of a good rhyme for hypothalamus...
As I mentioned in my column the other day, I wish I had seen "Guy Love" and "Everything Comes Down to Poo" for the first time in the context of the show. "Guy Love" in particular was my favorite number of the night, but having watched it a few times in advance, it had lost a lot of its kick by the time I got to it here. Still fun, but not rolling on the floor, crying my eyes out fun.
And that's the way I felt about the whole episode, I think. I'm glad they did it, I enjoyed a lot of the numbers -- particularly Carla and Turk's tango, the Les Miz-ish pre-intermission song (complete with curtain pull), and the "Avenue Q" songwriters getting around John C. McGinley's minimal singing ability by giving him a "Modern Major General"-type speak-sing number -- but I wasn't over the moon about it the way I was with, say, "Once More with Feeling" on "Buffy." I think I'd probably even put the "Chicago Hope" musical episode over this one.
Again, I don't want to sound too down over this. I've been very pleased with the last couple of episodes, but I was ecstatic when I first heard that they were doing a musical and that a bunch of "Avenue Q" people would be involved(*), and I built it up in my head beyond a point they could live up to.
((*) Keep in mind that "The Internet Is For Porn" was my ringtone for a really long time until I started to worry that my daughter could understand it; now it's Fountains of Wayne's "Maureen.")
What did everybody else think?
I enjoyed the episode, even though I had already watched "Guy Love" and the poop song. The Carla/Turk number was also pretty good.
ReplyDelete"You told J.D our baby was 'blaxican'." That was hilarious.
I also found it funny when Kelso called Carla "ex-nurse Mrs. Turkleton".
This season is not as good as previous seasons I guess, but some Scrubs is better than no Scrubs.
I avoided watching the songs before the episode, so I was relatively unspoiled (though I knew which ones to watch for). I think I'd have to say that "Poo" was the best of the songs. Judy Reyes has a great voice, but I knew that already.
ReplyDeleteMy sister walks in halfway through the episode and says "Are they singing on Scrubs AGAIN?" No, I say. They've never done a musical before.
ReplyDeleteWell, they did sing "I'm Waiting For My Ship to Come In" once.
And they did have the West Side Story remix ("A Surgeon and a Doc...").
And Ted's Band sings every so often.
Come to think of it, they sing a lot on Scrubs after all. While the musical was fun, it wasn't as much of a standout as Buffy's. Maybe it's because they NEVER sang on Buffy before "Once More With Feeling". We've already heard everyone sing (and dance and dance and dance some more) on Scrubs, so it's not as big a deal.
Enjoyed it, of course, but it pails not only when compared to BTVS:OMWF but to South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut. With the former, there were four standout voices - three of them cast members - and with SP, I think Matt and Trey did a better job of referencing classic musicals while still writing original, witty songs.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem was not Johnny C., but Zach Braff. There was no way to hide his voice and it's not very good. It's about what I imagine Matthew Broderick's voice sounded like before the extensive voice lessons he took for How to Succeed... I was also disappointed that their best voice (Sam Lloyd) was underused. It wouldn't have been out of character for him to sing a solo lament.
On the plus side, it's inspired me to find my copy of the soundtrack for BTVS:OMWF and listen to it this weekend.
A funny episode. The Buffy comparisons are pretty accurate as, like "Once More...", Scrubs didn't just do a tossed off musical episode, but managed to advance the storylines for several characters with Carla returning to work and Elliott and JD moving on with their living situations. But what, no Dudemeister?
ReplyDeleteI hadn't watched any of the available clips, so it was all new to me -- and I loved it. "Guy Love" and "Everything Comes Down to Poo" were definitely the best songs, but I also liked Cox's Gilbert and Sullivan-esque list of reasons why JD drives him nuts.
ReplyDeleteI think it suffered from being overhyped and overleaked. I saved myself (I was a Scrubs Musical Virgin!) by avoiding the "preview" videos, so the only time I heard the songs was in the promos.... and when Zach and Donald sang Guy Love live on Jimmy Kimmel the other night. I wanted to avoid it and watch it later, but I wasn't alone and it wasn't a clip.
ReplyDeleteIt was a nice ep, and the How Can I Tell Him part with Carla, Elliot and Cox reminded me of a part of the Buffy musical the song title to which I actually had to look up (Standing in the Way -- with Giles and Tara) but...
of course, if songs get stuck in your head, the one you don't want is Poo. Sounds odd at work.
I liked the Got the Mustard Out type opening too. Cox was great. Do you know who did Sarah's singing? (cause I heard she's not allowed to sing)
If only they'd not hyped it to the sky, I'd have been less underwhelmed. Still, it was fun... I've only watched it once so far.
And I never was sure whether JD really did stick that penny in the door, or just came up with the idea that someone might have.
And I love that they named the baby Izzie. The brother didn't catch that last week and apparently was not listening when I pointed it out to him. Just think, in 26 years or so, she can be cutting LVAD wires her very own little self.
I nearly fell over laughing when the "blaxican" thing came up. I loved the ep and I was completely unspoiled for it. "Guy Love" was awesome. The only song I didn't care for was the last big one about friends or whatever it was--it was too close to "We Go Together" from "Grease" for my taste.
ReplyDeleteWhy is Sarah "not allowed" to sing? Is her voice that bad, or is there some other (possibly medical?) reason she can't?
I enjoyed the episode, and I thought that parts of it were very sweet. Braff's voice was actually better than what I had expected it to be. I thought that Sarah Chalke did her own singing--she barely had any lines, and when she did, they were half-spoken. (like Alyson Hannigan in "Once More")
ReplyDeleteAn especially nice touch was the casting of "Avenue Q" alum Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Ms. Miller.
Sarah did an interview some time in the past year where she said her singing is so bad that even in school (or whereever) she was told to just lip synch the Christmas carols.
ReplyDeleteWish I could source that, but....
Pam
This is the first episode of Scrubs I've enjoyed in a long time. They haven't been able to write a good show since Season 4, so last night was perfect because they set aside any pretense of character and plot and just went for sheer entertainment value. It worked for me. A nice farewell to a show I can't bring myself to watch anymore.
ReplyDeleteJust for the record, they had sung on Buffy twice before the musical episode - Giles sings in "Restless", and he also sings for no reason in I think the Halloween episode from Season 4.
ReplyDeleteRe Sarah Chalke singing: She and Zach and Bill Lawrence were at the TCA press tour Wednesday, and she told the story about being told to lip-sync in grade school, and Bill goofed on her lack of vocal ability too.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'm pretty sure they were all just joking, and she did her own singing.
I was unspoiled for the episode and I LOVED IT. My husband said Scrubs is TOO quirky for him to like the show, but he also thought this episode was enjoyable and we both laughed out loud several times.
ReplyDeleteBetter than I expected. I LOVE the "Ted's Lament" suggestion -- maybe for the sequel to the musical episode? I found the Carla/Turk tango really disturbing, mostly for the actual content. Turk not bothering to remember basic facts about his wife like her ethnicity, middle name, and where she grew up? To me that went beyond the usual Scrubs "men are from Mars" jokes and reflected poorly on Turk's character and their relationship.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I was underwhelmed... as much as I love Scrubs and Avenue Q, this was a case when the two didn't add up into something greater than the two parts.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I liked Stephanie D'Abruzzo guest starring, I was pretty bummed they didn't give her any reaction lines, since her "What?" "Ew!" and "Trekkie!" are some of the funniest moments from the Avenue Q soundtrack.
Maybe I was expecting too much. I liked the songs but none of them were as good as my least favorite Avenue Q tunes.