Today's column previews the final season of "Scrubs":
"You go when you're supposed to go, and everything else is homicide!"
That's a line by Detective Meldrick Lewis from the great "Homicide: Life on the Street," and one I think about whenever I hear that a show I like is coming to an end. Are they going when they're supposed to, or is it a case of network homicide?
Much as I wish I could say NBC is unjustly slaying "Scrubs" by declaring in advance that the seventh season will be the comedy's last, it feels like it's time. Maybe even a little past time.
To read the full thing,
click here. To read the accompanying list of 10 best episodes (and
thanks for all the suggestions, folks!),
click here. (Bonus reason for clicking through: YouTube links to stuff like Turk dancing and the "West Side Story" parody.)
Today's column previews the final season of "Scrubs":
As much as I like this show, I stopped watching it regularly a few years ago, not because I didn't like it but because I had more to do in life with college and because of the time slot changes and scheduling delays. Maybe I haven't seen enough of the different seasons to judge them accurately, but I've never noticed a huge dip in quality. I also loved the fact that the producers made it seem like you could fairly easily pick up where you left off, although perhaps that was in fact because they were repeating themselves so much.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird, I've heard so many people say they like this show, but it never seems to be reflected in the ratings. Maybe they are all like me.
And yes, so many other shows owe something to this show. As bitter as that makes Lawrence feel--and it's come out in episodes, to be sure--his awesome work will live in in syndication for years. It's not the best prize, but it's a good one.
While I absolutely agree the show has seen better days, I'm with it until the end. Even a mediocre "Scrubs" episode is better than the bulk of other stuff on TV. Plus, it fits SO nicely into my Thursday 8-10 viewing (which makes up about half of my entire week's viewing time!)
ReplyDeleteAlan, I'm glad to have reminded you of "My Jiggly Ball" and for me, what makes the episode is the ending:
ReplyDeletehttp://youtube.com/watch?v=5JdbUgQ1Jmg
Ah Scrubs. One of my friends just got engaged, and he quoted Turk to his fiance: "You know those couples that get engaged but never set a date or get married...why can't we be like those couples?" Hilarity ensued.
ReplyDeleteWhoa, My Occurrence over My Screwup! I fully support that choice, but not a single episode from Season 3? Actually, I can totally understand because I don't know which on your list I would remove to accommodate them. Great job, Alan!
ReplyDeleteOops, My Friend the Doctor is from Season 3. And I loved the Janitor subplot in that one.
ReplyDeleteAnd can I just say how happy I am to see the credit Season 1 gets on your list. I think Scrubs had one of the best inaugural seasons in recent years.
Whoa, My Occurrence over My Screwup!
ReplyDeleteI often find that the ends of arcs where someone is dying often get more credit than better episodes from earlier. (See also me picking "Irregular Around the Margins" over "Long-Term Parking" in my Sopranos Top 10 list, and the crap I caught for that.) The revelation that Brendan Fraser was dead was beautifully played by McGinley, but overall, the first Fraser episode was better.
Anyone know if Ted's Band's cover of Rainbow is available for purchase? Awesoome stuff.
ReplyDeleteIt is my sincerest wish for Scrubs that it redeems itself from what I thought was an extremely disappointing season last year. Seasons 1-5, although they differed from one another, were all solid. As for season 6, forget any problems with the story lines and the weak writing, it was the tone that was way off kilter.
ReplyDeleteBill Lawrence and company have 18 episodes to hopefully let Scrubs go out with its former glory. I hear Lawrence and Braff directed at least half those episodes.
tosy and cosh - It's available on iTunes as a single, but it's not on their album. Here's the band's website:
www.theblankswebsite.com
Season 6 episodes weren't horrible, but they weren't great, and they weren't up to Scrubs' standard. I can see your point about season 5 making JD too cartoonish, but I think there was still potential for making him a full character by retouching on his role as a doctor who cares. Season 5 did that repeatedly. Also, it might help if he had some interns to help out. But yeah, he's become so zany, just looking at him dealing with his personal life seems like just an excuse for gags better placed elsewhere, especially since most of the time he's at the hospital and so his personal moments are somewhat hurried and contrived. But I'm still hoping that some depth might return to JD this season. Perhaps the Kim storyline is starting to move in an interesting direction. I hope so. It's always nice for a TV show to go out on an upswing.
ReplyDelete