Scrubs
'That doesn't seem right...'
”Scrubs” is a television comedy programme. Its themetune is ”No Superman” by Lazlo Bane. It’s a bit like marmite: you either love it, or you hate it. It is a comedy, but it has its moving moments. Such as when a favourite patient passed away, just when everyone thought she was finally better; she’d caught an infection from a clumsy ex-intern, who had been fired, much reluctantly by Dr. John Dorian (J.D.). Or, the end of series three, when you’re led to believe Carla and Turk’s wedding is ruined! (They get married in the end, so it’s all good).
There are seven more main characters:
- Dr John “J.D.” Dorian (Zach Braff)
- Dr Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke)
- Christopher “Turk” Turkleton (Donald Faison)
- “The Janitor” (Neil Flynn)
- Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins)
- Perry Cox (John C. McGinley)
- Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes)
Alongside them are other characters who play needless to say important and funny background parts, usually contributing to the main plot in the Scrubs story of the day:
- The Todd
- LaVerne
- Dan Dorian (J.D’s older, less successful brother)
- Ted (the hospitals lawyer)
Awards
In its first three seasons, ‘Scrubs’ recieved Emmy nominations for casting, editing and writing of the show. Following Season four, the show received further nominations such as ‘Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series’ (Braff), ‘Best Editing of a Multi-Camera Series’ (thought the show is predominantly shot with one camera). In 2002 the show won the Humanitas Prize, thirty-minute category, for Season 1, episode 4, ‘My Old Lady’. Braff was nominated for the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical in 2005, 2006 and 2007, but lost to Jason Bateman for ‘Arrested Development’ in 2005, to Steve Carell of ‘The Office’ in 2006, and to Alec Baldwin of ‘30 Rock’ in 2007.
‘Scrubs’ won a George Foster Peabody Award for its 2006 season; the press release specifically noted the Wizard of Oz homage episode "My Way Home”. At the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards, which aired in September 2007, the episode "My Musical" was nominated for five awards in four categories: Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series (Will Mackenzie), Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics ("Everything Comes Down to Poo" and "Guy Love" ), Outstanding Music Direction (Jan Stevens), and Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (half-hour) And Animation (Joe Foglia, Peter J. Nusbaum, and John W. Cook II). It went on to a joint win along with the ‘Entourage’ episode "One Day in the Valley" in the latter of these categories. Scrubs also won a 2008 Humanitas prize for the season 6 episode "My Long Goodbye".
Dates
- ‘Scrubs’ premiered on NBC on the 2nd of October 2001, showing every Tuesday at 9:30pm for 24 episodes. The Season Finale aired on May 21st, 2002, and the season brought in 11.20 million viewers, ranking it #38.
- Season two aired on the 26th September 2002, with a new timeslot of 8:30pm on a Thursday night, for a lesser 22 episodes. This Season Finale aired on April 17th, 2003, and Season two claimed a whopping 15.94 million viewers, ranking it #14 this time.
- Season three produced another 22 gleaming episodes, airing on the 2nd October 2003, with two timeslots this time: Tuesdays at 8:30pm and Thursdays at 9:30pm. May 24th 2004 saw the Season Finale, and the Season of the year only brought in 10.41; the show only ranked #43.
- Season five returned on January 3rd, 2006 with a lovely 24 episodes, with the same timeslots as the previous series. The Finale aired May 16th 2006, and the season only brought in a disheartening 6.40 million viewers, at a miserable #98.
- Season 6 burst onto the scene on November 30 2006, bringing loyal ‘Scrubs’ fans a double dose of seasons, with hope of pumping of those viewing figures. The show earned a #87 with the 6.41 million viewers, the best result in two seasons. The seaon closed on the 17th May 2007. The season had a single timeslot at 9:30pm on a Thursday.
- Back at two slots – 8:30pm Thursdays and 9:30pm Thursdays – October 25th 2007 saw the first of 11 brand new episodes. The Season Finale aired May 8th 2008; the season only brought in 6.38 million viewers, landing the show at an undeserved #115.
- The latest and eighth season came out strong with a good 18 episode on January 6th 2009 – a long wait for the diehard fans. ABC had bought the rights to the show from NBC. It now had three slots to fill: Tuesdays at 9:00pm and 9:30pm, and Wednesdays at 8:00pm. May 6th 2009 saw the Season Finale, a full four months after the Season Premier. Sadly, viewing figures dropped again, to an upsetting 5.61 million, leaving the show at #123.
[li]Season four saw August 31st 2004 as it’s Premier, and held a massive 25 episodes in it’s name. Still with two timeslots – Tuesday 9:30pm and Tuesday 9:00pm – the season closed on May 10th 2005. Viewing figures dropped to 6.90 million, naming it #88 that year.
Future
Creator Bill Lawrence announced on January 29th 2009, to a crowd at his alma mater, the College of William and Mary, that season eight would be the last. Since then he admitted that if it continues after narrator and lead role-player Zack Braff leaves, "it would have to be a different show (maybe even different title)".
On April 16th of the same year, Lawrence posted a message on the forums at abc.com that a season nine was still hanging in the balance of a decision. As of May 3rd 2009, ABC was billing the episode ‘My Finale’ as just a “finale” and not the end to a season. On April 28th 2009, it was announced that ABC were in talks about renewing Scrubs for another year; however, someone the the cast may or not reappear, due to other commitments, or may even just feature part time.
On May 14th 2009, it was announced that Braff had singed on to season nine for six episodes, to help shift the show into its new format. On May 23rd, Braff announced to fans on MySpace that he was staying with the show for that time period, but that he knew little of what would be happening with the show. All characters seem to be respectively returning to their roles for the named six episodes at least.
McGinley and Faison will be returning as ‘medical professors’ – changing the format of the show from a hospital to a classroom – it was announced on June 19th 2009, in season nine of the show, ”with a quartet of ‘newbies’ (most of them playing students)”. Lawrence described the turnout of season nine will ”be like Paper Chase as a comedy”. The ‘quartet of newbies’ will be full-time, and one of them will be “fairly famous”.
The new main cast so far stands as follows:
- Eliza Coupe (returning as ‘Denise “Jo” Mahoney’ from season eight)
- Dave Franco (Cole, a charming, conservative, confidently stupid and entitled med-student)
- Kerry Bishé (Lucy, new narrator for the show)
- Michael Mosely (Drew, a 30 year old having a last attempt at med school)
- It is said that ex-Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham is at the top of ABC’s list at the ‘someone famous’.
