Scrubs season 5

[BlackFlagg 0]

Just a reminder to any interested, season 5 of Scrubs starts tonight with two new episodes!

[Alro 0]

It's about damn time. I love this show.

[slimm44 0]

16 minutes in and it's hilarious, definitly the show to fill the emptiness of Arrested Development when it is gone.

[Placebo Effect 0]

Horse hospital and birth control in J.D.'s urine were both highlights of the two episodes.

 

Funny that Alexander Chaplin made an appearance in this episode, as Scrubs' creator did an unsuccesful pilot with him a year back. Chaplin was incredibly unfunny tonight.

[nl5xsk1 0]

I know I'm going to get an Arrested Development-esque "You have to watch the show consistently for a while to really get it" response, but I tried watching this (again, for like the 3rd time) and just don't find it funny at all.

[Renegade 0]

I know I'm going to get an Arrested Development-esque "You have to watch the show consistently for a while to really get it" response, but I tried watching this (again, for like the 3rd time) and just don't find it funny at all.

JD will make some nerdy jokes in his head and sometimes say them out loud. If you're lucky sometimes a black joke here and there. And if there is some celebrity guest on the show at the time he'll hook up with her.

The Janitor will get up to some wacky antics trying to annoy someone.

Elliot will lack confidence and talk about how she was called (insert name) in highschool, later on gaining confidence only for it to reset the next episode.

Dr Cox will have at least one insanely long monologue about what annoys him.

Ted will always be a loser/suicidal and every episode will cement this further

 

Seriously you don't have to watch this show consistently at all to get it, it will just help fill in some of the blanks story wise, but it's nothing like AD. I loved the first season of scrubs because it was fast paced and original, but the last 3 seasons were pretty dull IMO. The show seemed to rise again during the last half of season 4 so I'll download this and see.

Edited January 4, 2006 by Renegade

[pochorenella 0]

Why this show doesn't get the thursday night timeslot, I'll never understand.

[Placebo Effect 0]

Why this show doesn't get the thursday night timeslot, I'll never understand.

 

I believe ABC/Buena Vista owns the show, and not NBC. Since NBC has to give some of the profits to ABC/BV, they have no desire to give it prominent placement in its line-up.

 

As for what someone else said, Scrubs definitely doesn't hold a candle to AD. It's still a fantastic show though.

[C Dubya 04 0]

I know I'm going to get an Arrested Development-esque "You have to watch the show consistently for a while to really get it" response, but I tried watching this (again, for like the 3rd time) and just don't find it funny at all.

 

I love Scrubs, but don't find it to be all that funny. THere are parts that are definitely, but I really don't think that it is even meant to be a pure comedy. It's more of a quirky soap style show.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

I've been enjoying this season. Highlights so far have been "My Way Home" (Wizard of Oz) and "My Five Stages" (the grief counselor).

 

I hate Keith, but then again I hate all of Eliot's boyfriends.

 

The Todd never gets old.

 

From last week: The Janitor hurdling and J.D.'s "Abort the babies!" line were awesome.

 

Also, nbc.com/Scrubs is having a "Name Carla and Turk's baby!" contest. I hope they like Ottoman Turk.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Good to see there's a Scrubs thread here. I just recently got into the show quite a bit, and have caught up on everything except for the fourth season.

 

Mostly this had to do with me wanting to figure out what happened between Elliot and J.D... and good GOD that was annoying. All that pining over her in the second and third season, and out of nowhere after Dani (Tara Reid's character) tells J.D., "You only want what you can't have." the WHOLE thing gets fucked up because of that? How utterly ridiculous. Or how they broke up in the first season only because J.D. said something totally inconsequential and she overreacted.

 

Janitor had a line about it in the episode before J.D. and Elliot got back together in the third season, "What is this 'Oh will they? Or won't they? Does she love him? Will he get her back? crap? Just give it up! I mean, you guys aren't exactly Ross and Rachel."

 

I'm guessing that's probably why the writers aborted that whole storyline, but it still felt really rushed and awkward.

 

I also really enjoyed the Mandy Moore episodes as well as "My Five Stages" this season. Keith may possibly be even more annoying and definitely much less funnier than Sean.

[Renegade 0]

Needs more Hooch.

[Ted the Poster 0]

Hooch is seriously crazy. He's on that shitty Disney show, I think.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

Yeah, I just bought Seasons 1 & 2 and went through them pretty quickly. My favorites include:

 

"My Old Lady"

"My Occurrence"

"His Story"

"My T.C.W."

"My Interpretation"

 

Now to wait for May 9th for Season 3 and "My Screw Up."

[Hank Kingsley 0]

Hell yeah, tonight was great. I love The Janitor so I'm glad he finally got his own episode.

 

Cox's "NAAA" rant was inspired.

 

Eliot's mom: "I had a C-section with all my children, so everything's still perfect down there."

 

Love it.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

Scrubs has been one of the best shows on TV since it started.

 

 

I haven't been able to catch any Season 5 yet, I'll catch up with TiVo this weekend.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

Holy shit. With the awesome Janitor episode last week and this little piece of amazingness that just happened, this season is getting a whole lot better.

 

 

The Todd is, uh, omnisexual, I guess.

 

and Dr. Cox proves why he's the best character on the show.

[BlackFlagg 0]

If McGinley doesn't get a Golden Gobe nomination after tonight then there is something very wrong

[Alro 0]

Easily the best episode of the season. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

 

This whole season has been exceptional. My favorite season has been the second one, but it is going to be displaced after this one.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

Apparently this was the start of a three episode Cox arc.

 

Next week: "My Fallen Idol"

 

Dr. Cox starts drinking after his decisions result in the death of three of his patients. The staff tries to cover for him at the hospital while everyone tries to convince him how inspiring he is for them. Turk starts his new rotation with orthopedic surgery, but isn't so fond of his attending doctor's touchy-feely methods. Thus, J.D. and the Janitor attempt to help Turk find ways to bond with his new supervisor.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I'm really excited with tonight's episode and all. Also somewhat surprised they didn't go further with exposing J.D. as more of a closet homo (he sure has all the signs dating back to the first season) rather than the Todd.

 

This is a much more interesting route that they're going down towards with the group, and as weird as it feels to say this, I think it finally feels as if this show has some direction now. The third season was my favorite season, with J.D. after Elliot and with the Turk/Carla relationship getting stronger, but how it ended left a lot to be desired (See an earlier post on that in this thread). But this season, it feels like all the characters and the actors playing them have settled into their roles and respective niches quite nicely and that they're churning out some real good stuff now.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

And Cox calls J.D. by his real name for the first time, ever?

 

Episode really picked up at the end. I can't wait for the apparently two-part finale.

[C Dubya 04 0]

I thought the episode was pretty good, but dragged in the middle. And yes, I do believe that's the first time he's called J.D., J.D.

[Boon 0]

Any word on whether or not Zach Braff is signed on for a sixth season, or if there even will be one?

[humanoid92 0]

I love Scrubs, but whenever I watch it now I can't help but notice how much they've strayed from J.D.'s original character. They've made him way more over the top than he used to be. It's too much. Go back and watch a couple of the Season One episodes and then watch something from this year right afterwards. The differences are startling.

 

In Season One J.D. explained to Elliot what a no-hitter was and how it's baseball superstition to not say a word to the pitcher when he has a good game going. And there was another episode where he played basketball with Turk and even though he got his ass handed to him, you could tell he still had some idea about what he was doing- he was a regular guy. Now fast forward to this year and he doesn't know who Barry Bonds is, has no idea who Arnold Palmer is and mistakes Turk's Latreel Spreewell reference for a hockey player.

 

It's more than just the sports knowledge though. In the beginning there was a balance with his character. Yeah, he was always paranoid and daydreaming, but he also usually had his shit together. But now he's this effeminate aloof goofball 95% of the time. It's especially apparent in his relationship with Turk; they've taken one aspect of their original relationship and cranked it up about 100x to the point where that's the only way they interact anymore.

 

The J.D. stuff really bugs me because I loved his original character and a lot of the stuff they're doing with him now is overkill and better in small doses. And since he's the narrator, and the show is through his eyes, it really takes its toll on the show as a whole.

 

My question is: when exactly did this happen. I've only seen Seasons One, Two and Five so I'm in the dark. I prefer One to Two, but Two is still pretty true to its original form. Was there one specific turning point in Season Three or Four where they started to ruin his character or was it more of a gradual shift? I mean.. what's with the scooter?

 

That said, I still love the show. Now that Arrested Development is gone I'd probably rank my current favorites like this: 1. The Office, 2. Scrubs, 3. My Name Is Earl, 4. Family Guy

 

As was said, there have been some great episodes this year like the Wizard of Oz one and the recent Dr. Cox storyline. But as a whole I just prefer Season One to everything. So for those of you that were saying you can't get into it and don't understand the love, I'd suggest checking out Season One, before J.D. turned into a complete goofball.

 

It's a strange trend- with a lot of newer shows, it seems like they start out at their peak and then fizzle out as time goes on. It used to be the opposite. Look at Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Everybody Loves Raymond, etc. Those shows definitely got funnier from than they were in the beginning.

 

Seinfeld: The first two years of this show are such a contrast to what it became later. This show just kept constantly improving and finally found its audience around season four. They really found out how to maximize their style as they went along- it's almost like the first few years were a learning process. Even though the stories in some of the later years became a little wacky and less realistic, it still maintained a really high level until they went out.

 

Simpsons: When you catch an episode from those first two seasons, you definitely know you're watching one of the "early ones". It wasn't until Season Three that they started getting really good, and Season Four until they consistently started spitting out some of the greatest shows of all-time. They more or less kept up this quality up until around Season Eight (in my opinion). But still, there was a learning curve. It kept improving and improving.

 

Now look at all the current shows...

 

Scrubs: Season One was damn near perfect and Season Two was really solid as well. Now it's to the point where things feel a bit off.

 

Arrested Development: I love AD as much as anyone. It's not that the quality slipped much in Season Two or Three (though Three got really goofy at times and I didn't really love the Rita story)... it's just that Season One started off SO strongly that I don't know how they could ever evolve to the point where they could possibly top that.

 

I'm just speculating here but I think shows like the Office and Earl are going to go through a similar decline.

 

With a show like the Office where they're so locked in to one setting, I worry about longevity. It's only Season Two (since Season One was six episodes, it might as well still be Season One) and already they've left the office a bunch of times, sometimes in contrived situations. They've already gone to Chili's, the karate place, Michael's new pad, wherever Dwight's speech was, the booze cruise, the hockey rink, etc. It's been funny, but how long can they keep sending everyone to random places? I thought the ice skating, karate, and even Dwight's speech episodes felt out of place. And besides that, the obvious question is how long can they possibly keep up the Jim and Pam stuff and where do they eventually go with it?

 

I love the gimmick Earl uses with his list. It's pretty innovative. But again, I wonder how long they can go with it, especially when it seems like the first 5-10 minutes of each episode recently seems to be an extended flashback.

 

Going back a little, I think Malcolm in the Middle is another example of this. I remember the first couple seasons of that show being awesome but then it went to hell pretty fast.

 

So why do shows these days start off so strongly and then decline, whereas in the past they would start off kind of slow and then improve over time to realize their full potential? I think a lot of it has to do with the pressure to be a breakout hit right off the bat since the networks are so quick to ax every new show that doesn't succeed right away. Makes you wonder how many shows we've lost too quickly in recent years that never got a proper chance to evolve.

[C Dubya 04 0]

You definitely hit the nail on the head with the pressure from the networks to be a hit right away. You need to give a show time to find it's audience, not just shove it down people's throats and pull the plug if it's not an instant hit.

 

I disagree with you on the Office though. I like how they're using the other locations so far. It is all kind of logical stuff. And particularly the Dwight/Michael at Dwight's speech part. It made sense for the two of them to be away on business. I think that they can continue to do this going forward. Don't take everyone someplace, but take a few people. Realistically, you see your co-workers outside of work from time to time. Happy hours, parties, business trips, etc...

[humanoid92 0]

That's true. I do love The Office so I hope they can keep it up. Even though I really didn't care for the skating rink and the karate thing, they have used most of the other settings very well. I guess the Jim/Pam stuff will become more of an issue than the different settings. When that situation finally explodes (if it does... I think it would kind of be cool if it never did) the way they handle that will go a long way in determining the direction the show takes.

[Guest Vitamin X]

My question is: when exactly did this happen. I've only seen Seasons One, Two and Five so I'm in the dark. I prefer One to Two, but Two is still pretty true to its original form. Was there one specific turning point in Season Three or Four where they started to ruin his character or was it more of a gradual shift? I mean.. what's with the scooter?

 

I agree with you, and I shed some light on it all earlier in the thread. You really need to watch Season Three since it's the one that gives the most insight into all the characters as they are right now. J.D.'s character has been turning more and more homosexual ever since he broke up with Elliot, which was something he had been pursuing since the pilot, but turned it way up in the third season, only to break up with her almost instantly for pretty much no reason.

 

The thing with the scooter was from an episode in that season as well I thinkl, where Carla has issues with Turk and J.D. carpooling in the old shitty car and wants Turk to go buy a Mini Cooper instead. Turk gets convinced by J.D. that they should all get scooters instead (A pink one for Carla, a green one for Turk, and a blue one for J.D.), and in the end, Turk ends up siding with his wife, and had traded in his and her scooter for a Mini Cooper and J.D.'s still stuck riding around in the scooter as a result.

[Boon 0]

Turk gets convinced by J.D. that they should all get scooters instead (A pink one for Carla, a green one for Turk, and a blue one for J.D.), and in the end, Turk ends up siding with his wife, and had traded in his and her scooter for a Mini Cooper and J.D.'s still stuck riding around in the scooter as a result.

I hate to be that nitpicking asshole, but Turk gets the scooters on his own, w/o any convincing from J.D. after their car explodes on the side of the road.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Really? I remember their car exploding at the beginning of the episode before the opening credits, and the episode became about how Carla has issues with Turk taking J.D.'s opinion more seriously than hers. The scooters were J.D.'s suggestion.