Monday, January 4, 2010

"You're still such an odd little fruit. Is that a women's jacket?"

"Scrubs", 2001–Present. Three and a Half Stars.

When "Scrubs" first started to air, I thought it looked like another uninspired hospital show, so I never bothered to watch it. Then, in 2007, on a rare day that I was at the gym, a bunch of "Scrubs" episodes were being shown. That's when I fell in love with the show. It was funny and weird!

I got all caught up on the episodes by obsessively DVR-ing and watching all of the repeats that are constantly being re-aired on multiple stations. I was so happy because there were so many episodes to catch up on, and I thought the new-to-me hilarity would never end. But because I'm so good at being obsessive, and because reruns are so popular with TV channels, I was caught up in less than a year.

But thankfully, new episodes were still airing!

Unthankfully, starting a couple of seasons ago, and especially the entirety of the last season, the show began to bite the big one. The fresh and fun characters were getting old and predictable, J.D.'s enjoyable eccentricities started turning into pathetic zaniness, and it was like the show just didn't care about itself any more. I thought that last season was the final season, but it ended on that weird episode that felt like it should have been like the third or fourth episode of the season, and it was just so weird.

Surprisingly, that wasn't its final season though! It moved to a new network. And the latest season has started and is safely under way. I am loving it!

Lots of changes! And successful changes! The actual Sacred Heart hospital is a different building, and it's built closer to the "school". So there are two fresh locations right there. There are much-needed new story archs and general things that happen, but it still fits within the the "Scrubs" universe. Interesting of all, there's like a new "crew" of med students, and they work well with the already established characters. And, there's a new "J.D.", and she's a hot chick! Who is interesting and neurotic and funny! Her name is Lucy. In the first few episodes, we follow around both J.D. (who, after the first few episodes, is gone. It's sad, but very needed.) and this girl, Lucy, and we hear both of their inner monologues. Now we just hear Lucy's. I didn't think this would work out, but it totally does so far!

Dr. Cox? Still there. And still remains one of my most favorite characters on television. The Janitor? Not there anymore unfortunately, but the explanation of his departure was "classic"! Also unfortunately, there are two "bumbling" security guards that seem to have taken over his "place" on the show, and they're my least favorite parts of the new season. Turk is still there, and is currently looking for a new best friend at work. Elliot's there too, and is pregnant with J.D.'s baby. Ted left early on in the season, but did so on a high note. Todd's still totally there, which is most excellent. Dr. Kelso left, but didn't really, because now he's living in one of the dorm rooms. Haven't seen Carla, though she has been mentioned, but have seen Jordan. Other characters like Dr. Beardface are around in the background, so I don't know why I haven't seen Hooch yet. I hope he comes back. Hooch is crazy.

New main characters: Cole is hilarious (and James Franco's lil bro in real life). Already talked about Lucy, but yeah, she's endearing. I'm enjoying Drew. He's like the chill character, but is also interesting. Maya's the super hot Australian student that keeps cropping up. And Denise is back, as a resident physician and also these new kids' student advisor.

I give this show three and a half stars because of its previous awesomeness, and also its ability to bounce back from the brink of craptasticness. I might be in to this season so much because I had completely given up hope on this show, so things just might seem amazing in comparison. But, if you're like me and also completely gave up hope on this show, just give a few of the new episodes a shot and see what you think.

And I found this Scrubs wiki, if you're new to the series or just need to catch up on the extreme amount of characters.

2 comments:

Lizzie said...

I love love love Scrubs and miss the double episodes that Comedy Central used to run every night.

I watched the first few episodes of this new season and have a bunch left on DVR to watch. I hope it's as funny as you say, although I have to admit I was hating Lucy in the first 2 episodes. All the "zaniness" felt forced. But I do like Denise's character and her lack of enthusiasm in regards to...everything.

And Dr. Cox is always a favorite!!

Chrissy said...

Lizzie, I totally get what you're saying about the forced "zaniness." But I think I dig it so much because I was so surprised that I didn't hate it, like I was expecting to. I'm caught up with all the latest episodes (there were two last night... and also two "Better Off Ted"s!!), and I still like it. When you get a chance to catch up, lemme know what you think!