Sorry to hit you with two videos in a row, but I couldn't resist. I mean, it's Zach Braff! Being all adorable, AND supporting the WGA! Plus, you know I love these Speechless videos. So how about it, AMPTP? Will you go back to the table and let Zach tap that?
Showing posts with label Scrubs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scrubs. Show all posts
Thursday, January 10, 2008
I WISH the Writers Could Tap That...
Friday, December 07, 2007
Scrubs: That's What I'm Talkin' 'Bout!
You know how sometimes, there's an episode of a show that makes you fall in love with the show all over again? Makes you remember why you fell in love in the first place? Makes you want free muffins for life? Well, tonight's episode of Scrubs was that episode. Chock full of hysterical jokes, a light touch on the drama, and more muffins than you can handle. (I feel like there's a dirty the Todd joke in there somewhere...)
So, shockingly enough, Dr. Cox and Turk are competitive, and like to obsess over their victories. Because, as JD confirms with Turk, that's what men and winners do, respectively. Furthering that rivalry along, Dr. Kelso has signed the hospital up for rateyourdoc.org, where patients can rate their doctors. Check it out--it's hilarious if you go to the doctors' descriptions (who knew that Dr. Beardface was Second Runner Up in the "Best Partial Beard" category at the 1983 Westerham Beard Festival?), and you can actually rate all the doctors! Dr. Jan Itor is winning, unsurprisingly. And it includes the premiere issue of The Janitorial! Anyway, Dr. Kelso thinks it will lead to better patient care, "and, if along the way, you all become paranoid and overly competitive...Happy Birthday to me!" (No, Happy Birthday to ME! On Saturday, but still!)
And yes, of course, Turk and Dr. Cox start bonding with patients to get good ratings. And by "bonding," I mean, "sucking up until they get rated." But, of course, JD the "sensy" is number one in the rankings. Obviously, Dr. Cox and Turk can't let that stand, so they get the Todd to tell his patients that his name is Dr. John Dorian. A harsh and brilliant strategy. JD gets pissed, but really shouldn't be surprised. We all remember the "I'm your beeyotch" episode, right? Featuring such classic competitions as "Steak"? Due to the fact that unicorns don't exist, the only thing Turk can do to make it up to him is to let JD win at basketball in front of the nurses, complete with yelling "White Lightning!" whenever he makes a basket. Oh, and he gets Kelso to fix the rankings.
In the meantime, the Janitor is completely smitten with his girlfriend, Lady. And his "smitten" voice is Southern, in case you were wondering. Carla wonders how Lady could be so into a guy so weird, leading Kelso to observe, "Well, I would say that love is blind, but we all know that isn’t true." Fair enough? His love for Enid, it seems, has dropped 136% since their wedding day, strictly correlated with her weight gain. Carla discovers that the Janitor's relationship is based up on his pretending to be normal, down to wearing khaki pants and an argyle sweater vest.
When she convinces him to stop lying about who he is (the Janitor's "sad" voice is more like a Dickinsonian orphan), he comes clean with Lady. Way, waaaay too clean. Which makes sense, since he's a janitor. (Rimshot!) Jumpsuit, taxidermy, crazy stories and beliefs...they come pouring out until Carla cuts him off, pretends to Lady that he was kidding, and teaches him the valuable "dole out the crazy in little pieces" lesson. Though when he tests the waters on the taxidermy thing, it's a no-go, so he keeps on pretending.
On the private practice end of things (Elliot's job, not the train wreck of a show), Elliot has a really cool patient with ALS, who completely reminds me of Chuck from Pushing Daisies. Elliot and Shannon are very friendly, and Elliot especially admires her attitude toward terminal illness. Shannon's even gone so far as to throw herself a funeral. In fact, she's accepted death so much that she's actually trying to kill herself. In a very nonchalant way. She wants to go out on her own terms, before she's completely paralyzed. This admission, however, puts Elliot in a bit of an ethical quandary. At which point she should realize that she can't be a good doctor AND a friend. JD warns her to protect herself, since she won't be able to handle the guilt if she lets Shannon kill herself, but Elliot decides to take the hit and keep Shannon's suicidal intent to herself. Oh, Elliot. You always manage to bring me down.
Odds and ends:
- How do you accidentally microwave a dirty diaper?
- The Todd pimps his own website, The Todd Time, out to female patients. And you guys, it's real, and it's fabulous. (Be sure to turn your speakers waaaaay up!) Though it's lacking in the promised "Tranny Todd" feature.
- Dr. Kelso is reading the last Harry Potter book, and draws Harry Potter glasses in permanent marker on the face of anyone who spoils anything for him. Which, in my opinion, is WAY too light a punishment.
All in all, this was definitely my favorite episode of the season so far. Fact: Any episode in which there are way too many hilarious jokes to write about in one blog entry is quality stuff.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Scrubs: I don't wanna grow up
Tonight's episode of Scrubs, while still featuring some of the heavier themes that have been so prevalent this season, had more of the lighthearted playfulness that drew us all to the show in the first place. It also rewarded longtime fans with references to past jokes, which I definitely appreciated. Our life lesson this week was that childhood is important, or growing up is bad, or something. Basically, the opposite of the life lesson a couple weeks ago. Not that I'm complaining, since this lesson was way funnier. And they acknowledge the conflicting advice, so it's all good. I love you, Scrubs!
First, we've got JD, who has an identity crisis (again?) when Dr. Cox calls him on failing to grow up. Happily, Turk is able to show JD that he just needs to continue being more responsible, not to change who he is. Wow, JD is still pretty incapable of learning lessons on his own, huh? Dr. Cox himself seems intent on forcing everyone around him to grow up, even his own son and his adolescent patient with leukemia. Happily, Carla is able to talk some sense into him, and we get to see Dr. Cox making silly voices for Jack. Aww. Finally, we've got Dr. Kelso, who doesn't want to own up to his age (65 years young) when Elliot insists on throwing him a birthday party. Unhappily, his objections make a lot of sense once we find out that the hospital has a mandatory retirement policy for administrators once they turn 65. Oops.
So that's pretty much what we had, plot-wise. Here's a list of awesomeness, in no particular order:
- JD's son daydreaming, like father, like son. (Not so awesome? The daydream itself. It's going to take waaay too long to clear the image of Kelso breastfeeding and Turk squirting his boob milk at JD out of my head.)
- Sam and Izzy's playdate. So cute, you guys. So cute! I love that Turk is already planning the marriage, while JD is having Sam mack on other baby girls. This may be the only time I'm on board with Look Who's Talking-style baby narration. And on a related note...
- JD having Sam make little spanking motions. Best. Ever.
- The dearly departed Caramel Bear.
- The World's Most Giant Black Doctor (originally intended for Black History Month, to scare racist patients), complete with giant stethoscope, pencil, and petition to make Sacred Heart more giant-accessible.
- The return of Hide the Saltine.
- Rex and three other interns following Hooch around (and the ensuing hostage situation). Hooch is craaazy!
- The Hanukah decorations for Dr. Kelso's party. Oh, Ted.
So in conclusion: Heavy on the funny, light on the heavy, if that makes sense. And that's the way I like it.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Scrubs: Mr. Lonely
Tonight, Scrubs got existential on us. But, as I've discovered, existentialism is far more palatable when it's Ted's band asking "Who Are You?" Ah, Ted's band. I may miss you the most when Scrubs is gone.
First on the list of existential crises: Carla, who dreams that JD, Turk, and Elliot murder her. Disturbing, yes, but her main concern is that the dream was in English, not Spanish. And if she's losing her Latina identity, how will she pass her heritage along to Izzy? You know, one of the things I love about this show is the characters' ability to grow and change (JD excepted, of course). Turk, who could care less about where he comes from, not only does a great job reassuring Carla of her Latina-osity, but actually takes the plunge and starts learning Spanish. Seven years late, sure, but at least he's making the effort, right?
Meanwhile, Dr. Cox gets the apartment to himself for the weekend when Jordan takes the kids to visit her mom. When the weekend turns into a week, Dr. Cox actually starts to feel (gasp) lonely. Like, to the point of letting JD put his arm around his shoulders. Yeah. This was a little sad for me, because though I love that he, too, is evolving as a character, it seems like the Dr. Cox I know and love is being emasculated a little. And he obviously feels the same way. But you know what? It makes perfect sense as far as his story arch goes, and as long as he gets some of his oomph back, I'm completely on board. A little depth never hurt any character (though if they tried it with Barney on How I Met Your Mother, I would probably feel differently).
When he's not taking advantage of Dr. Cox's vulnerable state, JD is feuding with the Janitor over his status as a "man of the people." You see, it seems JD calls everyone by nicknames because he doesn't actually know anyone's real name. And also, possibly, because he's always wanted a nickname of his very own. Happily, he now has one: John "I think I'm a man of the people but now thanks to the Janitor everybody knows I'm a fraud and I have egg on my face" Dorian. Catchy! Unfortunately, ITMPNTJEKFHEF (not so catchy in acronym form) makes the mistake of making a bet with the Janitor that he can name everyone in the hospital. Don't play with fire, dude. Especially when the end result is so obvious: he loses when he can't name the Janitor. And thus, has to do the Janitor's job for a day. All I have to say is this: How did a guy named Cole Slawski get the nickname "Colonel Doctor"? Come on!
Other moments of awesome:
- JD, Dr. Cox, Turk...and the Todd doing the Risky Business underwear dance scene in Dr. Cox's apartment. HILARIOUS! JD: "Sometimes, you just gotta say, 'What the fudge?'" Elliot: "That's not the line." JD: "I saw it on a plane."
- I'm totally going to try and get a wave going tomorrow in my office. There are only four of us in the room, so it should be pretty easy.
- Laverne is back! Only her name is Shirley. Or "Lavernigan," as JD calls her against her will.
Monday, November 12, 2007
On the Glowy Box: Catching Up is Hard to Do
As you may have noticed, I worked late much of last week and didn't really get a chance to watch TV. Horrifyingly enough. Thus, this weekend has been largely devoted to getting caught up. It was intense. Here's a very quick rundown of what I thought of everything from last week...
Watched Over the Weekend:
Chuck: Though I was happy that they moved the plot along and broke out of the typical formula, I was a bit disappointed to lose Bryce as the mysterious dead potential villain. Now that we know he's definitely a nice guy, though, I'm even more interested to see why he stole the Intersect!
How I Met Your Mother: Well...I'm glad Lily and Marshall aren't getting divorced. I don't have that much more to say about this episode. "Dowisetrepla" had a pretty funny payoff, and there were a few great lines...but none that will go down in history, I'd say.
Samantha Who?: Aaaand, that's it. I've given it a chance, and I just don't happen to find it as funny as the rest of America does. Sorry!
Reaper: Okay, what happened with Sam's dad being mysterious and stealing a page out of the contract? We haven't even seen his parents since! That said, I did enjoy the episode. I think my brain has just settled into "enjoy the mindless fun" mode with this show, rather than trying to make it more than it is. Which is definitely what needed to happen for me to keep watching.
House: A House-ku:
Chase and Cameron
Need to be part of the show
Not squeezed into plots
Boston Legal: I'm not sure why William Shatner farting and then saying, "Denny Crane" is so hilarious, but it totally, totally is. Does anyone else feel like Alan's closing statements at trials are getting a little out of control? I realize that these long speeches have proven Emmy results, but I'm starting to find myself checking email during them. Just sayin'.
Life: Is anyone else out there watching this show? Because I'm totally addicted at this point.
Ugly Betty: Amanda is one of the most underrated characters on television. Period.
30 Rock: As much as I hated Ross on Friends, I loved Greenzo on 30 Rock. Just like the episode on integrated advertising, last week's 30 Rock managed to take an NBC directive and obey it by mocking it openly. Also, Al Gore is my hero. "A whale is in trouble!"
The Office: I'm just going to breathe a big sigh of relief here that The Office is back to its regular half-hour episodes. PHEW.
Scrubs: I empathize with the Janitor--I can't get my coworkers to recycle properly, either. Maybe I should make myself a sash with a bunch of environmental buttons. Also, the sight of Turk's head painted like a basketball was way, way funnier than it should have been. So funny!
Desperate Housewives: Quality stuff. Read my complete thoughts here.
Will Watch or DVR Tonight:
How I Met Your Mother: When Ted thinks he has met a wonderful woman, the gang points out a deal-breaking flaw. CBS, 8 PM.
Chuck: Chuck meets a pretty woman (Rachel Bilson) who is interested in the real him; he and Sarah double-date with Ellie and Captain Awesome; a poison specialist tries to obtain codes to nuclear facilities. NBC, 8 PM.
Heroes: The calendar turns back four months, and Nathan must pay a terrible price for his heroic deeds; D.L. sacrifices for Nikki and Micah; Maya manifests her dark powers for the first time. NBC, 9 PM.
The Bachelor: Bachelorettes return to confront one another and Brad one last time; reluctant Brad must answer questions from heartbroken Hillary; Sarah and Lindsay explain why they could not tell the difference between Brad and Chad; a preview of the final episode. ABC, 10 PM.
Here's hoping I can actually stay caught up this week!
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Scrubs: Babies and alien goblins look a lot alike
Tonight's Scrubs was all about beginnings, endings, and Halo. And it was certainly a Very Special Episode, since it saw the birth of JD's baby, Sam. Of course, it did what Scrubs has always done best, balancing comedy with drama, imaginary with real, unicorns with childbirth. Ah, Scrubs. I love you so.
Kim, finally, is in labor, and ready to have a Serious Discussion with JD about their relationship. In fact, she's ready to say "I love you," whether he can say it back or not. And "not," unfortunately, is the case here. In fact, the best he can do is to tell her that he hopes he can fall in love with her someday, but then kind of admit that he wouldn't be with her were she not the mother of his child. Which just isn't what a woman in labor wants to hear from her baby daddy. Especially her baby daddy who messed up the timing on her epidural, thus leaving her with a fully painful labor. Urgh.
Turk heads out to the hospital to support JD, if by "support JD," you mean "beat Halo, since Carla won't let him play in the house anymore." I think the Janitor might be the most fun video game partner ever. Unless you wanted to win, of course. Man, if I'd had a eulogy for every alien goblin thing I killed playing Halo in college, I'd still be trying to beat the game. Turk's and Carla's relationship lives to see another day (unlike JD's and Kim's, it seems), though, when Carla reveals that she's a recovering Halo addict, and helps Turk beat the game. Wow, she might be a bit bossy sometimes, but she's also kind of the best wife ever, yo.
Dr. Cox has his own baby issues as he tries to get someone to give a shot to Jennifer/JD, his baby, on the likely valid theory that if he gives her shots, she'll be afraid of him. Unfortunately, the pediatrician on call is "Dr. No Shot," who doesn't give shots for the same reason. Oh, and Dr. Kelso (living at the hospital since Enid kicked him out) can't do it either, because "This is scotch, and I'm all Hasselhoffed out." Ha! JD agrees to help if Dr. Cox will talk him through his relationship troubles, but that obviously doesn't last long. He finally gets her the shot, though, and JD finally manages to suck it up and go back into the delivery room, even though Kim doesn't want him there. Soon, we are subject to that usual disgusting "three-month-old covered in reddish cottage cheese" birthing shot, and JD becomes a father. Which is pret-ty terrifying, if you ask me.
Some other favorite moments:
All in all, another quality episode from the most underappreciated comedy on television. In fact, an extremely quality episode from my perspective, since it was heavy on the Dr. Cox and light on the Elliot. Keep it up, guys!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Scrubs: I caresies!
Finally, FINALLY, Scrubs is back! For the last season, yes, but hey, at least we're getting a real last season. I mean, dang, I'm actually feeling nostalgic toward Elliot, and I've never really even liked her!
Previously on Scrubs, Elliot and JD almost kissed. Yes, almost, thank goodness. However, Elliot then decides that she doesn’t want to marry Keith, which she confesses to the Turks that night. This interrupts Turk's choosing his biannual (because of the diabetes) candy bar. Now, as someone who is vegan and thus can’t have commercially available candy bars (and thus spends an unhealthy amount of time obsessing over them), I can say unequivocally that I’d go with a Twix. You get the crunch, you get the caramel, and you get TWO candy bars in one! Yes, it’s missing the nougat, but I think the double bar thing puts it over the edge. Just sayin’.
Faced with the task of breaking up with the Dudemeister, Elliot is panicking a bit. Yeah, you really don’t want to wait until the guy’s family is in town. And staying with you. That’s just rough. She bites the bullet, though, as everyone watches from the hospital windows. And now, it’s time to sing along to the theme song for the last time ever! Well, the last time ever in a season premiere, at least. I’ve really gotten great at harmonizing on the “I’m no superman” line at the end, too. Aww.
Though Keith is understandably bitter at Elliot Pig Whore, and Kim has turned into some sort of whale, life at Sacred Heart continues as usual. Oh, Dr. Cox, how I’ve missed your cutting insults! And how I appreciate the shorter hair this season! And hey, the writers even throw in some stuff for the loyal fans during Turk and JD’s “hard truth” conversation—“Molebutt” is totally Elliot!
Dr. Cox finds himself liking one of his patients, along with Turk and eventually Dr. Kelso— horror of horrors! Apparently, Joe has a “magical quality.” One not recognized by his insurance company, who won’t pay to have him stay if his symptoms have subsided and they can’t figure out what’s wrong. I wonder if it’s painful for insurance workers to watch medical shows. I feel like they get picked on every week! Probably for good reason, but still, it’s gotta sting, right? Incidentally, who the heck doesn’t look for a tick in someone’s hair? I mean, that’s kind of where they like to hang out, as anyone who’s ever been camping knows. Yep, I've dodged many a lyme disease bullet.
Predictably, Elliot and Keith hook up after she tries to be friends and he tries to be mean to her in return. And, ouch, he thinks they’re back together. Yeah, not so much, dude. Not so much. On the other bad relationship end, JD is resigned to staying with Kim forever and ever due to the kid, even though he doesn’t love her. Also ouch.
Other things I loved tonight:
All in all, a solid effort, especially considering the amount of exposition they had to fit in. I can't wait for the rest of the season!
Friday, April 06, 2007
John C. McGinley Makes Good (...In Bad Movies)
I've already expressed my disappointment in John C. McGinley for appearing in movies like Wild Hogs and Are We Done Yet? I'm still disappointed in him, don't get me wrong. But I'm also proud of him. It's very rare that an actor gets a rave review in the middle of a total pan, but that's exactly what JCM has managed to get - from the New York Times, no less. In her review, Jeannette Catsoulis rhapsodizes about the actor that we all knew (but somehow the Emmys never figured out) was this good:
Rising above the melee of blind pipe fitters and Hawaiian dry-rot specialists, however, is a marvelous John C. McGinley, playing a dodgy jack-of-all-trades with the kind of energy that forces other actors to step up their game. He is so good that the script’s last-minute gift of a dead wife is completely unnecessary: he redeems his character through acting skill alone.
As someone who has seen crappy movies just because John C. McGinley is in them - and Liz can back me up on this - I'm not recommending that you go see Are We Done Yet? Really, it's not worth it. And he'll never pay back your $12. But I'm glad that JCM is bringing his A game even to B and C movies. Now if he could only bring it to A movies...
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Miscellaneous Show Updates
Law & Order: The granddaddy of NBC shows, the Jerry Orbach to the rest of the network's... parade of younger detectives that Briscoe worked with (Chris Noth? Jesse L. Martin?), may finally be retiring after 17 seasons. And, really, it's time. The show is already older than some American Idol contestants. I can't even remember TV without it. (I do, however, remember TV without Vincent D'Onofrio, and I would like to reexperience that.) But, you know, it'll never really be gone - not as long as TNT still shows 47 episodes per day. That chung-chung sound is never going away.
Scrubs: Definitely coming back for a seventh season - hooray! The only question is which network it'll be on. I'm half hoping that ABC will pick it up instead, because I have to believe that ABC will treat it better than NBC, which is moving Scrubs around, again.
The Amazing Race: Rob and Amber claim in an interview that Charla and Mirna spent twenty minutes searching for the clue after Amber's infamous lie. Hee hee heeeee! I'm sorry, that was mean. Anyway, I have to actually agree with Rob (I know!) that Colin and Christie would have made a great All-Star team, much better than the cousins. They're actually good racers, and it's not like Colin won't bring the drama. His ox is broken!
Heroes: Plenty of tantalizing tidbits from the panel discussion at the Paley Festival, including a Justice League/Super Best Friends-type thing that Linderman was once part of. And the burning question comes up again, courtesy of Hayden Panettiere: Why isn't Greg Grunberg in a comedy? Girl, seriously.
Ugly Betty: Thank you, Vanessa Williams, for yelling "Marc!" so much.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Scrubs: ROAD TRIP!
Last night's Scrubs was hilarious as always, with some actual drama thrown in for funsies. Best part: Dr. Kelso's retirement RV is full of kimonos. Most shocking part: JD's baby-momma claims she had a miscarriage and causes them to break up, but she's really still pregnant. (!!!) That's just totally uncool. Or...totally "Dorian." Pregnant women are crazy, yo.
Dr. Cox and Jordan's baby is having some trouble in the womb, and needs emergency surgery. Did anyone else envision that creepy stomach-bursting moment from Alien when the fetus's hand reached out and grabbed Turk? Ew/yikes. I wonder if this means they're going with the special needs child angle John C. McGinley was hoping for. If so, bravo, Bill Lawrence.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Dear John C. McGinley,
I have something important to discuss with you, so let me put this in terms you're readily familiar with:
Listen, Supergirl. I know you know a good script when you see it, otherwise you wouldn't have ended up on Scrubs. And I know that you had to do some movies that you're not proud of, and that, frankly, we're even less proud of, before you hit it big. But now that you have a steady paycheck reading good material every week, why do you have to fall back on roles in crappy movies? And, Gloria, don't you even try to tell me that the movies you've got coming out are good ones. One of them is the sequel to Are We There Yet, which should have raised a red flag right there, and the other – well, I see how you could have gotten a favorable impression of it when you saw William H. Macy on the set, but re-he-heally, when you saw Tim Allen and John Travolta together, you should have run away, Jodie, oh, just run away! So why don't you stop being so easy that you say yes to every guy with a camera who comes around, there, Mary Sue? And give us our 12 dollars.
That is all. Thank you.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Scrubs: Make Jokes, Not War
HA! I knew there was a reason I've never liked Elliot! Beyond the obvious ones, of course. And last night, it all became clear--she's a Republican!
Yes, last night on Scrubs we witnessed a debate on the war, of sorts. Turk and Dr. Cox, among others, came down on the side of reason the Dixie Chicks. Elliot and Laverne came down on the side of too stubborn to admit they were wrong the rest of country radio. JD was unsurprisingly ignorant. The larger message appeared to be, "If you debate politics (at least at work), you ignore important real-life stuff, and people get hurt."
I'm not sure if that was the intentional message...the whole thing was kind of garbled and weird, to be honest. But with some solid jokes, among them a fantasy of Dr. Kelso's involving a Southeast Asian woman and a navy uniform. And it was great being in Kelso's head! "Skiddle-ee-dee, Skiddle-ee-doo."
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Scrubs: My Musical!
Just a quick note to remind everyone that the long, long-awaited musical episode of Scrubs premieres tonight at 9 on NBC.
I am excited beyond words.
UPDATE: It was all the awesomeness I had hoped for and so, so much more. Can't write much now, but can I just say that Neil Flynn, Donald Faison, and Judy Reyes especially have surprisingly awesome singing voices? (Sarah Chalke, as was widely reported, not so much.)
Friday, January 05, 2007
Comedy Tonight!
My deepest apologies to my deprived readers and my put-upon co-blogger, Lori. I’ve been incredibly busy with work these past couple weeks, and literally haven’t even had a chance to check my personal email more than once a day. Sorry!
Now that I have a free minute, let’s turn our attention to the only three television shows I’ve had a chance to watch this week: The Knights of Prosperity, In Case of Emergency, and, of course, Scrubs. The Knights of Prosperity (formerly Let’s Rob Mick Jagger) was mildly funny, with moments of complete hilarity. Most of those moments involved things like Mick Jagger showing us his hat collection, the swimming pool for his dogs, and his soccer-playing houseboy. The rest of the episode was just okay. Mostly, I now think Mick Jagger needs his own TV show. That would be amazing.
In Case of Emergency was a pleasant surprise. Sure, it stars Jonathan Silverman (another of my many sitcom nemeses), and has an annoyingly Class-like premise (former classmates reunite years later under wacky circumstances!), but it also has something going for it. Namely, it totally sucked up to me by paying tribute to two of my favorite comedies: Friends (David Arquette’s character used Phoebe's made-up word “phalange”) and Arrested Development (“No touching! No touching!”). Well-played, In Case of Emergency. Plus, I actually laughed out loud a couple times. Yeah, I was exhausted and punchy, but it still counts a little, right? So I’ll be sticking around for a few weeks to see how this one turns out.
And finally, Scrubs is awesome because:
1) It tackles serious subjects like post-partum depression with sensitivity and thoughtfulness.
2) It gives me fabulous new expressions like “megaloathe.”
3) Stealing babies is funny if you give it a name like “Code Pink.”
Monday, January 01, 2007
Scrubs: Everything Comes Down to Poo
Happy new year, everyone! What better way to start off 2007 than with a new song from the upcoming Scrubs musical episode? The song, now on the Scrubs website, is called "Everything Comes Down to Poo," and is not suitable for viewers who may have partied too hard last night or who are eating. Because it really is all about poo. But never mind that, because it's got everything you've come to expect from a Scrubs musical number. Like "Guy Love," it's got clever, catchy lyrics ("Our number one test is your number two!"), and the choreography is fantastic, reminiscent of the surgeons vs. doctors West Side Story sequence from a few years ago. Once again, Donald Faison and Zach Braff do an excellent job with the song, but I can't wait to hear some of the other cast members sing. Come on, Janitor!
Friday, December 15, 2006
ScrubsWatch '06: Smokaccino!
First off, CONGRATULATIONS to Zach Braff, who has been nominated for a Golden Globe in the best comedy actor category! Scrubs deserves much more awards recognition, but hey, we'll take it!
Last night's episode mixed some classic Scrubs (the Janitor's talking muffin puppet, the Smokaccino, the return of Cabbage) with some serious character plotlines that could shape the rest of the season. Elliot may be moving into private practice, although still at Sacred Heart, and Kim (J.D.'s baby mama) may accept a job in Tacoma, Washington.
NBC is really ramping up the product placement, too. After what was essentially a giant (although admittedly hilarious) commercial for the Sandals resort and Benihana's on The Office, I was really proud of Scrubs for naming their coffee shop "Coffee Bucks" instead of Starbucks. It didn't last long, though, as they definitely fit in a lengthy plug for Corinne Bailey Rae's CD. (Incidentally, Corinne was also featured as the musical guest in an episode of Studio 60, also on NBC. What a coinkidink!) Ah, well. If that's what it takes to keep these great shows on the air, I guess I can swallow it. Just...try to keep it from standing out like a sore thumb from now on, okay, NBC?
Thursday, December 14, 2006
ScrubsWatch '06: Don't Forget to Watch!
In tonight's episode of Scrubs, entitled "Getting to Know You,"
J.D. spends time getting to know the future mother of his child, Kim, and finds that they are surprisingly compatible. Meanwhile, Turk gets nervous when Carla starts contemplating returning to work now that the baby is born. Thinking he won't be able to support his family he begins giving medical advice on the side for a quick buck. Elsewhere, Elliot contemplates moving into private practice while Dr. Cox finds new ways to torture her sensibilities. All the while the Janitor leads a strike of the support staff to convince Dr. Kelso that they need dental insurance.
Sounds good! And since Grey's Anatomy and CSI are reruns tonight, and Scrubs will be jumping off of a new, supersized Office Christmas special, I'm hoping the ratings will continue to be great. According to NBC, last week's episode ranked #7 among all programs in the 18-34 demographic! And a rising tide lifts all sitcoms, or something, so hopefully Scrubs will help keep the increasingly hilarious 30 Rock afloat--it seems to be working so far.
Friday, December 08, 2006
ScrubsWatch '06: It's a Girl!
Welcome, Isabella! No "boy boy boy very tall boy" for Turk this time around, I guess. Does anyone else wish they had a giant toy unicorn to sit on when they had tough decisions to make? I'd name mine Starlite, after Rainbow Brite's horse. I'd be all, "Starlite, what do you think? Pancakes or waffles?" It'd be sweet.
I'm kinda bummed the "band" wasn't Ted's band (they could sing the "Chili's Babyback Ribs" jingle again, and it would be even MORE inappropriate!), but I'll settle for a drumline, I guess.
How impressive was it that J.D. and Kim actually had a (semi-) serious discussion about abortion? Most network shows try to get street cred by bringing it up, even though they mostly just talk about scheduling a "procedure" or making "the appointment," and then cop out by giving the character a miscarriage or something (Grey's Anatomy, I'm looking at you). Even though it doesn't look like J.D. and Kim are going to go that route, which is obviously fine, I think it's great that they acknowledged the option, the reasons for it, and the fact that Jordan had an abortion years ago and still considers it a good decision. The writers even let the pro-life side of the debate in with the talking Jesus! I'm all for a thoughtful, real conversation while maintaining the funny, irreverent Scrubs sense of humor. So much love for this TV show right now!
UPDATE: Even with My Name Is Earl instead of The Office as a lead-in, Scrubs improved over last week's overnight ratings (4.9/7) with a 5.1/8 for last night. It probably didn't hurt that Grey's Anatomy was a rerun, but I'll still consider this a Scrubs victory. Not that we care about ratings, anyway.
And now, the Best Thing Ever: Holiday Edition. It's A Charlie Brown Christmas, performed by the entire cast of Scrubs! You just...REALLY have to watch it. Really. Words cannot describe its greatness. It's HYSTERICAL. A very, very special thanks to Televisionary for the tip.
I'm incredibly impressed with how well they matched up the dialogue with the characters' mouths! Also, best use of weird character movements ever: "But I like urinating my name in the snow. [Charlie Brown rummages around in pocket] Almost as much as I like touching myself!" Ah, fabulousness.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
ScrubsWatch '06: It's Baby Time!
Tonight on Scrubs: "My Best Friend's Baby's Baby and My Baby's Baby."
From NBC's description:
Carla goes into labor and an excited Turk strikes up the band -- literally -- while escorting her to the hospital, but he still feels upstaged by Elliot's attempts to make Carla more comfortable. A scheme to make himself look like the hero backfires and Turk is in jeopardy of missing the birth of his child. Lucky for him the whole thing is mistakenly being broadcast over the hospital's closed circuit TV. Meanwhile, J.D. and Kim (Elizabeth Banks) contemplate their future and the future of their child.
"Strikes up the band," eh? I hope that means Ted's band will be in the episode!
In other Scrubs-related news, the ratings for last week were pretty positive: a 3.6/9 in viewers aged 18-49, which is up 9% for the key demographic from NBC's season average for the timeslot. There were 7.7 million viewers total, which makes last week's episode the highest-rated Scrubs for the key demographic AND total viewers since February 28th last season. Yay! And hopefully NBC will stick with this timeslot for a while, and give Office-lovers the chance to get into Scrubs, too.
Lisa de Moraes, however, isn't feeling the love. She named Scrubs among her losers for the week:
NBC's much-moved sitcom continues its slow, sad descent into irrelevance, with just 7.7 million watching its return to the lineup on Thursday. That's its smallest fall debut ever, beating the previous low of 8.5 million in '04 when the show returned early, allegedly to bask in NBC's Summer Olympics ratings halo.
Um, yeah. First off: Is she really counting this as a "fall debut"? It was NOVEMBER 30TH--after sweeps! Come ON! Just because the weather was freakishly warm doesn't make it fall...viewers are already pretty set in their schedules by now. Eh, you know what? I'm not even going to bother. If being part of the best block of comedies in years is "irrelevance," then I hope Scrubs revels in it. The quality of the show has only gone up as the writers have stopped writing for ratings and started writing for the fans, anyway. So there.
Last but not least, Sarah Chalke is engaged! She'll be marrying her longtime boyfriend Jamie Afifi, an entertainment lawyer. Congratulations, Sarah! That's all for today, but don't forget to watch Scrubs tonight at 9 PM on NBC!
Friday, December 01, 2006
ScrubsWatch '06: Happy Post-ScrubsDay!
I hope everyone enjoyed the delicious, delicious two hours of comedy NBC provided for us last night! While it obviously wasn't the strongest episode of Scrubs ever (how could it be, with all those plotlines to resolve?), I think it provided plenty of great Scrubs moments, and good introductions to the characters for all those new viewers I really, really hope tuned in last night. According to Zap2it, Scrubs scored a solid 4.9/7, which, considering its competition, is nothing to sneeze at.
My favorite moment? "I punched a whale. Right in the face." AWESOME. That made the whole heavy-handed "seeing ourselves in our patients" bit worthwhile. I also loved that J.D. managed to impregnate a woman without actually having sex with her. That's just...so J.D.
Bill Lawrence did a Q&A/Live Blog last night, and revealed some interesting information. Apparently, NBC made them drop an episode on medical marijuana: "[W]e replaced it with an episode with a dying patient paying a whore for sex, which apparently was just fine with the NBC censors." Nice.
His favorite shows are Lost, The Office, and The Amazing Race right now, but Clone High used to be one of his favorites. For those unfamiliar, Clone High was an animated show on MTV about clones of historical people in high school (long story). Bill Lawrence was a producer, and much of the Scrubs cast did voices. It was hilarious. And according to Bill, "Chris Miller and Phil Lord, the two guys I created Clone High with, have a huge new animated movie coming out soon." Sweet!
Bill also talked about his favorite prank:
For those of you who don't know, Zach is embarrassed by his celebrity. So, I put license plates on his car that said "TV DOC" and had dollar signs around them. He didn't notice until days later at a restaurant valet stand, when everyone was looking at him like he was a complete tool. I feel retribution is coming this year.
Now that's a quality prank. Check out the rest of the Q&A here.
Entertainment Weekly has a great interview with Donald Faison on their website. He talks about who on the cast you can and can't make fun of:
Neil Flynn is a big man. I think he plays the janitor for a reason, because there's that dark side to Neil. He's a sweetheart, but you know that you don't want to touch Neil. None of us make fun of Judy [Reyes, who plays Carla] either. These are the people you can always make fun of: Zach, Sarah [Chalke, who plays Elliot] and Donald. Everybody else, you pretty much stay away from. Johnny, nobody makes fun of. Nobody makes fun of Ken. Always comes down on us three.
And how he'll forever be leashed to Turk's awesome, awesome "Poison" dance:
You know what sucks about that though? When I go to a club now, ''Poison'' comes on. I'm with castmates, and it's like they're waiting for me to start doing the dance I did on the show. And that's crazy, you know? Like if you go to a club, and Puffy's there, you play Puffy songs all night long, or if you go to a club, and Jay-Z's there, they'll play nothing but Jay-Z. I go to a club, and ''Poison'' comes on. And all eyes turn onto me. I heard that the cat from Napoleon Dynamite came to a party, and they put on that song from the end of the movie, and he did the whole frickin' dance, in the middle of a circle.
Apparently he made the dance up himself, and it only took two takes! Catch the rest of the interview here.
And I saved the best for last: NBC has put one of the songs from the musical episode up on YouTube! "Guy Love" is totally hysterical (J.D.: "It's like I married my best friend..." Turk: "But in a totally manly way!"), and also a pretty quality song. I'm especially impressed with the harmonizing. Way to go, guys!
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