Finally, a Post About Scrubs

Here's what I've been doing since Friday: producing a movie and watching Scrubs.

The movie's going fine, so let's talk about Scrubs.

I just discovered Scrubs a few weeks ago. Having giving it a lot of thought (probably 30 :22 minute hours - Scrubs is on a lot) I think the reasons it appeals are threefold.

ONE (1) Scubs is a classic American workplace comedy
I loooove the workplace comedy. Wings, Sports Night, West Wing (just to continue that theme there), NewsRadio, you could make a case for Firefly, The Office (okay it's British, but then we stole it back!), the, list, goes, on. My favorite Arthur Miller play is A Memory of Two Mondays. You don't hear anybody else saying that. Ever.


Workplace comedies work so well because they give a plausible reason to throw a lot of diverse personalities together, there's inherent conflict in working with other people, and they're relatable - most everyone spends the majority of their waking hours at work with other people doing the same thing - while still being a little escapist, which brings me to point #2.

TWO (2) Scrubs is that little bit absurd that makes all the difference
Comedy better be fast, but sitcoms better be crazy. Third Rock From the Sun, Arrested Development, The Simpsons - all of these great sitcoms are also pretty goddamn surreal. Try looking at the episode synopsis I've linked to. Here's an excerpt:

"Mr. Black announces to the campers that Krusty has finally come, but it's just local drunk Barney Gumble dressed as Krusty. This indignity leads Bart to finally snap; he leads the campers in rebellion, driving out Mr. Black and the bullies, and establishing Camp Bart. The newscaster Kent Brockman arrives at the camp to report on the revolt; when Homer watches the live broadcast and finds Bart is the leader, he instantly loses his newly-grown hair and gains back his weight."

Tell me that wouldn't fit fine into a surrealist play.

Still don't buy it? Here's a controlled experiment. Watch any episode of "Ellen". I know, I know, but it's for science. Is it 22 minutes later?* Now watch the famous "Puppy Episode," where Ellen comes out as a lesbian. Wait - what happened? It ... it's funny! What turned it around?

The difference is that in the puppy episode, Ellen is in a much more absurd world than she was in any other episode. Oprah is her psychologist, there's got a dream sequence with melons, it's all very weird. The puppy episode was the first time, after five mediocre seasons, that "Ellen" finally grew some balls. So to speak.

THREE (3) Zach Braff is like the over-moused, sitcom-star version of me. Or maybe Snoopy.
Dr. John "J.D." Dorian is one of the most sympathetic characters I've ever seen on T.V. He's a lot like Snoopy from Peanuts - innocent, prone to escapist fantasies, and somehow existing in a more joyful world than the rest of the characters. I think what I like the most about J.D. is that he has his own way of being and he can't change it no matter how hard he might try.



* What do you mean it's a half hour later? Dude, buy a TiVo.