A sitcom must be considerably striking to warrant the merit of college students. After all, they must give up their studies and numerous other abundant social options for 30 minutes to an hour each week, in exchange for zone time in front of the TV. With this in mind, a scant few will most likely make sacrifices to watch NBC's new sitcom, "Scrubs," which unfortunately has been seen and done before.
The show revolves around the unlikely lives and relationships of young doctors, surgeons and nurses in a generic hospital setting. Sound familiar? Throw in a little "Malcolm in the Middle" main character interior monologue and it's even more cliched.
The 30 second, funky-themed intro reveals a group of young, attractive men and women clad in hospital attire. J.D. (Zach Braff) is a rookie physician learning the ropes by following around his mentor, Dr. Cox.
Unfortunately, Dr. Cox is a scathingly sarcastic cynic, and could care less about J.D.'s philanthropic mission to improve the life of each patient, as well as his or her health. In the pilot episode, J.D. discusses his strategy to establish an enriching friendship with Dr. Cox with friends and co-workers Turk (Donald Faison, better known as Dionne's boyfriend, Murray, in Clueless) and Elliot (Sarah Chalke). J.D. then approaches Dr. Cox for advice about a possible cancer patient's inability to quit smoking. Cox, however, proves little help until one of the last heart-wrenching scenes.
Besides the occasional heart-to-heart between doctor and patient, or doctor and doctor, "Scrubs" is basically void of any convincing warmth or personality. Whereas with "Friends" and "Frasier" NBC created comedy within a natural cordiality viewers felt for the characters, in "Scrubs," the viewer instead drifts through sequential scenes of fabricated relationships.
"Scrubs" unravels simply as a second generation "ER," full of light-hearted banter and mishaps, instead of the actual saving of lives or evaluation of one's individual identity.
If it's comedy you're looking for, "Scrubs" does hit the mark with some lines that succeeded in ironically creating humor by parodying the show's own adherence to stereotypical standards.
Soon after the nursing staff comments of the chauvinistic tendencies of the male surgeons, the directors cut to a scene involving one cocky male surgeon proclaiming, "It rocks, but my bedroom, that's where I really operate."
Even shocking traditional gender roles exist in the program, including a nursing staff consisting entirely of female minorities and all male physicians, with the exception of Elliot, a ditsy, outspoken, yet attractive female "rookie" doctor who is of course involved with J.D. (friends now, with potentially for a more personal development to come).
Comedy creates itself naturally within unusual and original circumstances. The directors of "Scrubs," however, felt the need to combine the overused and somewhat drab entertainment demands of two commonly targeted audiences, that of the late 20 to early 30 year-old career couples along with the middle-aged fans of hour-long sitcoms like "ER" and "The West Wing." Instead, they should let the important details emerge themselves with the help of a complex and complimentary cast.
