Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! This week, we’re continuing our coverage on the best of Scrubs (2001-2008, NBC; 2008-2010, ABC), which is currently available on DVD and Hulu.

Scrubs stars ZACH BRAFF as J.D., SARAH CHALKE as Elliot Reid, DONALD FAISON as Christopher Turk, JUDY REYES as Carla Espinosa, JOHN C. MCGINLEY as Perry Cox, KEN JENKINS as Bob Kelso, and NEIL FLYNN as The Janitor.

In my head, I consider this to be Scrubs’ final season, for it’s the last year with the established situation centered around J.D. at Sacred Heart, and indeed, the show was brought over to ABC specifically for a third try at a long-delayed conclusion. So, Eight gives us that, leaving all the leads at seemingly happy endings. How does it stack up? I’ll start with the positives — the first half is decent, with another new slew of interns who contribute both to story and comedy (especially Eliza Coupe’s insensitive Denise), and an opening trilogy featuring Courteney Cox as Dr. Kelso’s replacement that breathes a bit of life into the series. Most of these initial entries are amusing, and the season deliberately begins building its endgame arcs early, sparing J.D. and Elliot of a Friends-ian finale reunion by having it occur in episode four. I prefer this, for we get a chance to see them together… However, it still doesn’t quite work. As discussed, it didn’t make sense to not pair J.D. and Elliot at the top of Seven when they both destroyed their other relationships, delaying the emotional growth those arcs were designed to deliver. This might have corroborated the continuity-backed fact that, although they’re friends, they just don’t love each other enough to be romantic partners. But, Eight opts to indulge the premised promise of their pairing and convince us of its legitimacy — at a less opportune time than before, after one too many fake-outs, which have further strained our willingness to suspend disbelief. That is, it looks hand-of-writer instead of motivated by character (perhaps inevitably, since Elliot is a shell of a person). What’s more, the show is still waiting until year’s end to have J.D. step up to the full-time parenting role on which his growth is actually hinged, so a lot of this also feels like purgatory. And it’s a purgatory with budget cuts, as the move to ABC necessitated fewer cast members per episode; heck, in a preview of what’s to come, there are two entries without J.D., and they just don’t seem like Scrubs… In general, though, the entire back half of the season is rough, slowly staggering to a conclusion that has been self-consciously inflated because of the prior cop-outs — subjugating character, and in particular, comedy, amidst tired, gimmicky, outdated ideas. I wish this year was more a happy bonus than what it mostly proves to be — a mediocre reminder that Scrubs exceeded its natural lifespan. It’s not awful, but it’s far from great.

 

01) Episode 151: “My Jerks” (Aired: 01/06/09)

J.D. has new interns and the hospital has a new chief of medicine.

Written by Angela Nissel | Directed by Michael Spiller

Season Eight opens with a trilogy featuring Friends’ Courteney Cox as a replacement for Dr. Kelso, who now only exists as a cafeteria interloper that can’t give up his ties to this workplace. This is because Seven bid him farewell, thinking it was the end, but I actually don’t mind — he’s still engaged in comedic story and his quirky usage is amusing. As for the Friends alum, she’s an authoritative figure who scares/excites J.D. and that plays into his continuity. Also, there are shades of Grey’s via a handful of new interns — the best of which include the cold-hearted Denise (Eliza Coupe) and a dweeb played by Aziz Ansari, who’s only in a few offerings because he left to go join Parks And Rec. It’s a solid, confident start to a subpar year — the first on ABC.

02) Episode 152: “My Last Words” (Aired: 01/06/09)

J.D. and Turk’s personal plans are complicated by a dying patient.

Written by Aseem Batra | Directed by Bill Lawrence

Airing back-to-back with the season premiere (because ABC held Scrubs for midseason and then had to double up), “My Last Words” is probably the only outing in Eight that makes for a viable MVE (Most Valuable Episode) selection, for it’s got the best display of Scrubs’ trademark balance of humor and heart, inside a premise-validating medical story that is also centered on the series’ core relationship — the friendship between J.D. and Turk. In fact, it’s almost remarkable that Scrubs, which has evaded death several times by this point, can still reveal things about these two best friends, and still use them poignantly in a plot that takes advantage of the hospital setting’s life-and-death stakes, but in a way that remains simple and doesn’t alienate the series’ highly specific ethos, which must be delicately calibrated — as it is here. It’s not an all-timer like many past MVEs, but it’s very good for Eight. (Glynn Turman guests.)

03) Episode 155: “My ABC’s” (Aired: 01/27/09)

J.D., Elliot, and Dr. Cox attempt to work with individual interns.

Written by Bill Lawrence | Directed by Bill Lawrence

This comedic excursion boasts a seventh season production code, even though its script was clearly tailored for this year’s new bunch of interns. Said script is also credited to the series’ creator and, unsurprisingly, feels more like vintage Scrubs, with a whimsical sensibility that often gets drowned out by this year’s overarching narrative concerns, which aren’t exactly dramatic, but are so top-of-mind that there’s less room for idea-led yet character-supported silliness… Fortunately, this entry has the latter in spades, thanks to the recurring use of Sesame Street-themed fantasies that are goofy and gimmicky, but apropos for Scrubs’ comic identity. Also, this is indeed a decent showcase for the season’s more utilizable interns, such as Denise.

04) Episode 156: “My Cookie Pants” (Aired: 01/27/09)

J.D. tries to mentor Denise, while Elliot seeks Turk’s advice.

Written by Clarence Livingston | Directed by Gail Mancuso

There’s a lot going on in this installment and all of it is unique to the year, as J.D., Elliot, and Turk are adjusting to the fact that J.D. and Elliot are now in a real committed relationship that’s seemingly going to last, and the show is finally ascending Dr. Cox into Dr. Kelso’s old role as Chief of Medicine (which feels like it’s been inevitable). Additionally, the best of the interns — Denise — is well-developed in a J.D.-centered story where he attempts to make her a better doc by pushing her out of her typically cold and detached modus operandi. All three main ideas thus offer a smart and narratively necessary exploration of both character and ensemble dynamics, as they pertain to Season Eight (and for the most part, their endgame arcs).

05) Episode 158: “My Lawyer’s In Love” (Aired: 02/03/09)

Ted falls in love with a singer.

Written by Debra Fordham | Directed by Mark Stegemann

The very funny Kate Micucci is introduced here as Stephanie Gooch, an upbeat singer who becomes the object of affection for Ted the lawyer — one of Scrubs’ most reliable peripheral players, now enjoying his best episode in the entire series, thanks to a story that grants him opportunities for both humor and heart. Just like the Janitor with his own love interest (who debuted last season), it’s nice to see these lesser-explored side players get more development in narratives where they must be actual characters, and not just joke-providing scene-enders. That’s one of the few good things about these last few years. Also, I appreciate the subplot where J.D. is jealous of Cox and Kelso’s new friendship — a buyable shift in the ensemble dynamics.

06) Episode 167: “My Chief Concern” (Aired: 05/05/09)

J.D. and Turk feud when J.D. announces his plans to move.

Written by Neil Goldman & Garrett Donovan | Directed by Zach Braff

As the last broadcast prior to the hour-long finale, this installment has a lot to do — like capitalizing on Turk just becoming Chief of Surgery (his endgame arc) by having him exert his new authority over J.D., mostly because he’s resentful of the fact that J.D. has decided to move away and become a more active part of his kid’s life. You know, a decision that should have been made when the baby was born — ahead of a finale that should have come much sooner, for this was always J.D.’s own endgame arc: the sign of his maturation. At any rate, by predicating a conflict on the series’ central relationship (between J.D. and Turk) that is expressly about their growth, Scrubs not only provides sitcommery, but sitcommery with true character relevance. And frankly, this is where the two grow up — the actual finale is just pomp and circumstance.

07) Episode 168: “My Finale (I)” (Aired: 05/06/09)

J.D. begins his last day at Sacred Heart.

Written by Bill Lawrence | Directed by Bill Lawrence

Scrubs’ two-part finale originally aired in a single hour-long block, and I’m highlighting both halves because I think the offering is a collectively decent representation of the series. Of course, with J.D. leaving Sacred Heart to go raise his kid, this finale could have existed at any time over the last two years, which only reiterates how the show has essentially been on ice for a long, long while. To that point, the finale really is something of a throwback, not just because of its callbacks to prior episodes (including the pilot), but also because of its intense focus on J.D., who has been slightly less centripetal this season, like when he wasn’t even around every week (apparently due to budget cuts). Accordingly, this feels two years old — which is both pleasant, and again, a reminder of the purgatory we’ve been in lately….

08) Episode 169: “My Finale (II)” (Aired: 05/06/09)

J.D. says goodbye to Sacred Heart.

Written by Bill Lawrence | Directed by Bill Lawrence

The latter half of the Scrubs’ finale is less comedic and even more sentimental than the first, which is otherwise a day-in-the-life of J.D. at the hospital (just like the early seasons). I ordinarily wouldn’t like this, but this series has forever invited emotion, and sometimes even drama, into its regular tonal identity, so it doesn’t feel out of place or at odds with what Scrubs has long promised to be. In other words, I expect a weepy montage where J.D. sees his life with his loved ones flash before his eyes; I expect cameos from a lot of the show’s most important guests and recurring players; I expect this script to try to pull at the heart strings — for this was always part of Scrubs’ mission statement, and it will become the mission statement for many more sitcoms in the years ahead, as comedy has come to increasingly share real estate with other emotional invitations. I don’t love it, but I have to acknowledge that it’s an accurate example of both this series’ style, and how its style exists in relation to the genre at large…

 

Other notable episodes that merit mention include: “My Happy Place,” which pairs J.D. and Elliot for good (even though the “why now?” is strained), and “My Comedy Show,” which has the amusing idea of the interns doing a sketch show where they mock J.D. and Turk as lovers — a fun notion inside an otherwise subpar script. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I dislike the on-location Bahamas two-parter — it doesn’t represent Scrubs’ usual sensibilities well.

 

*** The MVE Award for the Best Episode from Season Eight of Scrubs goes to…

“My Last Words” 

 

 

Wait… this isn’t the end, is it? Stay tuned next week for my thoughts on Season Nine!