The best sitcom on television comes back with its fourth season tonight. Scrubs is a hilarious and sometimes poignant, very different comic version of the early (and better) days of ER. The cast is spot-on and has a rare chemistry that was evident from the start -- one that most shows never achieve.
NBC could easily have dismissed the quirky comedy, but instead planted it in a primo timeslot and gave it the spotlight several times last season to build an audience. It worked, and Scrubs is now one of the more successful shows on the network.
If you've never watched, the show follows three med students: J.D. (the wry but dorky lead), his best friend Turk (the cocky but loveable surgery intern who just married a spitfire nurse, Carla) and Elliot (spoiled and flighty, she has a hilariously written on-and-off romance with J.D.). The first season focused heavily on reluctant mentor and painfully sarcastic Dr. Cox, but things have shifted more to the students. Cox is fantastic, as is the rest of the supporting cast (the hospital administrator, staff lawyer and everyone's favorite janitor), but the stories have been better for the switch.
There isn't so much ongoing story that a viewer couldn't watch off and on, or that someone new couldn't join in this season. Thankfully the stunt shows have been few and far between, although they do get their share of big-time guest stars (Brendan Frasier, Michael J. Fox, Heather Locklear and this season's Heather Graham).
If you've never seen it, check it out tonight.
Sorry for the lack of updates, but there just hasn't been much to update about. The Casino continues to go downhill and the Amazing Race keeps getting better (even though Charla and Mirna got knocked out last week).
Since it's been pretty boring lately, I've been going through schedules to see what new shows I may want to try out. Some of these sound awful, some sound pretty good, but they all piqued my interest in some way or another.
I'll be entering these into the Tivo and giving them one or two episodes to grab my attention. I suggest you do the same:
Father of the Pride (NBC) debuts August 31st: This animated show about the animals in the Siegfred & Roy show will probably be awful, judging by how much the network is hyping it, but John Goodman's voicework makes me want to give it a try.
The Complex: Malibu (Fox) September 6: Could be just another home improvement contest, but the arguments between the couples in the ads are SO real that I have to check it out.
Joey (NBC) September 9: Early on, Friends was a great show and Joey was hilarious till the end.
The Apprentice 2 (NBC) September 9: The first season was fantastic. No brainer.
Jack & Bobby (WB) September 12: Interesting idea, bad network. Could be a sleeper.
LAX (NBC) September 13: A mix of Airline and ER but how much humor does it have? If it's more comedy than soap, I'm in.
Survivor: Vanuatu (CBS) September 16: I haven't missed a season yet, no reason to start now.
Lost (ABC), Center of the Universe and CSI: New York (CBS) September 22: A scripted "Survivor", John Goodman (again) and Gary Sinise on TV. Wednesdays are going to have Tivo working overtime.
The Amazing Race 6 (CBS) September 25: Finally, this show is getting the respect it deserves. Okay, so it's on Saturday, at least it's on in a regular season slot now.
Boston Legal (ABC) October 3: I watched "The Practice" until it turned into a soap, so I wasn't all that interested in this. Then Mark Valley signed on. Keen Eddie. Oh yeah.
Billionaire: Branson’s Quest for the Best (Fox) November 9: The guy's richer than Trump and way more wacky. This could go either way.
The good: The Amazing Race has been just as fantastic as I remembered. Love 'em or hate 'em, Mirna and Charla (the lawyer and her small statured cousin) are adding some terrific drama to the series. Personally, I like them. I can't stand the two guys or the model couple (get a haircut, Greatest American Hero). The guys whine way too much for guys and the models are just annoying as can be. CRYING over having to eat caviar?! Puh-leeze. It's a competition. It's a race. You just DO it.
I still hate the non-elimination rounds, but I love the new twist of taking away the money of the last place team on those rounds. At least there is a substantial penalty and some added challenge. I don't like the way the Fast Forwards work. They automatically help the team who needs it least since they're only found by the first team to get to them. I much preferred the option being available on each leg and only useable once by each time, but with the added drama that the teams never knew whether some other team was going after it at the same time. The yields strike me as much less fair. The rest of the race, while competitive, is more an exercise in independence than mucking with other teams. The yields are a direct hinderance to another, specific team. It's too targeted, when the point of the race to begin with has nothing to do with making friends or alliances.
The bad: Have you watched Trading Spouses?! If you have, I'm sorry. If not, don't bother. A better name would be Trading Mommies, or Trading Income-level Bias. Why not pick two families of very similar economic and social backgrounds, but with moms of drastically different styles (a free spirit vs. a disciplinarian)? Instead the issues have been economically and racially charged. Everyone just comes off looking like chumps. And for siging up for this series, they're getting what they deserve.
The mildly disappointing: I'll admit I'm a Stargate SG-1 fan. It's tivoguy's fault. I didn't want to watch it. I didn't want to like it. But nothing else was on Friday nights when it debuted on Showtime so long ago. Dadgummit, it's just fun. And surprisingly funny. Sure, there are the silly sci-fi contrivances, but it takes itself much less seriously than any Trek series and is the better for it. Richard Dean Anderson makes the show -- and bank for himself while he's at it (he's an exec producer).
Unfortunately, the magic is missing from the spinoff, Stargate Atlantis. There are a few too many characters and while some are charming, they seem to be trying too hard. The writers are attempting to force a chemistry and humor that has to come naturally, and it's not working. There is enough of a following of the Stargate mythology to hold the interest of an audience, but if SciFi is betting on another SG-size hit, they'll be like me: disappointed.