There are a number of different ways a writer can take a medical show. If one wants a drama fraught with the exposition of relationship dynamics, go for "Grey's Anatomy." However, if a little bit of pharmacological sleuthing is a bit more appealing, go for the Conan Doyle-esque "House MD." But if one wants the seriousness in a medical show to be taken with a humorous twist, "Scrubs" is the tincture that will cure all ailments.
This is the show that poses the question: What happens when you have a hospital full of neurotic doctors that are more caught up in their own comical imaginings than actual medicine? You get the "World's most Giant Doctor," of course.
This half-hour comedy focuses on the bizarre experiences of fresh-faced medical intern John "J.D." Dorian (Zach Braff) as he embarks on his healing career in a surreal hospital crammed full of unpredictable staffers and patients where J.D.'s voice over narrates the humor and tragedy can merge paths at any time.
Joining the frenetic J.D. in his foray into Doctor-dom are his college buddy, Chris Turk (Donald Faison, "Clueless"), an intern with a more elite surgical group, and J.D.'s fellow medical intern, the driven Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke, "Roseanne"). Keeping the new interns on their toes are: the ascerbic chief of medicine, Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins); the hysterically fast witted Dr. Perry Cox (John McGinley), and the caring but slightly less neurotic nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes). The comically spiteful hospital janitor (Neil Flynn) also never seems to miss an opportunity to goad the newbies.
Scrubs is filmed in a real-life non-operational hospital. It's the North Hollywood Medical Center, which has gone under severe reconstruction to fit all the equipment and represent Sacred Heart Hospital. Interesting trivia: Sacred Heart was the name of the school that Christa Miller worked; trivia alert: in one episode Zach Braff accidentally calls the Janitor Neil Flynn, which is the actor's real life name.
Scrubs was created by Spin City's Bill Lawrence and was based on Bill's real-life friend, Dr. Jon Doris, and his hilarious stories of entering the medical profession. The single-camera show is filmed without a live audience. The fourth season premiered on August 31st, 2004.
The 25 episodes of the season are entitled: My Old Friend's New Friend," "My Office," "My New Game," "My First Kill," "Her Story," "My Cake," "My Common Enemy," "My Last Chance," "My Malpractical Decision," "My Female Trouble," "My Unicorn," "My Best Moment," "My Ocardial Infarction," "My Lucky Charm," "My Hypocritical Oath," "My Quarantine," "My Life in Four Cameras," "My Roommates," "My Best Laid Plans," "My Boss' Free Haircut," "My Lips Are Sealed," "My Big Move," "My Faith in Humanity," "My Drive-By" and "My Changing Ways."
Adding to the incredible cast of regular this 4th season is an impressive list of guest stars that includes: Tom Cavanaugh, Tara Reid, Matthew Perry, Colin Farrell, Heather Graham, Julianna Margulies, Molly Shannon, Clay Aiken, Richard Kind, Chrystee Pharris, and a few other faces you may recognize from other top notch character acting appearances.
Scrubs has managed to find and hold a faithful audience. Over the past five years, it has been nominated for many awards across multiple categories, including Best Comedy Series and Best Actor in a Comedy Series [for Braff]), bizarrely it has never won for Best Comedy and the brilliant actor John C. McGinley's work being overlooked is just flat wrong.
Scrubs The Complete Fourth Season is presented on DVD in its televised Full Screen format ( 1.33:1). For the third time in a row, the sound has been mixed in a fantastic English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Subtitles are available in English. As usual, the episodes look and sound fantastic. Also, the set contains all original, unedited music.
The DVD set has packaging is awesome, a tri-fold digipack holds three DVDs and is housed in a sturdy cardboard slipcase. The artwork follows a yellow color scheme motif. Disc menus feature music and clips from the show; transitions and backgrounds are all animated with pretty good CG work. This entire series is a keeper. Go buy it immediately.
Menus for all discs follow the same format and all are easy to navigate. Disc 1 contains episodes 1-9; Disc 2 contains episodes 10-18; Disc 3 contains episodes 19-25 and the bonus features in the set.
BONUS FEATURES:
My Old Friend's New Friend
My Office
My New Game
My First Kill
Her Story
My Cake
My Common Enemy
My Last Chance
My Malpractical Decision
My Female Trouble
My Unicorn
My Best Moment
My Ocardial Infarction
My Lucky Charm
My Hypocritical Oath
My Quarantine
My Life in Four Cameras
My Roommates
My Best Laid Plans
My Boss' Free Haircut
My Lips Are Sealed
My Big Move
My Faith in Humanity
My Drive-By
My Changing Ways
Scrubs - The complete Fourth Season is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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