Thanks to a great cast of off the wall characters, Scrubs is a funny and oddball look at the medical field that delivers the laughs in every episode while often throwing in a good message about life.
Now the entire first season has been collected in Scrubs: The Complete First Season – a three-disc set featuring all 24 episodes and a ton of extra features.
Scrubs, which was created by Bill Lawrence, is a series that makes fun of other medical dramas and comedies, such as E.R. and Doogie Howser, M.D., through great dialogue and slapstick. It also loads in plenty of pop culture references and nods to past great sitcoms through cameos that include some of television’s famous funnymen – such as Jimmy Walker and the late John Ritter.
The show features an ensemble cast, but centers around the narrator Dr. John 'J.D.' Dorian (Zach Braff) – an intern starting his medical career at a surreal hospital where the doctors are almost as nutty as some of the patients they help.
Along with his two friends and fellow interns Turk (Donald Faison) and Elliot (Sarah Chalke), Braff must survive the first year of becoming a doctor by enduring the mistreatment of Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins) – the chief of medicine described as the devil without horns and a pitchfork. The three doctors are aided by nurse Carla (Judy Reyes) and the wisecracking mentor Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley).
McGinley’s Dr. Cox is one of the best parts of the show thanks to the rants and lectures that his character delivers almost every episode. Unlike the doctors on shows like E.R., Dr. Cox doesn’t want to be a mentor and refuses to be the doctor for the interns to come to with their problems. Of course, this makes Dr. Cox the exact person that the three turn to in times of trouble – which just frustrates the doctor even more.
You also have to love how Dr. Cox refuses to call the other doctors by their real names, and often comes up with embarrassing names for Braff’s character. His rants are close to the level of Dennis Leary when he was at the top of his game.
Braff also delivers some truly funny moments on the show thanks to his “Bambi” personality and his consent problem of being unsure of his abilities as a doctor. In the end, he always does the right thing and often delivers the show’s uplifting life message.
Chalke’s Elliot is the career driven doctor who is not sure if she wants to be a doctor for the right reasons. She is constantly driving herself, often to some kind of destruction or mistake, and can’t help but say the wrong thing at the wrong time. This device puts her in many situations that require help from other actors. She also shines as a character who wants to do right by her patients, as they all do, become a good doctor, and succeed in her career.
Scrubs Main Menu Screen - Disc 1
Faison’s Turk is the headstrong surgery intern that has more charm than brains, and is in love with Carla. His self-confidence is a good foil for Braff’s character, but gets him into trouble from time to time. Laughs also come from the way the medical interns are compared to high school “band geeks” and surgeon interns as the high school jocks.
The last element to the show’s laughs is the hospital’s janitor (Neil Flynn). This character is Braff’s nemesis and is constantly threatening the young intern or doing something to make his life miserable. Flynn plays the character as a straight man to Braff’s zany behavior, but he comes off as big a nut sometimes. He adds some truly funny moments to the show – even if he isn’t delivering a single line in the episode.<!--page-->
Scrubs Special Features - Disc 3
Season one of the show does a good job of introducing all of the show’s characters and giving each a turn in the spotlight. The 24 episodes in the season one set are fun to watch and filled with one wacky plot after the other. Some of the really great episodes include the pilot that sets the series in motion and gives us our first look at the cast, “My Fifteen Minutes,” where J.D. and Turk save a man and are treated like heroes, and “My Old Man” which features John Ritter as J.D.’s dad.
The only problem with Scrubs is that the show does get a bit formulaic halfway through the set. You find yourself noticing the pattern of Braff questioning himself, going to Dr. Cox for the answer, figuring the answer out, and then delivering the “life message” after 20 minutes of the episode. You also find yourself waiting for the one or two really surreal scenes, like the cast dressed as the Happy Days characters or Turk and J.D. dressed as Batman and Robin, that make their way into each episode.
This problem doesn’t take away from the show’s humor or its ability to deliver the laughs in every episode that is included in the set. It gets a bit distracting by the third disc, but the actors’ performances make up for the cliché.
The set comes with several special features including: Newbies, Favorite Moments, Outtakes, Deleted Scenes, and the Doctor Is In.
The Newbies feature examines the actors before they were cast. It also focuses on some of the show’s guest stars, such as Brendan Fraser, and how the producers and creators got them to take the part. The deleted scenes feature is good, but doesn’t work as well as it could have. It is part of the third disc and all the scenes are cut together rather than separated by episode.
The outtake scenes are almost as funny as the episodes themselves. It is really funny to watch how the actors handle their roles and lines on such a crazy show. There are some great moments of the actors breaking character as McGinley goes off on one of his character’s famous rants.
The doctors of Sacred Heart Hospital are as crazy as some patients.
The favorite moments feature has reflections from the cast and crew about their favorite episodes and what makes the show unique compared to today’s sitcoms. This is a pretty interesting feature to watch thanks to the cast giving their thoughts on different guest stars, such as Ritter, and what it was like to work with them.
Overall, Scrubs is a funny show that has a surreal look at the medical field and makes fun of the various medical dramas and comedies that have come before it. The show also works to not take itself too seriously and isn’t above laughing at its own formula.
The season one three-disc set is a perfect release for any fan of the show. It is also a good release for anyone who missed the show’s beginning and wants to check it out. Scrubs will win you over with its slapstick and sarcastic humor, its great actors, and the show’s crazy plots.
Scrubs: The Complete First Season is available May 17 at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK and will be released June 27. For more information see the film’s database .
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