Scrubs: Complete Series

For nine years the television series ‘Scrubs’ brought audiences a lot of laughs, it also attracted a sizable and exceptionally loyal fan base. After the infamous writer’s strike of a couple a years ago derailed many series ‘Scrubs’ was cancelled by its eight year home on NBC but immediately picked up by ABC so that it could tie up loose ends and conclude the series on a note worthy of the quality it always exhibited. As rare as it is for a TV show to be allowed to wrap up the overall story it is almost completely unheard of for one to be resurrected from cancelation on another network to accomplish this feat. One of the many advantages to the DVD format is the size, or rather lack of it. If we were stuck with video tapes owning the complete series of this show which encompasses 182 episodes would require a good sized bookcase and cost a whole lot more than the suggested retail price of this DVD collector set. All of its 26 discs fit in an imaginable box set that barely requires two inches of shelf space. That’s a little more than just a single VHS tape. Having the entire series in one place is incredible. When cable seems to have hundreds of channels yet nothing appears worth watching just go to the book case and pick s a disc at random. I happen to have a number of full series collections and frequently find myself running my own personal marathon going through a disc or two at a time. With a series like this there was a lot of attention given to continuity not only within a season but throughout the entire run of the series. It is enjoyable to immerse yourself in a well made series over a period of time and watch the growth of the characters. The set lists for about $150 but you can easily find it online for significantly less. This is also a bargain when you factor in the cost of the nine individual season sets.

The series was created by Bill Lawrence who previously worked on the political sit-com, ‘Spin City’. With ‘Scrubs’ he took on one of the most respected and oldest genres in television, the medical series. Usually the format used is a straight drama with the notable exception of ‘M*A*S*H*’ Here you really can’t peg ‘Scrubs’ as a straight forward comedy. There is a continuing strong drama vein within most of the threads presented throughout the series that is beautifully juxtaposed by the frequent surreal excursions that became standard for the show. The core of the series centered on an ambitious young doctor, John 'J.D.' Dorian (Zach Braff). The nine seasons follow his career from a brand new intern to a professor teaching at the medical school associated with the Sacred Heart teaching hospital. A very large part of the show’s appeal lies in how the stories are presented. Every episode in the first eight seasons follows the naming convention of ‘My…’ They are narrated by J.D. in a sort of verbal diary entry. In the numerous cases where there are a couple of stories running in parallel his comments to the audience are used to bind the themes together. He is also prone to day dreaming a tendency that is very helpful in transitioning into one of the many surreal fantasy sequences. There was even an episode where the story was presented in elaborate musical numbers. This format helped the series remain fresh and interesting throughout.

The series did retain some elements of the standard sit-com; wacky friends and changing relationships. J.D.’s best friend is surgeon Dr. Christopher Turk (Donald Faison). They are so close that some accuse them of being in a ‘bromance’ although it is clear that they are both fully heterosexual. J.D. has had several girlfriends over the years typically with highly neurotic \women. The ultimate love of his life and the quirkiest of the bunch is fellow intern Dr. Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke). She is an excellent doctor and good person but has too many hang-ups, fixations and quirks to count. The stress is quite attractive and a running gag with fans is how frequently the writers manage to get her to appear in her underwear, not that many fans have lodged complaints. A hospital cannot function without nurses and for Sacred Heart the position of head nurse is taken by Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes). A romance eventually blossoms between Carla and Turk blossoms culminating in marriage and children. For most of their time at Sacred Heart as students they naturally became close to an older, more experienced doctors. Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley) usually rode J.D. harder than the others on his service by shooting him down publically or referring to him by an endless stream of girl’s names. Cox has his own story arc including a struggle with alcoholism and a bizarre relationship with his (ex) wife, Hospital administrator Jordan Sullivan (Christa Miller). There is also a strange antagonist waging a bizarre prank war aimed at J.D., the Janitor (Neil Flynn). He hates the young doctor and takes every opportunity to make J.D,’s life miserable.

After reviewing a good number of full series DVD sets the one factor that is particularly import in a situation like this is the packaging. A lot of DVDs receive special packaging but in the case of the more expensive full series compilations some distributors go the extra mile over just taping the individual sets together. With ‘Scrubs’: the Complete Series’ the packaging was entertaining enough that it earned a special place in my collection rather than the usual procedure of transferring the discs to easier to maintain books. The package looks like a hospital chart. When you open it you see what looks like the usual medical folders, test results and orders. Each folder within in the chart case contains a single season making it a breeze to locate exactly the disc you want. Also included are a plastic ID badge, a photo booth strip and a lenticular photo of the cast that shows an x-ray when moved revealing the skeletons of the cast with various items left behind. Each season contains all the original release’s extras plus a special an exclusive bonus disc featuring "The Todd's High Five Scrubs Trivia Challenge" - a Scrubs trivia contest hosted by "The Todd". Win and unlock special never-seen bonus features as a prize.

Posted 10/07/2010