Perhaps the most time honored format for television is the medical show. You can almost tell the age of a person by what TV doctors they remember as kids. For my generation it was Dr. Kildare and Dr. Ben Casey. Later on it was such kindly old docs as Marcus Welby. More recently the series ‘ER’ has dominated the medical landscape of television. All of these shows have one thing in common; they are dramas. One series has dared to take the life and death stories in this genre and turn it to comedy. That show was ‘Scrubs’. So far there has been seven season of this excellent series. There are some talks to wind things up with a shortened eight but only time till tell for sure. ABC Studios has released the seventh season on DVD so at least the legion of fans out there can have all the currently existing episodes. This series has proven itself to be a survivor. When it was cancelled by NBC after six seasons it was picked up by ABC. As was the case with most television series ‘Scrubs’ had a shortened number of episodes, eleven, due to the now infamous Writer’s Guide strike. It does look at this point that the remaining episodes will be produced some time in 2009 as a mid season replacement. Let’s all hope so since this has continued to be a bright spot for television programming. It is almost impossible to pin down the genre of the show. It is fundamentally a half hour sit-com but there are touches of drama that can be amazingly poignant. There is also music; fantasy and slap stick just to keep things always off the beaten track. The show has been nominated for some fourteen Emmys with another two wins. It is a shame if this series does not come back but considering the incredible talent assembled here it would be only natural for them to move on to other projects. In any case if you have been collecting the DVD season sets this may be the capstone of your collection. If you haven’t become a fan yet this will certainly make you one.

The series was the creation of Bill Lawrence. He has an odd viewpoint of the world which helps this show remain fresh each and every season. The premise is following the professional and personal lives of a group of doctors and nurse at Sacred Heart Hospital. The production company took over a real unused hospital, North Hollywood Medical Center. They turned the floors into the sets and production offices that were required. Over the previous six seasons the younger members of the cast have grown and to some extent matured. They have had to face the usual sit-com relationship troubles as well as realistic ups and downs in their professional lives. The main character is J.D. Dorian (Zach Braff). He has come a long way from the first season where he was a fresh faced and inexperienced new intern. He is now a resident in charge of interns of his own. Over the years J.D. has had many relationships with a long parade of young women. They ranged from the widow of a recently deceased patient, an overbearing lawyer to a free spirited psychiatrist. Throughout it all he has always carried a torch for another doctor at Scared Heart, Doctor Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke). They have been friends since staring their internship. There has been attempts at romance every so often with a try at being ‘friends with benefits’. By this season they are back on the romantic track with other people and trying to make their respective relationships work. J.D. is with Kim Briggs (Elizabeth Banks). She is an urologist who previously moved away when it looked like her relationship with J.D. was going nowhere. She is also pregnant but in typically ‘Scrubs’ style the baby was not conceived by conventional means. Kim and J.D. didn’t have sex but a premature ejaculation scored a hit. As this season opens Kim is back and about to give birth. Typical of many of J.D. girlfriends Kim became very close to Elliot. As far as Elliot’s romantic predicament Keith Dudemeister (Travis Schuldt) a very timid doctor. He has been living with Elliot and has proposed marriage to her to which she accepts. Elliot has second thoughts and tells him that she doesn’t actually love him. Elliot has always been more than a little neurotic so this is not out of character for her at all.

Also in the weekly mix are the best friends; Dr. Christopher Turk (Donald Faison) and his wife, head nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes). Turk and J.D. have been best friends since medical school and for most of the series were roommates. Turk is also a talented surgeon with a lot of ambition and drive. He is also always up for childish antics especially when J.D. is around. This is a point of consternation for his control freak wife. She sees herself as always right even it the matter at hand has nothing to do with her. One of the other doctors on the scene is Perry Cox (John C. McGinley). Initially he was annoyed by J.D. considering him his mentor but over the years has begrudgingly gained a respect and certain form of friendship with the younger doctor. At this point he is Chief of Medicine when Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins) retired. There was always an antagonistic relationship between Cox and Kelso with Cox usually using any opportunity to degrade his then boss. The one main character of this incredible ensemble cast is known simply by his job title, The Janitor (Neil Flynn). He enjoys nothing more than making fun of the doctors. His favorite target for abuse has always been J.D. He is typically the wild card of any story line. The only other non medical regular is the hospital’s attorney Ted Buckland (Sam Lloyd). He is put upon by all and finds the only joy in his life is his a cappella group, ‘The Worthless Peons’. Actually this is a real group with Lloyd’s real life friends.

This is such a well crafted series that if you see it you will become a fan. The cast plays off each other in a natural fashion that adds to a feeling that they are their characters. There is a sense that these creative people truly enjoy their work on this show. There is usually a few musical numbers in every season and this one is no different. They are fun and upbeat taking the audience on a ride. This series may have switched networks but they retained all the quality that made it such a hit. As always ABC Studios gives their all to the DVD release. The video is full screen accompanied with a Dolby 5.1 audio. There are also plenty of extras to keep the laughs coming. Selected episodes have cast and crew commentary tracks and there is the required blooper reel. Also included is a making of the ‘My Princess’ episode and a one on one with Ken Jenkins. This is a must have.