All Entries Tagged With: "Scrubs"

Gnomes on Scrubs? Zach Braff Blogs

Zach Braff has posted a message on his MySpace. Normally he updates his website with his blog entries, but this time he was tricky. Or lazy. I mean, well, I’m sure he’s busy! Anyway, he couldn’t give us any updates on Scrubs, aside from the fact that 18 more episodes are being filmed. There will be an 8th season, but we don’t know where it will air. He has enticed me to watch an upcoming episode with this little nugget of info:

But I can tell you that the coolest episode we’ve ever done is going to air on May 8th at 8:30(E/P). I directed it and it’s a GIANT homage to “The Princess Bride”. Dr. Cox has to make up a fairy tale for his son and he does so using everything that happened in the hospital that day. It’s by far the most epic (and expensive) episode we’ve ever done. (Monsters, potions, evil wizards, giants, hunchbacks, gnomes – like “World of Warcraft”, but Scrubs…)

Zach’s MySpace Link

Picture from braff.net

Subscribe to Sofachip, then we can have a Scrubs marathon.

Popularity: 12% [?]

I Love a Good Voiceover

Voiceovers pull you into a show by breaking down that fourth wall that keeps you defined as merely an observer. With a voiceover you’re privy to a character or narrator’s inner thoughts. It’s kind of like being able to read minds, and I know there are plenty of people who’d choose that superpower if they could pick one. (I would personally like to be able to turn invisible.)

While ’show, don’t tell’ is a good rule of thumb for any creative device (oh boy, do I ever loathe movie exposition that’s force-fed in a huge five minute chunk) there is a certain undeniable charm to voiceovers when they’re done right.

I would argue that not every show or movie that utilizes a continual voiceover needs one. But there have been shows that have used them and used them well. Especially on TV. For instance, How I Met Your Mother has voiceovers from Ted in small snippets that inform and comment. Carrie had voiceovers on Sex and the City and they were usually enjoyable. Although, the repeated phrasing of, ‘I couldn’t help but wonder…’ started to seem really tired. While I like those shows and characters, those aren’t my favorite when it comes to voiceovers.

When I think about voiceovers on TV shows, I have three favorites. Click to see who they are after the jump…

Popularity: 40% [?]

Scrubs is No Dr. Feelgood

I like Scrubs. It’s a good show with great writing, quirky characters and poignant stories. Whenever I watch it, there are always a few lines in each episode that make me laugh out loud. But after watching it tonight, I realized something.

Scrubs is emotionally draining.

That’s right. In the short 22 minutes, it takes you on an emotional rollercoaster that just leaves you emotionally exhausted when it’s all over. There are many jokes throughout each episode, but at the end of the episode, you see how all those jokes lead up to a sad ending.

Take Thursday night’s episode, for example. Doctor Kelso had a birthday coming up but he didn’t let anybody know how old he was. In fact, he had been lying about his age for the last seven years or so. It turns out that he’s 65 and the staff wanted to throw him a party. At the party, one of the higher administrators was there and found out that he’s 65. At the end of the episode, the administrator talks to Dr. Kelso and reminds him that they don’t allow their surgeons to work past the age of 65. It’s then that the viewer realizes that Dr. Kelso had a very good reason for lying about his age and the staff just ruined it.

It’s for that reason that I can’t watch the show over and over again like my other favorite shows. Scrubs has always been in my top 10 favorites, but I can only watch each episode once or, at the most, twice. My other favorite shows - Seinfeld, Reno 911, The Office, Corner Gas and others - could be on continuous repeat in my DVD player and I’d never get sick of them.

So when the series finale comes on, it’ll be a bittersweet evening. I’m excited to see how the clever writers (if they ever go back to work) decide to end such a quirky and unique show. But I know the final episode will be ten times as draining as a normal episode. I’ll have my box of tissues sitting next to me that night.

Favorite Scrubs Line of the Night:
Ted the Lawyer: Chicks, huh? They’re all soft and cuddly but ya never get to be with one.

Popularity: 41% [?]