Take a bow

After seven seasons, the comedy Scrubs airs its final new episode tonight on NBC. Even though the NBC execs decided to quietly end the series with none of the fanfare of other sucessful shows, such as Friends, Frasier, and Will and Grace, I hope everyone will tune in and give the talented cast and crew the proper send-off they all deserve.

 

Scrubs premiered in fall 2001 (literally days after 9/11) to a very different television landscape, which was filled with reality shows and tired series. Most of the sitcoms of still were filmed on sound stage sets, recycled plots and gimmicks, and used laugh tracks to keep the story plodding along. Scrubs was different. It was filmed on location, so the set looked like a real hospital. There was no laugh track (thanks for giving the audience credit). Most of the storylines revolved around the daydreams of the main character, so gags could involve absurd situations and character interactions. And best of all, the writing and acting was fresh. The overall story arc certainly hasn’t resolved the way I expected.

 

While it has meandered a bit over the past few seasons (and some would argue it "jumped the shark" a while back), the series established the standards that have been copied by nearly every other successful show on TV today. It deserves a lot of credit for that.

 

Zach Braff has also become one of my favorite actors. He has an excellent comedic presence and the ability to adapt to a wide variety of dramatic roles. He’s also become an established writer and director. If you’re in the mood for some great work featuring Zach, check out the following: