I Like To Watch Scrubs

Scrubs is a comedy television series that ran from 2001 to 2008 on NBC, and from 2008 to 2010 on ABC. It was created by Bill Lawrence, who also co-createdSpin City.

For whatever reason I became a huge fan  of the TV show Scrubs.  I have seen every episode at least once.  Even the lame ones without the real cast they churned out at the end.  The original series and cast was classic and they really make me laugh.   It is in my opinion one of the best comedic drama series ever produced.

If you like intelligent, (for the most part), comedic moments with a touch of drama, Scrubs is the show for you.  I highly recomend seasons 1-7, after that………….kind of lost their way.

Scrubs Cast of Characters

John Dorian (J.D.)

Zach Braff portrays John Michael “J.D.” Dorian, the show’s protagonist and narrator. J.D. is a young attending physician, who begins the series as a staff intern. His voice-over to the series comes from his internal thoughts and often features surreal fantasies.   Many of his fantasies provide some of the funniest moments in the show.  We all have that alternate reality playing in our head, J.D. just shows his to the world.  He also hates the Janitor.

Christopher Duncan Turk

Donald Faison portrays Christopher Duncan Turk, J.D.’s best friend and a surgical attending physician and later Chief of Surgery. Turk roomed with J.D. at the College of William and Mary and at medical school, and the two have an extremely close relationship, which is best described in the season 6 episode My Musical as “Guy love”. He is married to Carla Espinosa.  Turk is the perfect foil for J.D. , he is everything that J.D. is not, cool, funny, and in his mind athletic.  Turk and J.D. have a stuffed dog named Rowdie, this is important for no reason other than I like Rowdie.

Elliot Reid

Sarah Chalke portrays Elliot Reid, another intern and later private practice physician. Her relationship with J.D. becomes romantic on several occasions. its an on again off again, type of relationship.  In the end they ended up getting married and all true Scrubs fans knew this is the way it should be.  Elliot is often neurotic and annoying but who isn’t at some point.  It is her ability to look at herself honestly and accept all of the freaky stuff that make her who she is.  Elliot Reid, moment killer, Elliot Reid, had her boyfriend attacked by a bear, it goes on and on.  Frick and Double Frick, I miss Elliot Reid.

Carla Espinosa-Turk

Judy Reyes portrays Carla Espinosa, the hospital’s head nurse, who acts as a mother figure to the interns, often hiding their mistakes from their attending doctor.  Turk and Carla have a relationship that lasted throughout the show.  Even though he can’t seem to get her heritage quite right.  She is Dominican, not Puerto Rican!  Their relationship is one of the backbones of the show.

Perry Cox

John C. McGinley portrays Perry Ulysses Cox, a senior attending physician at Sacred Heart and the hospital’s Residency Director before becoming the new Chief of Medicine in season eight. J.D. considers Cox his mentor despite the fact that Cox routinely criticizes and belittles him. Cox likes to call J.D. by a new girls name or another perceived derogatory comment in every show.  Deep down though you see that the Dr. Cox likes J.D. and wants him to be a success.  There is the moment he is talking to the board in season one when he relates to them how good J.D. is as a doctor.  Also in the episodes where three people die, The Cox-J.D. relationship shows it’s strength and development.  

Bob Kelso

Ken Jenkins portrays Robert “Bob” Kelso, formerly Sacred Heart’s Chief of Medicine. Kelso is cold, heartless and cruel, driven primarily by the hospital’s bottom line rather than the well-being of patients. However, it is occasionally suggested that he has a softer side, and that his cruelty is a means of coping with the years of hard decisions. It has been noted by other characters he was burdened by the job.  Kelso provides the foil of darkness and greed that Perry Cox and John Dorian are fighting against.  Never more clearly shown than when in season one they are all playing golf and fighting for J.D.’s soul.  Kelso loves muffins and was rewarded with a lifetime supply when the coffe shop moves in.  Kelso has a heart deep down inside.  

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Janitor

Neil Flynn portrays the hospital’s custodian known as ” Janitor” (in the last episode of season 8 he reveals his name “Glenn Matthews”… which may have been another lie, as another character immediately refers to him as “Tommy”). An incident in the pilot episode establishes an adversarial relationship between him and J.D., which persists throughout the series. This tends to take the form of the Janitor pulling mean-spirited pranks on J.D., although he gives J.D. a pass after his father dies.  Janitor spends many hours thinking of ways to bother J.D. .  Like many people, who have experienced a co-worker who just seems out to get them.  This relationship is clearly an exaggerated example of that dynamic.

The Janitor is also an organizer, from his various “Brain Trust” groups to an army of stuffed squirrels.  (who wouldn’t want a squirrel army?).  Janitor was a constantly evolving character that brought a lot to the show.  Everybody hates the Janitor.  Why did you put a penny in the door?  Why did you take it?  Come here we want to mess with you.  All classic Janitor lines.

In the ninth season premiere, Turk tells J.D. that the day after he left Sacred Heart, the Janitor asked when J.D. was returning, either oblivious to, or in denial of, J.D.’s departure, and upon coming to the realization that J.D. no longer worked at Sacred Heart, promptly walked off the job and quit.

Ted Buckland

Theodore “Ted” Buckland, played by Sam Lloyd, is Sacred Heart’s lawyer. Ted is the hospital’s “sad sack”, with pathetically low self-esteem and frequent suicidal tendencies. He is constantly degraded by Kelso, who has slowly but surely broken him down. It is implied that Ted has never won a case and it took him five tries to pass the Bar Exam due to stress induced dyslexia; he also states that he took the exam in Alaska, where it is much easier to pass. Ted attended Ithaca College.  Through a conversation with the Janitor in season three, it appears Ted speaks Korean.

Ted shows a character that almost everyone can relate to.  Most of us have had days where we feel like Teddy Buckland.  Ted finally gets a girl towards the end of the series. Her name is Gooch and she plays the ukelele in the hospital performing for kids.  It’s great to see the “sad sack” get the girl and something good can happen for everyone.  Kelso even told Ted that he always appreciated him at the end of his tenure.  

Todd Quinlan

Dr. Todd Quinlan, often called The Todd, played by Robert Maschio, is a surgeon at Sacred Heart who often delves into rampant sexual innuendo. Despite hisfrat boy personality, lack of common sense, and inability to spell, Todd is a skilled surgeon, being ranked the best surgical intern and second best surgical resident. He is a friend of Turk, even believing that he is Turk’s best friend, instead of J.D. Todd was not given an official surname until season five. In the Season 1 DVD Commentaries, Bill Lawrence explained that they never gave him one on purpose. “Quinlan” was picked up by a fan from a prop tag on Todd’s shirt once in the first season. It was merely a prop and not intended to be an actual name; however, the name eventually stuck.

Todd’s sexuality is never explicitly stated, although in “My Lucky Charm” he states that “The Todd appreciates hot regardless of gender.” He pretended to be gayin “My Lunch”, believing that “chicks dig gay dudes.” He constantly makes sexual comments towards men and women alike, even admitting that he would sleep with a 68-year-old syphilis patient and stating that he “accepts all applicants, regardless of age or disability.” After talking with Dr. Molly Clock, Todd explained that his view on women was due to an unhealthy relationship with his mother in which they made out. However, it is also revealed in “My Tormented Mentor” that Todd’s father also influenced him to look at women as sexual objects.

Throughout the series, The Todd often refers to himself in third-person and has a variety of high fives, made by taking a word or subject and adding “five” to the end, for example “Moving-on Five” or “Slide Five” normally accompanied by a sound effect. Todd is also a member of the Janitor’s second “Brain Trust,” a group composed of Todd, Ted and Doug. In “My Soul On Fire, Part 1,” it was revealed that Todd went to medical school in the Bahamas and learned the “high five” from his professor.