BTW, for at least four years, T-Mobile has been running commercials (example) featuring Zach Braff and Donald Faison (who of course played J.D. and Turk on Scrubs). Their interactions in the series of commercials remind me of their interactions in Scrubs. Meanwhile, Sarah Chalke is in another commercial (this one for a deodorant brand), dressed as a doctor or nurse, in which she interacts with a black woman, also dressed as a doctor or nurse, much as I remember her character of Elliot Reid interacted with Carla in Scrubs. (I haven’t watched Scrubs since it originally aired but here Sarah seems to have the same sort of nervous energy.)
So my essential question is, to what extent did these commercials lead to the revival of the series? Perhaps the success of the commercials proved the continued appeal of the characters? Googling, Braff and Faison are real-life friends, so the interactions in the commercials may reflect that.
I don’t know the show from a test pattern, (never watching either very long) but I can tell you that Zach Braff is a terrible Jeopardy! clue reader. (he was plugging the new show, in a typical Jeopardy! synergy.)
The first two new episodes weren’t bad. I don’t have much of an opinion on the new characters yet but it was nice to see each of the original cast that were back. I hate that Dr. Cox seems to be unlikely to be a regular.
On the upside, the new supporting cast seems decent, with a nice mix of strengths and problems. The new heavy is delightfully evil. I’m definitely giving the reboot a chance.
Who is giving odds that JD and Elliott end up shagging in the closet before the season ends?
The hyper-competent young Asian antagonist with a stick up his butt reminds me of the hyper-competent young Asian antagonist with a stick up his butt in Elsbeth.
Watched the first two episodes. Pretty solid, I thought. That signature balance of silly, absurd humor and serious, dramatic turns is still there. I couldn’t help contrasting it with another medical sitcom we’ve been watching— ‘St. Denis Medical’. A decent comedy, but it’s like ‘The Office’ in a hospital. Watching ‘The Office’, you’d often think “do these people ever do any actual work?” As in ‘The Office’, the humor in SDM is mostly about the characters’ interactions, not so much about the actual job they do. With Scrubs, the actual fact that they are doctors making life or death decisions is always a big part of the show. It’s why medical professionals have said that Scrubs is the most realistic show about the medical profession.
I give it an 89% chance, with the 11% reserved for the possibility of a ‘will they / won’t they’ subplot that they draw out into another season.
Scrubs successfully relaunched. I’ve been watching the Night Court revival, I’m not sure why. Not a good relaunch at all. Scrubs did well, it felt like Scrubs. That is a solid compliment.
I still think Scrubs is way up there… However, it would have to be number two or three on my “funniest shows of all time” list.
You see, I made this thread in 2014… That was before I ever saw the entire run of the US version of The Office. That, without a doubt, is the funniest show in my opinion… But Scrubs are still in the top three.
Yeah, both the writers and the cast seem in sync with the flavor of the original show. I like the new cast members, too (Vanessa Bayer is always good IMO).
She’s also in the main voice cast of Rick and Morty.
One would think that the successful commercial campaigns at least showed ABC executives that the cast members remained popular (and still have good chemistry). Might have been a selling point.