Seven reasons to like, and dislike, the new Scrubs

Despite having a great series finale at the end of last season, Scrubs is back for a ninth season, with a whole lot of changes. The setting has changed from the familiar hospital to the new medical school. Characters have come and gone, as Carla, Elliot, Janitor, and most of the minor characters have been replaced with new medical students.

Now that three episodes have aired, some things are beginning to become clear. A lot of the humor and charm that made Scrubs great is still all over this show. There are, however, some reasons to be concerned about this new incarnation (aside from the ratings).

Let’s start with the good:

• More Denise: Denise was definitely the best of the medical students in last year’s season of Scrubs. I was excited to see that she’s back in the new revamped show, and was thrilled at her increased role.
• Drew: Dr. Cox’s new, and unwilling, protege has a lot of promise. I’m enjoying the dynamic that he has with Denise and his shady past. He’s a great catalyst for some of JD’s Cox-based neuroses as well.
• Same old Dr. Cox: Dr. Cox, with all of his nasty looks and snide comments is still in top form in the new incarnation of the show. The same can be said for Turk, though I am curious to see how he can hold up when there is no JD to goof around with.
• Same writing: Some of the faces and places may have changed, but the show still has the same exact sense of humor. The episodes really feel the same, too, with all the storylines being tied together through a common theme, summed up at the end of each episode through a voice over. There’s a comfort in familiarity.

It’s certainly not all good, though:

• Missing cast members: So far I miss Carla, who is not a part of the new Scrubs. It’s just strange seeing Turk without her. Elliot has been absent save for a brief cameo and even JD isn’t going to be on the show every episode. I’ve also missed some of the minor characters from the hospital that we haven’t been seeing (even though a bunch of them appeared in cameos): Ted, the Todd, and some more major characters like Kelso and the Janitor.
• Lucy: The heir apparent to JD is not really setting the screen on fire so far. I’m remaining cautiously optimistic that her character will grow and develop (and I liked her much better in this week’s episode as compared to the first two). The problem isn’t that Lucy is horrible, she’s just not much of anything. So far she has been dull and uninteresting. The real test is going to come when JD leaves the show.
• Cole: Hopefully the show is going to give some more dimension to this annoying character. He’s definitely a one note song right now, and that note isn’t exactly pleasing to the ears.

What do you think of Scrubs 2.0?

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Dec 10, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT