Sunday, April 29, 2007

Young doctors in love

Brief, belated "Scrubs" and "Grey's Anatomy" spoilers coming right up...

Uneven "Scrubs" episode. On the plus side: the sorority gal screaming gag (kind of a spoof of the super-breath sequence from "Superman II," I thought) was hilarious, as were Carla and Dr. Kelso's curtain calls for Cox ("'Quit being mean to my husband!'"). On the down side, Keri Russell thus far looks to be one of the show's less successful Hot Girls Can Be Funny, Too!!! guest stars (Tops: Heathers Graham and Locklear. Bottoms: Tara Reid. Insert "That assumes Tara is hot" joke here.), and I felt the JD/Elliott storyline didn't deal enough with how complicated this dynamic is because of their romantic history. We're clearly done with JD and Elliott as a couple, but but this is trickier than JD just being jealous his friend isn't as up for appletinis. Also, the Janitor ghost subplot was kind of a dud.

Meanwhile, I feel like my hatred toward's "Grey's Anatomy" has mellowed a bit now that I've vented so much on the blog and in print. Not that I liked this week's episode; just that I've gone from loathing to resigned ambivalence. At this point, I'm just waiting to see if the spin-off is any more watchable, though they had to really work overtime to free Addison of both her romantic prospects so she can head down to California. McSteamy playing the heel for her was a nice moment, and as it was proceeded by his half-hearted attempt to seduce Meredith, I didn't feel like they're softening him up too much. The Karev thing, on the other hand, felt forced, even if it was set up by the most meta humor this show has had in months. My head hurts more than usual by the amount of sledgehammer going on with the doctor/patient metaphors. As each patient was introduced, I turned to my wife and sarcastically explained the parallels, and there came a point where one of the cases (Penisfish Guy, I think) took me a good 30 seconds to elaborate on, since they found a way for it to parallel every single character on the show. Don't care about Meredith and McDreamy, don't care that they're pretending George will go work at another hospital when they're just going to contrive an excuse for him to stay here (or come back in three weeks), don't understand why Burke wouldn't just go with a simple chocolate cake. Dude, everybody likes chocolate cake. Everybody.

What did everybody else think?


Ann said...

Scrubs was a total dud. JD's behavior was just plain psycho. I am quite sick of his whining. The final moments just showed how much every other character has grown and matured, while JD is still the same immature guy he was when the show started. He may have grown in his work life, but not in his personal life. This makes it painful to watch, when we are pulling for his character to succeed on all levels.

Greys? Huh?

UneFemmePlusCourageuse said...

I must agree, I didn't like this Scrubs episode either. I want either Dr. Molly Clock or Kim to come back, and I don't like the Elliot/Keith getting married storyline, possibly because I'm one of the few freaks out there who wants Elliot to end up with the Janitor.

Ted F. said...

Keith has been treated like a joke for all but one or two episodes, so it's hard to take the marriage proposal seriously.

The Turk-Cox plotline made no sense. It was like a bad satire of a Mamet con-game.

I agree with Ann: JD has been consistently immature and obnoxious this season, except now that's the only note for his character. Did Braff piss off the writers or something? Or is the balance just disrupted by the fact that they focus on so much more than the main three characters these days, so we don't have that many A-plots with JD?

ooda said...

What annoys me about Grey's is how every patient is fully articulate, not just about their condition, but about life in general. Blah. The conversation had between runny nose guy and the doctors was just nauseating. What happened to real life scenarios where you have a shift-looking guy coming into the ER and saying his balls hurt?

Oh yeah, and why the f--k is Rhimes so infatuated with that god damn perky, annoying doctor? I get that she's there to be annoying, and allow the seemingly downtrodden interns to act as a parallel to, but really, it's now just getting excessive.

I hope the spin-off goes well, as Kate Walsh is easily one of the most beautiful and charismatic people on television, and really deserves a strong vehicle upon which to exhibit her class. As it is, Grey's is a shadow of what it was.

One thing: does anyone almost feeling like Grey's is kind of paralleling what happened with The O.C.? It could just be me, but I loved the show early on for its dramatic moments, but as it progressed, it relied too much on shticky humor, and cheesy interlude music. This almost feels like what's happening on Grey's (same type of humor, even the same type of music). For all Shondra Rhimes likes to say how she's some sort of revolutionary, is she just an older, female, more jilted version of Josh Schwartz?

Anonymous said...

I agree with the OC/Grey's parallels, and I think in both cases, the shows creators started to buy their own hype a little too much and it shows in the second and third seasons. Hopefully, there is a redemption the the fourth season, like the OC. However, it doesn't look like Shonda is aware of the hack-like storylines and character assasinations, and just having Denny host that stupid collection of clips (it's called reruns and I refuse to watch them) is another sign of her head being figuratively up her ass with this show. (I thought Denny and Izzy's love for him was the beginning of the end for Izzy as a character)

She isn't writing the spin-off is she?

Anonymous said...

How many clip shows is that for Grey's now? It's at least two or three. I agree; they are reruns and I don't watch them.

ooda said...

Well, as far as clip shows go, it looks like ABC is the worst of the bunch. I mean, just look at Lost and Desperate Housewives.

But yeah, there's only so far you can pander to the audience and still pull it off. In addition to the clip show, it did feel like the whole 'death' story line was aimed at least somewhat at appeasing Denny fans.

Blah, I preferred him on his brief appearance on Weeds anyway.

Benaiah said...

I thought the JD appletini scene was the funniest of the night (topping Dwight as Jim, and anything on 30 Rock). It went on forever, but Zach Braff really nailed it. On the other hand, I agree that JD is a total pyscho every episode, only to have some epiphany at the end. He was cool and quirky in the first seasons, with some real vulnerability, but it feels like he (and everyone else) have been reduced to cardboard cutouts of their easily identifiable traits at this point. I would love it if Bill will reel it in a little, but it seems to late in the game for that.

Anonymous said...

I think it's a little unfair to judge Keri Russell when she's appearing in what is easily the show's worst season. But I'd like to see a little interaction between her and Turk so we can have a mini Felicity reunion. Which reminds me, I'd also add Amy Smart to the list of funny, hot girls.

Other than that, I don't have much to say that everyone else hasn't already said: the characters are now caricatures and JD has gone from funny and vulnerable to an annoying manchild. I also cringe at the start of every episode when I know the voiceover is coming. What was once fresh and original is now cliche and annoying

Alan Sepinwall said...


Ahh, Tasty Coma Wife. I had forgotten about her. Smart was very good, too, but the Heathers were the best in this category.

Kristin said...

Tara Reid was never really meant to be 'hot girl' on the show. She played a cariacture of her tabloid self...nasty smoker's breath, slut-like behavior (e.g. kissing a bunch of random guys at Turk & Carla's wedding), and being plain disgusting to most everyone who knew her.

I thought Keri Russell's character was a hoot. The part where she stole the beer off that guy's table and asked if anyone noticed? Very funny.

I am also getting tired of J.D. and his amateurish ways. He had such great chemistry with Elizabeth Banks, and it showed that he could still be J.D. and be in a good relationship. They were funny, quirky, and goofy together. I miss her....

I've always like the Dudemeister and Elliot. Their sex games are probably some of the funniest bits on there...I'd love to see them get married b/c Elliot would probably be the best psycho, controlling bride ever.

Edward Copeland said...

I agree that Scrubs was uneven, but once again I think this episode showed that this season's MVP is without a doubt Ken Jenkins.

Anonymous said...


I don't remember where, but I read an interview with Bill Lawrence where he said the character was originally just supposed to be a normal love interest, but after a while they decided to just have her play herself because nothing else was beleiveable.

Old Man Snap said...

It's hard not get sucked into the hatred most bloggers/critics/commenters are sending Shonda's way.

The backlash was rightfully deserved for shows like Desperate Housewives, where the hype machine turned people off, and the show didn't keep people tuned in.

I missed Grey's last week, but watched it, um, on tape, last night. The opening scene with all the interns just being interns got me back into the original point of the show.

Alex carried the episode, as did the Chief. The Izzie/George storyline in the last episode was brutally honest and completely plausible.

(Previews: "It is possible to be in love with two people?"). Yes, George. It is.

These kids are in their late 20s/early 30s and the way they go about their relationships is, in a word, real.

Yes, Shonda is stubborn and thinks she's like, seriously the best producer ever.

But the show itself is still pretty good. Not Friday Night Lights-immerse-yourself good, but good nonetheless.

TuckPendleton said...

Well, I thought the show jumped the shark when George slept with Izzie.

But the show truly jumped the shark when the line "You are my penisfish" was uttered, by Izzie to George I believe.

Alan, I think I join you in the Resigned Ambivalence Lounge. I'm also hoping the spinoff is great, but I hope that they have better ideas than Addison with a baby. Kate Walsh is pretty consistently the best part of the show, no matter what ridiculous subplots or romances they try to jam her into.

UneFemmePlusCourageuse said...

"I think this episode showed that this season's MVP is without a doubt Ken Jenkins."

Agreed. JD has been annoying me, and he used to be such an awesome character. I love Zach Braff, but I think sometimes he makes JD far more annoying than he previously was. The characters who still seem completely true to their personalities are the Janitor and Dr. Kelso.

LE said...

"But the show truly jumped the shark when the line 'You are my penisfish' was uttered, by Izzie to George I believe."

Yes, yes, and yes. I think a line like that could have been pulled off in earlier seasons, but now, and between those two, it's just ridiculous.

I actually enjoyed the earlier parts of the season--primarily because Meredith and McDreamy were in a semi-normal relationship, so we didn't have to watch any of their angsty bs, which has always been one big strike against the show in my mind.

I have high hopes for "Private Practice," because Addison really is the only thing good about Grey's these days. It would be nice to see her in a bigger role.