Goodbye Old Friend

This just not in: Scrubs stinks. Its terrible. It may not be the worst 30 minutes television has to offer (send thank you notes to "the can't be killed cockroach" Kath & Kim) but when I'm watching ABC from 9-10 on Tuesdays I feel like a Cheesehead watch Brett Favre this past year; its unrecognizable from its former self and has tarnished everything it had previously created.

Current day Scrubs is nothing that the old Scrubs used to be. Its not goofy or edgy, and its certainly not clever or innovative anymore. I've said it before but from 2001 when the show premiered until 2007 when the show died (or should have died a peaceful, respected death), Scrubs was the most enjoyable 30 minutes of television a week. Even now, having relished LOST, The Wire, and How I Met Your Mother, I do not waver about calling Scrubs, in its time, a masterpiece.

Success came from two places, the writing of the show and the entire ensemble cast. Everyone from Zach Braff to Sam Lloyd (who plays Ted, the lawyer) stood and delivered on a weekly basis. You cared about the plights of the headline characters as much as the fringe ones, but mostly they worked so well because of their cohesiveness (ala Friends). Seriously, I dare you to watch this episode (3 parts) from 2006 and tell me you've seen finer sitcom writing. This is my favorite episode of television ever, and nothing else you do for the next 22 minutes will be better. Now we seldom get the whole group together, and in this week's episode JD and Turk didn't have one scene together. Totally inexcusable.

Its sad to think that the same show I used to look forward to all week, is now down for the count, struggling for breath. Its uninspired, unfunny, and unaffecting, and the only thing it brings to the table is the occasional Sarah Chalke underwear shot. Sure there are tons of syndicated episodes daily to remind us of the good old days, but new Scrubs is Eight Belles down on the track at the Kentucky Derby; its Steve Martin in Pink Panther 2; its Brett Favre still not retired . I once really cared about the characters and their fates but now I just wish the show ended before next Tuesday, sparing further erosion, even if that means we never get an ending.