Scrubs - Season 6

After I first saw it in the original season, I was hooked on Scrubs for a couple years. No live-action show on television had a goofy cartoon mindset like it, and it was really a blast. For a time it was the only funny show on NBC since Seinfeld ended, although that's changed now that the network has moved past crappy on-set schlock with a laugh track that finds everything hysterical and on to single-camera stuff that I think works much better. The fairly interesting storylines and respectable amount of genuine human emotion didn't hurt either. For whatever reason, I stopped paying attention later in high school, mostly because of disinterest in TV in general than disinterest in the show. When I got to college I picked it back up again, caught up, and watched season 6 as it happened.

Less and less is the show about isolated problems JD faces as a doctor and more is it about concerns in his private life. His best friend is married and has a child. His mentor has made up with his ex and has two kids of his own. The woman he still has feelings for is getting married and he's expecting a kid with a girl he's had problems with. He has to decide what he really wants to do and who he wants to be as a person. The show's still funny, several of the episodes were among the most consistent humor-wise in the whole series, and all the characters are still producing great moments. What you do see though is the relegation of minor characters like Todd further into the background and more attempts at random jokes that fail more often than they used to. It's not as funny as it used to be, but it's an enjoyable half hour anyway.

Luckily, Scrubs has been renewed for a seventh and final season. In the sixth's finale, JD and Elliot talk about their insecurities and worries that they're not with the right person. They're about to get physical before the scene cuts. It's clear that before the series ends, JD will decide who he ends up with, and the smart money's on Elliot. The problem is, I don't really care if he does end up with her or not. They do seem sort of made for each other, both being very strange people with problems committing. But the time they were together fell apart quickly, and they've both broken each other's hearts again since. It's hard to see it actually working. And the thing is, the relationships they're already in are fine. Keith is the best boyfriend Elliot's ever had, and he truly loves her. Kim is pregnant with JD's kid, and despite her horrible decision to try to run away, they still get along well and he seems to work together with her better than he ever did with Elliot. Keith would be okay if it ended, he'd be crushed at first but he'd get on with his life, and he's a devoted guy who probably deserves someone less psychotic. But Kim would be in a terrible situation as a single mother working a job that requires tons of her time. I doubt her life wouldn't be ruined for a long time if that happened. I just don't think I've been convinced JD and Elliot together would be worth the trouble it would cause to others, but maybe they can do that before the show ends.