To be a millennial is to watch the cultural staples of one\u2019s youth curdle into cringe. \u201cHarry Potter\u201d is now politically fraught; the meme-literate language coined by the first generation of digital natives (\u201clulz,\u201d \u201checkin\u2019 doggo,\u201d etc.) has turned unspeakably pass\u00e9. The once-insurgent vanguards who cast their first votes for Barack Obama have relinquished their cool factor to Gen Z, who will one day undergo the same process themselves as time continues its relentless march forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cScrubs,\u201d the medical sitcom that aired on NBC from 2001 to 2008 and on ABC for a single season ending in 2010, is about as millennial-coded as it gets. (With his 2004 feature \u201cGarden State,\u201d star Zach Braff, though himself a Gen Xer, even created a defining example of a millennial trope: the manic pixie dream girl.) Jovial, feel-good and formally interesting while stopping short of innovation, \u201cScrubs\u201d was always more comfortably of its time than ahead of it. Carbon-dated to the point after single-camera comedies signified hipness \u2014\u00a0anticipating NBC successors like \u201cThe Office\u201d and \u201c30 Rock\u201d \u2014 but before streaming swallowed up much of the genre, \u201cScrubs\u201d feels firmly anchored to its original context. Perhaps that\u2019s why the revival, technically a Season 10 airing on ABC, feels so off. In the warm glow of nostalgia, \u201cScrubs\u201d is inoffensive. In the harsh light of the present, its age begins to show.<\/p>\n
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Season 10 is also not the first attempt to extend \u201cScrubs\u201d past its natural lifespan. The first ABC season, subtitled \u201cMed School,\u201d introduced a mostly new cast (including Dave Franco and Kerry Bish\u00e9!) and even subbed out Braff\u2019s J.D. as the narrator and point-of-view protagonist. But that soft relaunch fizzled out, and Season 10 makes no such effort to evolve the concept. Instead, with a few half-hearted maneuvers that meet the bare minimum threshold for a hook, \u201cScrubs\u201d installs J.D. \u2014 now working as a concierge doctor for the rich \u2014\u00a0right back where we\u2019re used to seeing him: in the halls of California\u2019s overburdened Sacred Heart Hospital, goofing around with his surgeon bestie Turk (Donald Faison) and daydreaming absurd scenarios. The only difference is that J.D. and Turk have advanced in their careers, and can no longer do their signature \u201cEagle!\u201d bit on account of Turk\u2019s sciatica.\u00a0Also, the higher resolution makes the Sacred Heart sets, now transplanted to Vancouver, look especially flimsy.<\/p>\n
Under showrunner Aseem Batra, an alumna of the original series, \u201cScrubs\u201d does introduce some fresh faces to play the trainees to J.D. and Turk\u2019s now-experienced leadership. (Creator Bill Lawrence, much in demand after the success of \u201cTed Lasso,\u201d remains an executive producer while primarily focused on other projects.) But neither sweet Brit Asher (Jacob Dudman) nor handsome jerk Blake (David Gridley) nor digital native Serena (Ava Dunn) ever truly compete for the spotlight with J.D., Turk and their respective love interests, doctor Elliot (Sarah Chalke) and nurse Carla (Judy Reyes). Nor do they ever fill conspicuous absences like that of Neil Flynn\u2019s nameless janitor, who gets an indirect shoutout, and John C. McGinley\u2019s caustic Dr. Cox, who disappears after passing the torch to J.D. in the Season 10 premiere. Only a comedian as accomplished as \u201cSNL\u201d vet Vanessa Bayer proves able to infiltrate the inner circle as a simpering HR exec.<\/p>\n
In the series\u2019 15-year absence, the medical show has progressed where \u201cScrubs\u201d has not. Plot points like Serena\u2019s popular social media account, which earns her the derisive nickname \u201cDr. Selfie,\u201d echo those on reigning standard-bearer \u201cThe Pitt\u201d; over on former \u201cScrubs\u201d network NBC, \u201cSt. Denis Medical\u201d adds social consciousness and a world-weary edge to the hospital sitcom. Against this dynamic backdrop, the revived \u201cScrubs\u201d offers stasis: the same sentimentality, scored to the plaintive tones of Lazlo Bane\u2019s \u201cSuperman\u201d; the same adorkable platonic chemistry, like J.D. and Turk planning a poker night at J.D.\u2019s \u201cbro-jo.\u201d That might be good enough for longtime fans, apart from the existence of an extensive back catalog just a few clicks away on Hulu. Why watch a season that tries to stick as closely to the original as possible, apart from the inescapable effects of time, when you can just watch the original itself?<\/p>\n
\u201cScrubs\u201d Season 10 will premiere on Feb. 25 at 8pm ET on ABC, with remaining episodes airing weekly on Wednesdays and streaming the next day on Hulu.<\/p>\n
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