{"id":303766,"date":"2026-02-26T21:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/303766\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T21:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:15:08","slug":"the-uplifting-medicine-of-scrubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/303766\/","title":{"rendered":"The uplifting medicine of “Scrubs”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-five years after \u201cScrubs<\/a>\u201d introduced Dr. Christopher Turk (Donald Faison), he returns to our screens a changed man \u2013 though not even his best friend, Dr. John \u201cJ.D.\u201d Dorian (Zach Braff<\/a>), notices the difference at first.<\/p>\n

When J.D., who has long moved on from Sacred Heart Hospital, surprises Turk with a mid-shift visit to their old stomping grounds, Turk puts on the usual jokey front, crouching so old J-Dizzle can leap on his back for one of their signature \u201cEagle\u201d flights. Turk\u2019s bad back makes it a brief sortie, but the attempt confirms that their friendship remains fundamentally intact.<\/p>\n

Still, when J.D. finds out Turk\u2019s interns secretly refer to him as Dr. Bummer, he realizes his Big Dog may be burying some of his pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod, I wish this guy would die all at once instead of in tiny little pieces,\u201d Turk blurts out while operating on a patient, one of the many small dramatic turns that anchor \u201cScrubs\u201d in reality. Like many men, Turk is lonely, and like many mid-career doctors, he\u2019s also burned out. No matter how many times Turk advises the man he\u2019s just treated to take better care of himself, he tells J.D., Turk knows he\u2019ll be performing another amputation on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no joy. None,\u201d Turk says, holding back tears.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Disney\/Jeff Weddell) David Gridley, Ava Bunn and Jacob Dudman in \u201cScrubs\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Where \u201cThe Pitt\u201d inspires awe at what these doctors achieve with a paucity of resources, time and patience, \u201cScrubs\u201d lampoons the absurdity of a corporatized medical system steadily grinding down doctor and patient alike.<\/p>\n

\u201cScrubs\u201d being what it is, the joy returns in short order. Realizing that Sacred Heart is where he belongs, J.D. relinquishes his quiet life as a concierge doctor to return to the trenches with Turk, Turk\u2019s wife Carla, the hospital\u2019s head nurse (Judy Reyes<\/a>), and his ex, Elliot Reed (Sarah Chalke).<\/p>\n

However, their wacky little world is no longer what it once was. Anyone who watches \u201cThe Pitt<\/a>\u201d knows that, as do the many who refuse that call \u2013 including more than a few medical professionals. When your job requires you to squelch your anxiety while caring for another person\u2019s life and health, the last thing you may want at the end of your shift is to watch a show about a similar workplace enduring one of its most stressful days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Pitt\u201d is a decidedly post-pandemic drama. \u201cScrubs,\u201d meanwhile, resumes under the spiritual guidance of its creator, Bill Lawrence, the man responsible for two broadly cherished comedies born within and in response to the pandemic: \u201cTed Lasso<\/a>\u201d and \u201cShrinking<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Lawrence\u2019s reputation for thoughtfully centering stories about healers and healing in wells of humor began with\u00a0 \u201cScrubs,\u201d which aired for seven seasons on NBC before moving to ABC for its eight and ninth. Where \u201cThe Pitt\u201d inspires awe at what its doctors achieve with a paucity of resources, time and patience, \u201cScrubs\u201d lampoons the absurdity of a corporatized medical system steadily grinding down doctor and patient alike, zigzagging between J.D.\u2019s mundane narration and the fanciful flights whirling in his brain.<\/p>\n

People either love the sitcom\u2019s cartoonish flourishes or despise them. (Or perhaps that was more of a problem when it originally aired and had the poor luck of existing in proximity to shows employing similar conceits, namely \u201cAlly McBeal<\/a>.\u201d)<\/p>\n

For those in the latter camp, there is the standard issue broadcast sitcom goofery of NBC\u2019s \u201cSt. Denis Medical<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 Even that show doesn\u2019t stray too far from what it\u2019s like to practice medicine in an era when science and certified expertise are vilified, and tempers run short.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Warrick Page\/HBO Max) Katherine LaNasa and Tina Ivlev in \u201cThe Pitt\u201d<\/p>\n

In the first season of \u201cThe Pitt,\u201d an angry man fed up with waiting for care sucker punches a nurse. But rage spikes in quieter places too, like the Oregon burg where \u201cSt. Denis Medical\u201d is set. One episode starts with a doctor bleeding from a gash on his head; he tells his colleagues that he was assaulted on his way into the building.<\/p>\n

\u201cFun fact, healthcare workers are five times more likely to face violence in the workplace,\u201d shares Allison Tolman<\/a>\u2019s supervising nurse, Alex, in one of the show\u2019s mockumentary-style confessionals. \u201cAnd there was a state bill to address this, but it failed. On the bright side, they did pass a bill to rename a bridge after Jeff Bridges. So that\u2019s cute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like \u201cThe Pitt,\u201d \u201cSt. Denis Medical\u201d and \u201cScrubs\u201d distill the unique relationships between doctors, nurses and patients. It\u2019s just that comedies take sunnier roads to similar destinations.<\/p>\n

J.D. and Turk\u2019s interns are green and shallow, but even the social media influencer in their ranks has helpful knowledge to share. The professional rivalries are real, as J.D. finds when his hiring as Sacred Heart\u2019s new chief of medicine gains him a nemesis in Joel Kim Booster<\/a>\u2019s wonderfully shady Dr. Eric Park. So are the dilemmas created by split-second decisions and the resultant issues rippling outward.<\/p>\n

Like \u201cThe Pitt,\u201d \u201cSt. Denis Medical\u201d and \u201cScrubs\u201d distill the unique relationships between doctors, nurses and patients. It\u2019s just that comedies take sunnier roads to similar destinations.<\/p>\n

Interns must learn how to address their patients carefully and honestly, both out of a sense of empathy and to shield the hospital from legal liability. That\u2019s been true since J.D. and Turk\u2019s first day at Sacred Heart, 25 years ago, when J.D. remarks to himself, somewhat despondently, that the hospital devotes more time to an onboarding seminar on avoiding legal liability than passing along tips on the best patient care.<\/p>\n

Perhaps with this in mind, J.D. adopts a more humane approach when he counsels a frustrated charge. \u201cWe do the most good we can in a single shift, and then, as hard as it is, we go home,\u201d he says. \u201cThat is the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Disney\/Darko Sikman) Joel Kim Booster, Anna Maria Horsford and Zach Braff in \u201cScrubs\u201d<\/p>\n

The personnel we follow in \u201cThe Pitt\u201d are archetypes, while J.D., Turk and Elliot are distinct and familiar comedy figures. But that doesn\u2019t necessarily flatten one more than the other.<\/p>\n

Every 15-hour shift spent with the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital\u2019s staff affirms how human these caregivers are. When a recent episode shows its unsinkable charge nurse, Dana (Katherine LaNasa), tending to a sexual assault victim, there\u2019s nothing saccharine about her work. Her apprehensive patient hits a breaking point nevertheless, frantically fleeing the exam room while Dana is procedurally required to remain. And Dana takes that pause to let a sob break through her hard surface. Just for a moment.<\/p>\n

Subplots like this have granted \u201cThe Pitt\u201d a kind of cultural essentiality. This week, in fact, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni<\/a> hailed the second season currently unfolding over a 15-hour shift on Independence Day, calling it a civics lesson.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbove all, it\u2019s a study of people under intense pressure \u2014 as they are when a pulse is fading, or when a nation is fraying \u2014 and the importance of muddling through and making things better, no matter the odds, no matter the obstacles,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

But Bruni easily could have been talking about Sacred Heart Hospital, whose staff vacillates between bridging the compassion gap between medical professionals and patients and managing our expectations. \u201cScrubs\u201d recognizes that most of a doctor\u2019s hero moments can be tedious, as J.D. observes while languishing on hold with an insurance company. Characters on \u201cThe Pitt\u201d and \u201cSt. Denis Medical\u201d contend with similar frustrations, demonstrating that needless bureaucracy is bad for everybody\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Justin Lubin\/NBC) Allison Tolman as Alex and David Alan Grier as Dr. Ron in \u201cSt. Denis Medical\u201d<\/p>\n

A quarter of a century ago, J.D. and Turk\u2019s program supervisor, Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins), directed them to treat the insured and boot the uninsured. Now that J.D. holds the old man\u2019s job, he faces the fact that insurance carriers struggle to afford the medicine they need, too \u2014 and their professional caregivers don\u2019t have time to help them navigate the system.\u00a0 As J.D. explains in one of his signature interior monologues, doctors are required to see five patients every hour to maximize profits. \u201cIt can feel a bit . . . mechanical,\u201d he says, lapsing into a frenetic fantasy that pictures his interns as a NASCAR pit crew tending to a gurney-bound patient as if they\u2019re a malfunctioning machine.<\/p>\n

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This is why \u201cScrubs\u201d and \u201cThe Pitt\u201d have captured the audience \u2013 each is, in its own way, a careful examination of how we treat each other. \u201cScrubs\u201d simply takes more license to find the joy in that as a matter of purpose, since Sacred Heart\u2019s doctors realize they have a duty to fortify the next generation\u2019s outlook, along with that of the audience.<\/p>\n

When an intern tells a patient that he believes kindness is the best medicine, J.D. tersely interrupts his blue-sky meliorism with a cold splash of reality. \u201cActually,\u201d says a straight-faced J.D., \u201cmedicine is the best medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some also make that claim about laughter, although \u201cScrubs\u201d proves humor to be more of a coping tool than a cure. But when the American nightmare that is our healthcare system gives us so little to laugh about, that\u2019s enough to see us through.<\/p>\n

\u201cScrubs\u201d airs at 8 p.m. Wednesdays on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu. \u201cSt. Denis Medical\u201d airs at 8 p.m. Mondays on NBC and streams the next day on Peacock. New episodes of \u201cThe Pitt\u201d stream Thursdays on HBO Max.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story gave an incomplete detailing of the series\u2019 network history. The story has been updated.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/p>\n

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