|
|
medicine is laughter
It stumbles when it attempts 'ER's' dramatic airs
By Elizabeth White
The evolution of the sitcom from the traditional living-room-couch format to the single-camera, no-laugh-track format is bound to be plagued by many fits and starts.
Unfortunately for NBC, as well as viewers, "Scrubs" is an otherwise promising show that is experiencing some of the worst of these growing pains.
Following the misadventures of first-year medical interns, the show’s episodes are terribly uneven, its creators seemingly unable to make up their minds whether "Scrubs" is a drama or a comedy.
Either way would be the right decision. "Scrubs" could be either an excellent comedy or an excellent half-hour drama, just not both.
The cast is superb, the characters are flawed but endearing, and the show’s concept--that medicine is much more mundane and repulsive and that doctors are more inept than anyone likes to think--is ripe with potential.
But if the show continues on its present course, veering between drama and comedy, it is destined to go the way of ABC’s "Sports Night," a thoughtful show that critics loved but viewers found confusing.
In its first two outings, on Tuesday and Thursday last week, "Scrubs" had a better rapport with younger viewers, winning among adults 18-49 but dropping enough of its lead-in audience to lose to CBS dramas in households.
During its regular time slot after "Frasier," "Scrubs" managed to build slightly on the veteran show’s adult 18-49 lead-in audience.
That’s probably as much a reflection of the show’s subject matter, a twenty-something’s perspective on his first job, as it is of the single-camera format, which younger audiences have already embraced on Fox.
The show takes the point of view of and has voice-overs by the lead character J.D. (Zach Braff), the sitcom’s straight man, who is so innocent that the nurses call him "Bambi."
Donald Faison is his best friend Turk, a surgical intern easing into a god complex, and Sarah Chalke is the love-interest Elliot, an overachiever who undermines her own accomplishments by talking too much.
These three humorously balance their characters’ fears and foibles against their smarts, bringing a level of empathy to the medical profession that not even "ER" always achieves.
It’s unfortunate that "Scrubs" still tries to emulate its NBC counterpart by occasionally shifting into drama. The carefully crafted comedic balance disappears as the characters deal with their fears and mature into responsible adults. That’s when "Scrubs" goes from intelligent programming to little more than an after-school special, with the viewers heading for higher ground.
NBC desperately needs the young sitcom viewers that "Scrubs" can attract, especially now that the character of Frasier Crane has been on the air as long as 17-year-olds have been alive.
But to keep them, "Scrubs" should stick to the comedy that it does best and leave the drama to the adults on "ER."
October 9, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Elizabeth White is a staff writer for Media Life.
Printer-Friendly Version
|
Send
to a Friend
Cover Page |
Contact
Us
