When you sit down to watch an episode of Scrubs do you compare the zany antics of Turk and J.D. to those of Hawkeye and Trapper John? Do you equate the tough love of Carla to that of Major Margaret Houlihan? Does Bob Kelso remind you of Frank Burns?
I ask because over the last few weeks we've seen a few comments on our Scrubs reviews stating that the show can be considered the new M*A*S*H, that other medical comedy from a generation ago (for those of us who remember first-run episodes of that show you can now feel old.). It does have its similarities: both are shows that mix comedy with serious topics; both have their wacky characters; and both are workplace comedies (even though M*A*S*H's workplace location was the Korean War). But, is Scrubs really the new M*A*S*H? Kind of, but not quite.
Well, let me clarify that a bit. I guess you could say that Scrubs would be comparable to the early seasons of M*A*S*H; the ones that featured Trapper John and Henry Blake. Those first three seasons were certainly more oddball in nature with the really serious scenes (not including those in surgery) sprinkled in every few episodes. After that, though, the comparison stops. Once McLean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers left, and Mike Farrell and Harry Morgan stepped in, the show got a lot less funny and a lot more serious. This is particularly true for the seasons after Gary Burghoff left the show. For the last six seasons Scrubs has maintained a pretty even mix of comedy and drama, with an emphasis towards the comedy.
There were even times, after Radar's departure, that the show got scary. I remember an episode . . . one I can't even watch today . . . where the staff of the 4077th were having nightmares after a grueling session in surgery. In one nightmare Hawkeye dreams of having his arms removed because he couldn't answer questions from his professor. The end of the nightmare shows Hawkeye screaming as he floats, armless, in a small boat, surrounded by other body parts. That is probably a scene you won't be seeing on Scrubs unless it's played for laughs.
Now, if you wanted to get down to a comparison of characters between the two shows you would probably have a better chance of seeing the similarities. As I said in the beginning, Carla could definitely be matched up with 'Hot Lips" Houlihan, Turk could be paired up with Trapper John, and Kelso would certainly be either Frank Burns or Colonel Potter. Hawkeye could be paired up with three characters from Scrubs. The Todd would be Hawkeye's sexual side, J.D. would be his sensitive side (J.D. could also be matched up with B.J. as well), and Perry Cox would portray the cynic that was Benjamin Franklin Pierce. I'm not too sure who would match up to Radar, Klinger, Father Mulcahy, or Henry Blake on Scrubs, if there is anyone at all.
So, in some ways Scrubs could be the new M*A*S*H. In the end, though, I think both of these shows stand on their own as unique television comedies. Will they be paired up when future critics look at television comedy? Who knows. Like I can predict the future? If it happens it happens.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-12-2007 @ 5:08PM
Joseph Land said...
I've compared the two since I first started watching Scrubs. I've always considered it as a M*A*S*H for this day and age, have done so for years.
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4-12-2007 @ 1:06PM
Elf said...
The only thing that Scrubs has in common with MASH is that they are both comedies with dramatic underpinnings in a medical setting. Trying to draw parallels between characters is a futile effort whether it's between these two shows or any other two shows. There are only so many character archetypes to go around (ice queen with the hidden heart of gold, jokester hiding his pain, arrogant buffoon, gruff but lovable boss, etc.) that you could draw links between According to Jim and Battlestar Galactica if you really wanted to. (I don't.)
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4-12-2007 @ 1:16PM
Barry said...
If you're looking for a new M*A*S*H as far as characters go, you'd need to look at The Office. Dwight Shultz is Frank Burns reincarnated, and Angela is Hot Lips. Jim and Pam are the prank-playing Hawkeye and Trapper/BJ pair, while Michael is the befuddled CEO/CO Henry Blake. Every week Dwight sucks up to the boss and attempts to assert his own authority over everyone in the office, and Jim is just there for the yucks.
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4-12-2007 @ 3:36PM
JStein said...
I like Barry's Office/MASH comparison, though the Jim-Pam/Hawkeye-BJ analogy, and the homo-erotic implications have me re-examining all those episodes I watched as a naive youth in a whole new light.
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4-12-2007 @ 4:34PM
doug said...
Scrubs is not the new MASH, simply because MASH was a good show, and this show is absolutely terrible. I remain stunned at how many people think that this show is good.
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4-12-2007 @ 4:48PM
Scott said...
Doug, the current "Scrubs" is certainly terrible. But watch some shows from the first few seasons (they run on Comedy Central), back when the characters and their lives were rooted in reality. It's a whole different show, one I used to really like. Then the wackiness took over.
Wait a minute, I think I also just described "M*A*S*H".
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4-12-2007 @ 7:35PM
Duane said...
The only thing that Scrubs has in common with MASH is the fact that they've got Dr. Cox about half an episode away from a complete Dont-let-the-bastard-win transformation into Hawkeye Pierce.
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4-13-2007 @ 2:22AM
RAB said...
People keep forgetting one obvious similarity apart from the medical setting: the use of the lead character's voiceover as a narrative device. Remember how many M.A.S.H. episodes involved Hawkeye's letters home to his dad?
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5-03-2007 @ 12:02PM
Edgeoforever said...
First of all, I love Scrubs, so I don't want to blow it out of the air. It's a good comedy. But that's all it is.
But we don't have a MASH because no one on corporately owned networks would dare put on a socially relevant show like MASH was. Not even Archie Bunker would make it today. Sure, you'll have the occasional war discussion on an episode of Bones (Soldier in the Grave preceded the Haditha revelations in a life imitates art fluke), or the occasional poignant points on Boston Legal. But a whole show dedicated to bringing up how immoral war or racism is? Good luck with that! This is "24" teevee land! reality is just used as -slim- fodder for cable news food fights.
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5-24-2007 @ 10:08AM
DL said...
Scrubs is hands-down my favorite Sitcom since 2001 and is probally the funniest comedy tied with the Larry Sanders show.
M*A*S*H is one of my All-time classic favorites and when I watch episodes on DVD i started to notice a very slight similarity with the 2 shows.
I think without M*A*S*H Scrubs might have been a small bit different then it is, with the exeption of the Laugh track that is used on M*A*S*H (you can turn it off on the DVD's) it is indeed similar but Scrubs is way funnier and they mix drama & comedy unlike any other show i have ever seen in primetime.
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