I've said it before, and I'll say it again: When you write about TV for a living, you'll never know what will land in your e-mail inbox. That's what I thought on Friday when I got this note from Robert Maschio, who plays sex-obsessed surgeon "The Todd" on Scrubs:"Hi Joel, I've been reading your review(s) of Scrubs recently and I wanted to share a little inside info with you. As you know thetoddtime.com was referenced in last night's episode (in addition to rateyourdoc.org). I had been lobbying for months to have that website show the video of "The Todd Song" - a comedy rap song I wrote. At the last minute the (BS & P) business standards and practice said the video could not be shown there...alas, last night many people went to thetoddtime but there was nothing new there!"
The NSFW video -- and more information -- is after the jump.
Maschio decided to post the video to his personal web site, but we also have it embedded below. It's definitely on the raunchy side, but considering how risque The Todd gets when he roams the halls of Sacred Heart Hospital, it doesn't seem so out of line that it would lead NBC decide to not post it to one of their websites, which includes TheToddTime.com (any web address mentioned in an NBC show needs to have a real site associated with it, thanks to Conan O'Brien and HornyManatee.com).
The video is below (the song is also available at iTunes and Rhapsody). According to Maschio, the photos of people dressed like The Todd were sent into him by random fans who did the costume at Halloween. I guess it's not a hard costume; some ripped scrubs, a "DOC" tattoo, and you're all set.
Anyway, in the note Maschio also offered to chat. I decided to take him up on that offer; stay tuned for that interview, which I'll likely post next week.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-17-2008 @ 3:35PM
brihutch2021 said...
this video, its... odd... but still pretty funny. The Todd is the greatest character ever, but since i only started watching the show a few months ago, i dont understand one thing: is The Todd gay, straight, or bisexual? he shows characteristics of all of those... well anyway, cool video
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12-09-2007 @ 6:22PM
Jimmy said...
I have to side with NBC on this one. Not because it's raunchy -- because it's just not funny.
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12-09-2007 @ 6:44PM
Harry said...
Yipes.... just yipes.
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12-09-2007 @ 7:12PM
Dave said...
It's www.rateyourdoc.org not rateyourdoc.com or rateuyourdoc.com
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12-09-2007 @ 8:22PM
Joel Keller said...
Dave, I fixed it. That wasn't Robert's fault; I added the ".com" so it made sense in the context of the note.
12-09-2007 @ 7:43PM
hub said...
Yeesh. Double entendres? I realize it's in character with The Todd, but the ones on the show are actually funny.
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12-09-2007 @ 8:15PM
Ben Belden said...
I read this article and thought nothing of it. A little while later I read it again and noticed the "review(s)" at the start of Robert's email and started thinking about it. Does this mean he's read more than one review at TV Squad or just doesn't know if there is more than just one and couldn't be bothered to check?
Or could it actually mean he's just been randomly finding reviews of Scrubs episodes and then just sending out a standard email and substituting in the author's name in an attempt to number one, drive people to his personal web site, and number two, line up interviews and get his name out there since his show is going off the air soon?
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12-09-2007 @ 8:24PM
Joel Keller said...
Ben, he was probably doing that. He said he wanted to get the video out all over the place. But so what? I think it's a good way for him to self-promote during the strike.
12-10-2007 @ 3:46PM
Ben Belden said...
I actually thought the same thing about the strike and how he probably was looking for something to do. And I went and watched his video, got a small laugh out of it, and look forward to reading his interview, because I love the show and he seems like a genuine enough person.
My comment was just meant to point out something kind of hypocritical: if a person goes to a website like TV Squad and replies to a post with a comment saying "Hey, come check out my website and this video I made. It's great." we would all be quick to jump on them and label it as spam. But when an actor does what is essentially the same thing, it's worthy of getting his own story and post. Then again, actors have been doing this for decades on talk shows, basically plugging whatever they want money for and we think nothing of it.
12-09-2007 @ 10:23PM
Jacob said...
Just FYI -- the RateYourDoc link still isn't correct. You have the link as "http://www.rateuyourdoc.com" -- it should be "http://www.rateyourdoc.org"
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12-09-2007 @ 10:29PM
Joel Keller said...
Jacob, fixed it. For anyone else has a correction, please use the "Corrections" link above.
12-10-2007 @ 4:39AM
bruce said...
I thought the whole joke was about Todd going to RateYourCock.com (which doesn't seem to be working at the moment) by accident. Though I was half asleep when I watched the episode (long day).
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12-10-2007 @ 12:52PM
Aberdeen said...
Well, I was amused - but only because it's The Todd. If a real person wrote this, it would just be sad.
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12-12-2007 @ 3:19PM
DanGarion said...
Exactly. But for whatever reason others don't understand that this is a video inside of a TV show. This is the type of stuff "The Todd" would have came up with. It's completely realistic and in character. The fact that "The Todd" isn't even half as funny as he thinks he is, makes "The Todd" funny.
12-11-2007 @ 12:38PM
Karen said...
I agree with @Jimmy and @hub--it's just not funny.
And I can understand NBC not posting it--if you yourselves add the NSFW descriptor, why would NBC open themselves up for possible litigation from some outraged parent whose kid saw it by accident?
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