TVSquad

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.

(S06E09) Hiya! My name is Bob Kelso and I like whores. -- Bob Kelso

Thanks to my brother Joel for covering last week's episode of Scrubs while I was watching and performing some serious Improv. By the way, if Bassprov ever comes to your town buy tickets early and go see them. Mark Sutton and Joe Bill are just terrific!

Enough Improv chat, let's move ahead to this week's show. The most important item was, of course, the cameo appearance of former TV Squad writer (and current Netscape dude) Ryan Budke (check out the image at the end of this post, after the jump -- he's the guy you don't recognize, in light blue scrubs). It just goes to show you that we here at TV Squad are more than just writers. We're anonymous extras with our backs turned to the camera.

(S06E07) Let's see, over the past five seasons J.D. has given his special narrating powers to Turk, Elliot, Carla, and even Janitor. So, it was logical that he would pass on his abilities to one of the two remaining bigwigs of the show. And he did so this week, as the inner monologue was passed on to Bob Kelso.

Its been awhile since we've seen Bob strut his stuff on the show. Yes, he had some significant singing parts during the musical episode, but he's been in the shadows recently. He certainly isn't the powerhouse that he was in the earlier seasons. That was actually the plot of this week's episode: the staff are no longer afraid of Kelso's tirades since he barely shows up anymore.