In the hall of TV show bands, The Blanks are The Rolling Stones. Definitely The Who, tops.
The a cappella quartet made their small screen debut on Scrubs as Ted's band The Worthless Peons, played by Sam Lloyd, Philip McNiven, George Miserlis and Paul F. Perry (not to be confused with Ted's air band The Cool Cats that was just a brief side project when they probably failed to win those water park tickets) and have since become a hard-working touring band that has gone back and forth between both sides of the U.S. coasts. But they were a band long before Scrubs was even an afterthought in Bill Lawrence's skull, assuming that Lawrence didn't come up with the idea for Scrubs when they all met at Syracuse University.
Lloyd and McNiven (the completely bald one that looks like Professor Wonder Bread) were nice enough to dish out all the backstage dirt that comes from the hard and edgy road life of an all-male vocal band.
Figured today was going to be a good day to publish the Scrubs-centric part of my conversation with Bill Lawrence last month. Here we talk about what's going to happen during the first episode or two of the new season of Scrubs.
The biggest piece of information? That Judy Reyes, who played Carla during the first eight seasons, won't appear at all in this new-direction ninth season. She's the only regular of Scrubs Classic (my name for it) who won't appear at least once during the upcoming season. "I think she was either going to be a regular on this show or looking to go do other things with her career," Lawrence told me, citing that he "totally respect(s)" her decision.
Other info from Bill: How the season premiere will open, how the transition from Zach Braff's voiceover to another voiceover is going to work, and more about the new character directions for Classic regulars John C. McGinley, Donald Faison and Eliza Coupe.
One of Scrubs' minor but more memorable characters will become a memory this season.
Actor Sam Lloyd, who plays the hopelessly pathetic attorney Ted, will leave the show in the upcoming season. Lloyd said he just finished filming his final episode and called it a "bittersweet moment."
"It was a nice episode, but it was very bittersweet for me," Sam said. "It was basically my choice and I just decided I should move on at this point."
I sat down with Lloyd and fellow band member Philip McNiven to talk about their a cappella music group The Blanks for a feature interview that we'll post soon. In the meantime, enjoy their famous rendition of "Over the Rainbow" to give this sad moment the solemn tone it deserves.
(S08E18) Since I have no idea whether this is truly the end for Scrubs or not, I hedged my bets on the season vs. series finale label. I will say this, though: If this is indeed the end for the folks at Sacred Heart, they couldn't have gone out any better than they did tonight.
Tonight's finale hit on all the same themes that have carried the show for eight years: people grow and change, but life at the hospital just keeps going. Someone leaves, someone dies, someone makes a life-changing decision, and life keeps going. "It's just a day," as Cox almost-convincingly said during one of J.D.'s attempts at getting an emotional goodbye from his mentor. He's right. And as Sacred Heart didn't make such a big deal out of J.D.'s departure, neither did the show. He didn't even turn to look back at the ICU as he turned the lights off. Well, he did, but I'll talk about that after the jump...
(S08E15) There's a reason why you don't see too many sitcoms do two-parters or one-hour episodes more than once every couple of years; the comedy momentum set in the first half-hour usually doesn't continue during the second. Although the second part of Scrubs' Bahamas adventure was still pretty good, it definitely wasn't as funny as last week's first part.
But two interesting things came out of this episode, one character-based and the other actor-based. And, even though I had an inkling the latter was coming, it still surprised me when I saw it. More after the jump.
(S08E14) As Homer Simpson might say, "The Scrubs are going to the Bahamas!"
For eight years, Scrubs hasn't ventured all that much away from Sacred Heart and it's surrounding environs. There was an RV-based road trip to Washington so J.D. can see Kim, and J.D. somehow ended up in Las Vegas during an extended fantasy/reality sequence. But other than that, the gang's lives have been confined to the claustrophobic world of the hospital.
But Bill Lawrence must have figured, what the heck, it's the last season, so he shipped everyone down to the Bahamas for a well-deserved location shoot in paradise. And, I've got to tell you, part one is the funniest episode of the season (I've seen part two, and it ain't bad either). I'll tell you why after the jump.
(S08E09) Looks like the final season cost-cutting didn't spare anyone, did it? This is the first episode in quite awhile -- if ever -- where we don't see Zach Braff on screen for even one second. We do hear him via Elliot's cell phone, but the writers wisely decided that, if J.D. wasn't going to be there in body, he wasn't going to be there in mind, either. In other words, this episode was fairly narration-free, and it was quite refreshing.
This has been a season of in-jokes and external observations about how each character deals with things around the hospital. Yes, we got the usual jokes about J.D. and how he goes off on his fantasies. But Carla and Elliot also got some of the business, and in Carla's case, it made for a well-done story.
(S08E08) If anyone is paying attention to the intern-centric webisodes, you probably saw some of this episode coming. In fact, part of a particular webisode made it onto this episode, in a very adorable way.
This week was very Ted-centric, which is always welcome, as Sam Lloyd is one of the more underrated actors on the show. Not only can he play pathetic well, but he's brought a nice musical element to the show. And every so often, when Ted grows a momentary sack and acts like a man, he does a great job of showing long-roiling emotions coming to the surface.
(S08E07) Readers got all over my case because I didn't like either of last week's episodes, which is fair. Fans of the show are just happy that it's getting back to a rhythm that hasn't been seen since its earliest seasons. And I appreciated that dramatic parts of both episodes; I just didn't think the funny parts were funny enough.
This week was different.The mix of drama and comedy was much better in both episodes. This one was the slightly better of the two, mainly because it focused on the great John C. McGinley.
One of the more interesting turns of character in this final season is how Cox and Kelso are becoming friends. It makes sense, though, because the only person who can understand the pain of being Chief of Medicine is Kelso, and Cox is going to need him in order to do the job without going crazy. But what was just as interesting was who else Kelso decided to coach.
(S08E04) This was the better of the two episodes tonight, for a couple of reasons. One, we figured out why Kelso continues to hang out at Sacred Heart, and it's not for the free muffins at Coffee Bucks. But mostly, it's because we had a J.D. / Elliot relationship episode that was actually treated with subtlety and maturity.
This is a relationship that's been as maddening as any that's been on TV, mainly because of all the artificial blockades Bill Lawrence and his writers kept throwing in their way. Lawrence himself told me and others that he never wanted the relationship to become a focal point of the show. But by constantly trying to get away from it they did the exact opposite, giving the 'shippers as much to talk about as those that just liked the comedy and the stories about the hospital.
What I'm saying is: if J.D. and Elliot had the conversation they had tonight sometime during season three, all of that crap would have been avoided.
(S08E02) As I mentioned in the review for "My Jerks" and my season eight preview, if you want to see a perfect example of what Scrubs has done so well over the years, look no further than this episode. It's a deft mix of comedy and drama, with emotion mingling with character-based jokes that move the story along instead of interfering with it. It's the kind of episode that makes people like me believe that the show has something left and buy into Bill Lawrence's suggestion that the show is going to get back to basics and keep the silliness to a minimum.
(S07E11) Well, that was a little confusing, wasn't it? Kelso is still in charge of the hospital, Keith is still around, and J.D. and Elliot are talking about their almost-kiss from the 6th season finale, something we thought they had gotten past awhile ago.
It was pretty obvious that, once NBC told Bill Lawrence that he couldn't make any more new episodes after the strike was over, there was a mutual decision to make "My Princess" the season (and, as it turns out, the NBC) finale. Problem was, since it was episode 709 (look it up at the NBCU Media Village site), some continuity problems would rear their heads.
Oh, well. Continuity was just a small problem with this episode. I will say this: any episode Zach Braff directs is going to be ambitious, and this was about as ambitious as Scrubs has gotten. But for some reason, I was expecting more from this Princess Bride homage than I got. It was funny in spots, but it could have been a whole lot funnier.
(S07E10) So next week, according to NBC, is the "Scrubs finale," which means that only 11 episodes will have aired for what was going to be the show's last season. Epguides.com lists a 12th episode, but I'm guessing it either never got made or it'll be saved for the eighth season on ABC.
Anyway, tonight was definitely an episode full of transitions. Kelso's on the golf course. Cox is the interim chief of medicine ("Chief Dr. Cox," as he orders everyone to call him). Carla wants another baby, especially now that Turk's a Uniball. Ted's got some confidence for once, and is challenging the authority of the Janitor. And J.D. and Elliot are starting to look more and more like a couple, especially when they're cooing over little Sam Dorian.
(S07E09) Last week, one of our commenters, perhaps inspired by Shakespeare, left the following comment on my generally positive review of "My Manhood" (spelling and capitalization have not been touched):
what are you doing reviewing a show you obvioulsy disdain? you suck.
While I generally don't respond to witty comments like these, it gives me a good opportunity to remind folks that, yes, I do like Scrubs. In fact, it's one of my all-time favorite shows; I laugh my butt off at the reruns, even if I've seen them a hundred times. When I don't like an episode, it's usually because I'm disappointed. I know the show can do so much better, and with limited episodes left, it disheartens me when I come across a dud. It disheartens me even more when there's a string of a few duds in a row.
This episode, though, was not a dud. In fact, it was pretty funny, and it felt like one of the show's original writers penned it. I'll talk more about that later, but I first want to ask one important question...
(S07E04) This was kind of a quiet episode, wasn't it? It seemed to go at a relaxed pace that I haven't seen from the show in quite some time. As we've been finding out this season, Bill Lawrence and company have been trying to scale back the zany and make some episodes that were more reminiscent of the show's early years. But this one felt like an early one, like one of the first few half-dozen where even J.D.'s internal monologue was subdued.
But I liked it. It really got in and explored some of the characters' insecurities while giving us a few of the classic laughs that Scrubs is known for.
Figured today was going to be a good day to publish the Scrubs-centric part of my 
(S08E15) There's a reason why you don't see too many sitcoms do two-parters or one-hour episodes more than once every couple of years; the comedy momentum set in the first half-hour usually doesn't continue during the second. Although the second part of Scrubs' Bahamas adventure was still pretty good, it definitely wasn't as funny as last week's first part.
(S08E14) As Homer Simpson might say, "The Scrubs are going to the Bahamas!"
(S08E09) Looks like the final season cost-cutting didn't spare anyone, did it? This is the first episode in quite awhile -- if ever -- where we don't see Zach Braff on screen for even one second. We do hear him via Elliot's cell phone, but the writers wisely decided that, if J.D. wasn't going to be there in body, he wasn't going to be there in mind, either. In other words, this episode was fairly narration-free, and it was quite refreshing.
(S08E07) Readers got all over my case because I didn't like either of last week's episodes, which is fair. Fans of the show are just happy that it's getting back to a rhythm that hasn't been seen since its earliest seasons. And I appreciated that dramatic parts of both episodes; I just didn't think the funny parts were funny enough. 
(S08E04) This was the better of the two episodes tonight, for a couple of reasons. One, we figured out why Kelso continues to hang out at Sacred Heart, and it's not for the free muffins at Coffee Bucks. But mostly, it's because we had a J.D. / Elliot relationship episode that was actually treated with subtlety and maturity. 
(S08E02) As I mentioned in 
(S07E11) Well, that was a little confusing, wasn't it? Kelso is still in charge of the hospital, Keith is still around, and J.D. and Elliot are talking about their almost-kiss from the 6th season finale, something we thought they had gotten past awhile ago.
(S07E10) So next week, according to NBC, is the "Scrubs finale," which means that only 11 episodes will have aired for what was going to be the show's last season. 
(S07E09) Last week, one of our commenters, perhaps inspired by Shakespeare, left the following comment on 
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