- SCRUBS: THE COMPLETE 8TH SEASON (DVD MOVIE)
This half hour comedy focuses on the bizarre experiences of fresh faced medical intern John JD Dorian as he embarks on his healing career in a surreal hospital crammed full of unpredictable staffers and patients, where humor and tragedy can merge paths at any time.
The first episode of Scrubs‘ final season ends with a sly kicker in which Zach Braff’s J.D. rallies his colleagues as they enter their eighth year at Sacred Heart. “It’s tempting to just mail it in,” he states, “but there are still a lot of people who rely on us week to week. I think we owe it to them to be as inspired as we were in our first few years. I still think we’re as good as anybody else out there.” Indeed, Scrubs goes out at the top of its game. “People don’t change, relationships don’t change,” the super-friendly but soulless new Chief of Medicine Taylor Maddox (a game Courteney Cox) proclaims at the end of her all-too-brief three-episode arc. How wrong she is. J.D. and Elliott (Sarah Chalke) become a couple again without too much drama. Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) and his dread ex-wife (Christa Miller) likewise declare their love for each other. Cox even forms a grudging friendship with his former nemesis Dr Kelso (Ken Jenkins), who in retirement has become a fixture in the hospital cafeteria where he takes full advantage of free muffins for life. Sad sack lawyer Ted (Sam Lloyd) and J.D.’s enigmatic tormentor Janitor (Neil Flynn) find someone to love, and Turk (Donald Faison) and Carla (Judy Reyes) prepare for their second child.
Things are different on the job front as well. Dr. Cox assumes the mantle of Chief of Medicine and struggles not to be overwhelmed by the bureaucracy. Bringing the show full circle, there is the next generation of interns (spin-off, anyone?) who test their mentors’ patience. Eliza Coupe is a standout as Denise, who has a problem with compassion (“It’s ironic that cancer starts with ‘can’,” she tells one patient). J.D.’s signature reveries aside, the final season goes easy on the fantasy. This season’s Very Special Episode is a two-parter that takes the cast to the Bahamas for Janitor’s wedding. Will Janitor finally reveal his name? Will Dr. Cox express his true feelings for J.D.? “Endings are never easy,” J.D. muses in the finale. “I always build them up so much in my head, they can’t possibly live up to my expectations, and I just end up disappointed.” That will not be the case for loyal viewers who have stuck with Scrubs through thick and thin, NBC and ABC. If you’re not moved by J.D.’s final walk through the halls of Sacred Heart or his home-movie vision of the future, then get yourself a heart transplant stat! –Donald Liebenson
Buy “Scrubs: The Complete Eighth Season” For Only $19.59
April 4, 2008
#1
Great series, pathetic season!
Years ago I remember Ted Danson talking about ending Cheers while it was on top, then Jerry Seinfeld doing the same with his show and I always felt somehow cheated, wanting “one more season.” After watching this season of Scrubs I now appreciate where they were coming from. This season was utter crap. The writing was horrible, the actors seemed bored and I applaud NBC for dropping this dead show.
The “new” characters are pathetic imitations of whats already been done.
April 4, 2008
#2
EDIT: I thought I was reviewing the last season that aired on NBC, but this is the actual final season which aired on NBC.
Let me first say, Scrubs was one of my favorite sitcoms of all time. The characters were all great, showing great dimension. And the humor was spot on. I still quote this show all the time and make myself laugh. But Scrubs also made you feel for these characters, taking them through the hardest moments of their lives, like a father’s death, or the death of your closest friend. And they did this with grace and skill. So Scrubs was, to me, an amazing show.
But little by little, starting around the middle of season 6 or so, the show started to become more and more by-the-numbers, and less and less meaningful. The humor was just recycled one-liners and the drama was all very contrived and aggravating. By season 8, the show was in its death throes. The actors were very clearly no longer interested. The writers had all become lazy, reusing old plots over and over, just supplanting a different character in a different position. And the new characters, which were clearly meant to be replacements for JD, Turk and Elliot, were boring and one-dimensional. And the ultimate insult to Scrubs fans was the finale, which was meant to be the series finale. They took an earlier unaired episode that wasn’t good enough to air when they made and turned it into the finale, despite it taking place months before the previous episode.
Fortunately ABC produced and aired a final season that did a decent job of correcting many of the mistakes of the previous few seasons. But most of all it gave the series an actual finale, and a great one at that.
Skip season 8 and just wait for the final season on DVD.
April 4, 2008
#3
This is the best comedy on TV in my opinion. I hear Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke won’t be coming back next season. Hopefully it will still be as good. I have all the seasons and watch them when I need a laugh. Highly recommended.
April 4, 2008
#4
Look, I love Scrubs more than anyone. I think I have watched every episode from Season 1-Season 6 about three or four times each. With that said. the show finally became unwatchable to me in Season 8. The new cast of interns was just not interesting to me at all. The jokes were poorly done and all the original characters lost their edge. I think they should have wrapped up the show after Season 6. Instead of fabricating some drawn-out, aukward ending, the uncertainty with what happened next with JD and Elliott and their life-changing decisions would have been an in intriguing way to end the show. But as with most popular shows, they milked two more seasons (7 and
and possibly another one(9)! If you are thinking about buying season 8, my recommendation would be to instead buy the early seasons (if god forbid you haven’t yet!) and stick with those. Season 8 is just too aukward and forced, and really isn’t funny at all like the show was in its first 6 seasons. Some of the scenes with Elliott and J.D. in season 8 pondering their relationship are just painful to sit through. OK, I have rambled enough. Now the decision is on you. Choose carefully.
April 4, 2008
#5
I have a Sony upconverting DVD player and Sony XBR LCD. The XBR has features which automatically adjust the display based on the signal coming in from the cable box, PC, DVD, etc. This works flawlessly on everything. Every DVD set I have, the PC, every cable TV program–everything, except Scrubs Season 8. Even when I disable the automatic features, this set still looks too wide–stretched.
Bad aspect ratio drives me nuts–actually makes me ill–and I can’t watch this set. I don’t know what they did in transferring this season to DVD. Even 10 year old TV shows (West Wing, STNG, others) including all the older Scrubs box sets are fine.
Either they messed up, or did it on purpose to get some other sale, but it’s going back to Amazon tomorrow. Not satisfactory.