Let's see if we can revive this. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re diagnosing what we believe are the biggest issues with the final season of the medical sitcom “Scrubs” and offering the treatment that we think would have set it on course for a full and satisfying recovery.
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00:00Part of me hates how familiar this seems. I hope I can find a way to make this all feel new."
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're diagnosing what we believe are the biggest issues with the
00:09final season of the medical sitcom Scrubs, and offering the treatment that we think
00:13would have set it on course for a full and satisfying recovery.
00:17I've left so many times, I've come back so many times, even I'm confused.
00:21I think we should just sit this one out, old friend."
00:24Season 9 in a Nutshell
00:26Season 8 of Scrubs delivered a fantastic, well-rounded finale.
00:30And even though it felt warm and safe, I knew it had to end.
00:40It's never good to live in the past too long.
00:42It brought back some key characters from the past eight seasons,
00:45gave us a glimpse into the future, and tied up any loose ends.
00:48Honestly, we couldn't have asked for a better send-off.
00:51And who's to say this isn't what happens?
00:54Who can tell me that my fantasies won't come true?
00:58Just this once.
01:00So it was a bit surprising when they announced that Scrubs would be returning for another season,
01:04this time shifting the focus to med school with mostly new faces,
01:08plus a few familiar ones popping up here and there.
01:10Thanks to insurance companies and malpractice lawyers, you have absolutely
01:15no hope of finding a rewarding or satisfying profession in this once-noble field.
01:20While the first eight seasons really understood how to level the playing field between humor and
01:25heart in a way that fit the hospital setting, in this final season, the show leaned a bit
01:30too much into the new med students' antics and their stumbles as they tried to find their footing.
01:34It was a shaky walk on the tightrope between funny and dramatic,
01:37and the writing often lost its way.
01:39After just 13 episodes, the show was canceled, leaving a lot of the new storylines unresolved.
01:45I guess there are lots of ways to get by in a hospital. You can try to just suck it up,
01:50or find someone to make the day-to-day hell bearable.
01:53Where It Went Wrong
01:55As we mentioned, this new season was packaged as Scrubs Med School,
01:59and indeed took the action from Sacred Heart, which we learn was torn down,
02:03to a new location at Winston University.
02:06Eight years of great memories. This place will live forever.
02:10They tore down the old crappy hospital and rebuilt it on the med school campus.
02:15Although ABC had ordered the new series, creator Bill Lawrence has said that they
02:19wouldn't let him present it as a totally new series under the aforementioned name.
02:23So to most of us, this was just Scrubs continued but without most of our beloved cast,
02:28familiar setting or well-thought-through storylines.
02:30Ahead of its premiere, Lawrence asked fans to give it a chance,
02:34but also warned that it might, quote,
02:36in a giant oh-my-god kind of way since they were, quote,
02:39swinging for the fences and making some major changes.
02:42Part of me hates how familiar this seems. I hope I can find a way to make this all feel new.
02:47Well, at least he was right about that.
02:49The final season was a significant departure from the original run.
02:52It focused on a new group of medical students,
02:55and explored the challenges of medical school from a fresh perspective.
02:58Yet honestly, you could have put them in any college setting,
03:01and the storylines wouldn't have felt so out of place.
03:03Going to my party.
03:04That's not happening.
03:05Tonight we're trying a little exercise and team building.
03:08No one leaves until you take final interviews from the four terminal patients on this floor.
03:11Now, instead of walking the fine line between laugh-out-loud moments and poignant emotional
03:16scenes, it was more an over-the-top exploration of how awkward being the new kid can feel,
03:21working to fit different stereotypes,
03:22and just more about the characters' personal lives than their journey into the world of medicine.
03:26Please, I need your help.
03:28I was leading our group and they weren't listening, and I felt it happening again.
03:33See, whenever I get into a position of power, something changes inside me.
03:36Lucy was the new JD.
03:38Bright-eyed, eager to please, but often in over her head.
03:42She finds herself in a situationship with Cole,
03:44an arrogant rich kid who thinks he can coast through med school thanks to his
03:47family's deep pockets and big donations to the hospital.
03:50A health scare eventually humbles him, but given how insufferable he's been up to that point,
03:55it's hard to suddenly like him or understand why Lucy starts to develop genuine feelings for him.
04:00I know it just started out as a hookup.
04:02I've realized that I actually really like him,
04:05and so if it's cool with him, I'd like to introduce you all to my boyfriend.
04:11That said, you can't help but root for him a little when he discovers his passion for surgery.
04:16We kind of want Turk to take him under his wing.
04:19He'd be the perfect mentor for a guy like Cole, who needs a little guidance.
04:27God, somebody snare me.
04:31Then there's Denise, now an RA, and Drew, a 30-year-old med school dropout giving it another shot.
04:39Denise, a late but strong addition to the original cast,
04:42is still as entertaining as ever with her dry demeanor.
04:45Meanwhile, Drew becomes Dr. Cox's new protege, much to JD's frustration.
04:50Drew mostly keeps a low profile, occasionally dropping tidbits about his mysterious past
04:55while wrestling with his growing feelings for Denise,
04:58who isn't exactly steady in the romance department herself.
05:11While we might have grown to like the new cast in a different context,
05:14it was hard to connect with them because the original characters were still inconsistently involved.
05:29Bringing back key members to share their wisdom with the new med students made sense,
05:34but it often felt like the show was stuck between focusing on the old and new groups.
05:41For instance, JD left Sacred Heart to be closer to his son, so why does he suddenly return?
05:46Sam was so happy this morning, I decided I'm definitely moving here.
05:49It's only 37 minutes from work, and it just,
05:52it makes it so much easier for me to see more of him, you know?
05:55I think that's great, JD.
05:56This move seemed to undo a lot of his growth over the past eight seasons.
06:00Elliot, pregnant with her and JD's first child, appears just enough to offer advice,
06:05but her storyline about navigating first-time parenthood is left hanging.
06:08JD, I got your page. Look, before you say anything, I wanted to tell you I was wrong.
06:12I'm sorry.
06:13Look, you know this is what I do before big life-changing events?
06:16I get way inside my own head and freak out.
06:18And where's Sam?
06:20JD barely seems to spend any time with the son he moved to be near.
06:23Plus, having Turk without Carla around felt odd, don't you think?
06:27The biggest gap was the janitor's absence.
06:30He quits in the first episode and is never seen again.
06:33Would I be hiding him?
06:34When he's coming back?
06:36No.
06:36After his vacation?
06:39No.
06:44And no one ever saw him again.
06:48They seemed to try and replace his quirky presence
06:50with Drew's various backstories, but it didn't measure up.
06:53Ultimately, it was tough to focus on the new crew
06:56when the original cast's presence still loomed large.
06:59When was the last time you guys saw each other?
07:01This morning. We carpooled.
07:02But we haven't worked together in over a year.
07:04Introducing a brand new cast meant the show had to build
07:07fresh comedic dynamics and new inside jokes,
07:10though it did fall back on a few old favorites.
07:13The tone felt more uneven than in earlier seasons,
07:21with a bigger focus on the grind of med school.
07:23The shift in tone required a different approach to humor,
07:26and it seemed like the writers struggled to balance
07:28the serious elements with the funny bits.
07:30Don't say it.
07:32I see dead people.
07:34Yep, 15th time's the charm.
07:36We just couldn't buy into the chemistry of this new group
07:38the way we did with the original cast.
07:40The OG gang may have had their own distinct personalities,
07:43but they always felt like they could be real friends.
07:46Even the mentor-mentee relationship between Dr. Cox and JD was believable.
07:50But Drew? It felt like he was brought in just to annoy JD.
07:53Yo, look how silly it looks on me.
07:56I hate wearing this so much.
07:58He said you put that on you, and he was yelling,
08:01and I was like, okay, don't get mad.
08:02But I don't want to wear it. I don't.
08:05This new crew lacked the same connection,
08:07and it was hard to believe that even the shared med school experience
08:10could make their relationships work.
08:11The forced attempts to create camaraderie really took a toll on the writing quality.
08:16The season tried to dig into the tough realities of med school,
08:19exams, clinical rotations, research projects.
08:22But even though it aimed for the same humanity and compassion,
08:25the new cast was too focused on their own drama to give it the heart it needed.
08:28I want to be a doctor for all those reasons,
08:30and a million more that I haven't even thought of yet.
08:34No, it's not bad.
08:36Come on, let's go. We're gonna be late for the white coat ceremony.
08:40Plus, I look super cute in white.
08:44How do we fix it?
08:45The short answer is probably to rebrand the season as a brand new series,
08:49but as we said earlier, ABC didn't want to take that risk.
08:52Girl, this particular school crap house would be an honest-to-God compliment.
08:58Plus, I'm the only teacher here worth a damn,
09:00and I already hate each and every one of you.
09:03So we would probably start by making the new setting the sacred heart of the show.
09:07By that, we mean we would take the outline of the original series
09:10and see how it would work in the realm of med school.
09:13I've finally figured out the key to getting everything done at medical school.
09:16Do a bunch of things at once and never sleep.
09:19Hey, Dad, don't have a lot of time for our daily update,
09:22but here goes. School's hard, dorm's gross, not really dating.
09:26Yeah, of course it would be a big cosmic shift for the characters,
09:29but rather than focus on that, we would go back to how the OG gang
09:32was able to interweave their personal stories with their work lives
09:35and come out stronger and more grounded every time.
09:38Sure, it's a sitcom.
09:40We want it to be funny, but also, this is the medical world,
09:43and drama is bound to happen.
09:45And out of that drama comes some hard-hitting life lessons.
09:48It was the medical setting that made Scrubs so beloved and unique, after all.
09:52We don't need to see a bunch of college students complaining about school.
09:55Those storylines already exist in abundance.
09:59Them. They are vampires.
10:01Time-sucking monsters who will torture you with stupid questions,
10:05mind-numbing incompetence, and petty emotional problems.
10:08We get that the ninth season was an unexpected curveball for everyone,
10:12but we think the core of the series was its essentially perfect balance
10:16of hitting you in every possible field.
10:18We wish the writers had extracted all these beloved elements
10:21and then crafted their new season around it.
10:24At least that way, no matter what happens on campus,
10:26the heart and soul that drew the audience in to begin with would be forever present.
10:31Crying babies covered in chocolate,
10:33people singing happy birthday to my son who've never even met him before,
10:36you know, the whole routine.
10:40Where do you think we are?
10:44While we totally loved the idea of the original cast passing the baton
10:48to the next generation of doctors,
10:50their role should have begun and ended there.
10:54Oh, hey, Perry. I'm really looking forward to teaching with you.
10:58Onward!
11:01Oh, good God.
11:03Season 8 wrapped up their story so perfectly that we didn't need
11:06any more closure on their personal lives.
11:08What is Scrubs without Dr. Cox crushing a newbie's soul just to make them better?
11:12I'd like you to come back with a better answer,
11:14and if you find you can't come up with a better answer,
11:16then please know I'm going to make it my personal mission
11:18to drum you out of this med school.
11:20But did we really need that whole storyline about him writing his will?
11:24Probably not.
11:25For longtime fans, Turk was the perfect choice to mentor Cole.
11:29He learned to put his compassion before his ego,
11:31a path Cole likely would have followed had the series not been canceled.
11:34But Turk without Carla? That just felt off.
11:38Keeping Turk strictly in his teacher role could have patched that hole.
11:41It'd be an honor to teach you, if that's something you really want.
11:47It might be the first thing I've ever really wanted.
11:50Don't get all mushy, all right?
11:51It was tough to connect with the new cast when they kept dangling
11:54the characters we already knew and loved in front of us.
11:57If they were going to give the new group the breakfast club treatment,
11:59they needed to show us why this bunch could become a tight-knit group,
12:03even if just for med school.
12:04Maya, you and Shrang both left during the test, where were you?
12:07Guys, we all left at some point.
12:09She's right, we have to stop turning on each other.
12:12Especially since it's so obvious that Cole's the one who cheated.
12:14Elliot and JD started out as rivals,
12:16with JD instantly attracted to Elliot's intelligence, boldness, and of course her looks.
12:21I don't know.
12:23Sir, I have no idea.
12:25Dr. Reed, can you help him out?
12:27I'd say it's superior mesenteric insufficiency.
12:29We needed that kind of dynamic to develop between Lucy and Cole.
12:33Their relationship felt forced,
12:34with no real reason to root for them and none of that same spark.
12:38Cole, though I've almost reconciled the fact that you are both my boyfriend
12:43and probably the human being I respect least on earth, you know, besides myself.
12:47We did it twice this morning.
12:49Drew and Denise might have been intended to mirror the push and pull of Turk and Carla's
12:53early relationship, but it was just two people constantly hitting emotional walls
12:56and trying to crash through them.
12:58That could have worked as individual stories or even as a slow burn romance
13:02if there had been more seasons.
13:04This is where you say...
13:07I'm in love with a sociopath?
13:09Wrong. Yes or no. I mean, it's your life, sort of.
13:13Then there's Lucy, who takes over JD's inner monologue role.
13:16Her voiceover should have added depth to her character and connected her story
13:20to everyone else's instead of focusing just on her personal dramas.
13:24Flapjacks!
13:25Oh, thank God. I thought I was late for Dr. Cox's class.
13:31That would be the biggest mistake I could make.
13:33Damn, girl. That was a work out.
13:36Okay, second biggest.
13:38JD's monologues made him relatable. Even if you weren't a medical professional,
13:42they helped us feel like part of the gang.
13:44We needed that same feeling from Lucy to connect with the new crew.
13:48But whatever you do, don't wait for that pat on the back.
13:51Because believe me, it will never, ever...
13:54Oh, come on!
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14:11The biggest mistake was probably the network not letting the creator start fresh.
14:16I kind of felt connected to him.
14:18Good, good, good. I'm sure you probably knew him for all of 30 seconds.
14:23It's not like I tried for eight years or anything to get your love.
14:26I thought we were over this.
14:27None of us tuned in for a college-based sitcom.
14:30That's not what kept us hooked for eight seasons.
14:32You can tell the writers struggled to balance the realistic challenges
14:35of med school with capturing the show's essence.
14:37Long story.
14:38Oh, sure, sure.
14:39Plus, with all the studying and the schoolwork...
14:41See, you can do it. You just need to learn how to prioritize.
14:44Instead of weaving serious issues into the characters' growth and relationships,
14:48they often turn them into mere plot devices.
14:50The show should have focused on what made Scrubs great, keeping the humor sharp and relevant.
14:56New comedic elements are needed to fit naturally within the show's established style.
15:00We also missed out on the emotional depth that the original cast had.
15:03Meaningful voiceovers or inner monologues, like JD's,
15:06were needed to give the new characters the same insight and empathy.
15:10For me, it was when I stopped worrying about how other people saw me
15:13that I finally started to look better.
15:14To be fair, with only 13 episodes to prove itself, the new season faced a tough challenge.
15:20Essentially trying to do in one season what the original cast built over eight.
15:24All right, I am so excited to see what we've all written about Ben. Pass him up.
15:28Still, they could have planted seeds to make the new group's stories compelling
15:31and leave us wanting more.
15:32Since they missed the mark, the series ultimately flatlined.
15:36If the creators had stayed true to the show's heart,
15:38they might have revived it and kept it as strong as before.
15:42Every doctor needs to learn about lost causes like Alan.
15:44I just thought I'd come along for the ride with you.
15:48Why?
15:48Because when it happened to me, there was no one around to talk to me about it after.
15:52What would you have prescribed for the final season to make it better?
15:55Let us know in the comments.
15:57I'm drowning here.
15:58I wish there was just someone who could fly up and rescue me from all this.