Scrubs: Season 3

Review by Daulton Dickey

Having successfully coasted through its sophomore season, Scrubs returned in full force for season 3, offering up more laughs while improving on its quirkiness and character development.

Everything seems refined here; from the top-notch writing, to the performances and direction, Scrubs has transformed into a well-oiled machine.

In an age when traditional sitcoms are becoming increasingly tiresome, Scrubs breaks the mould by thriving on genuinely clever writing and inspired comedic performances. While sitcoms are getting facelifts by ditching studio audience and shooting on locations, most ‘single camera’ series suffer the same fate as traditional sitcoms. Relying on retread storylines and hit-and-mostly-miss humor, most new series asphyxiate on their own exaggerated sense of whimsy. The writing, for the most part, simply isn’t that funny because we’ve seen most of the humor and situations elsewhere.

Staying true to the previous seasons, Scrubs manages to snag some great guest stars for season three, but Michael J. Fox turns out to be the highlight of this run’s guest stars, proving that his illness hasn’t affected his ability to turn out a great performance. Cast as a brilliant surgeon who suffers from an extreme case of obsessive-compulsive disorder, Fox strikes a fantastic balance between humorous and serious, and the parallels between his character’s illness and the disease that’s slowed him down lends a nice poignancy to the series without drowning it in melodrama or sentimentality.

Scrubs works simply because its writers understand what makes comedy work. By balancing visceral humor with engaging stories, the series latches onto its viewers, simultaneously giving them noogies and stroking their hearts. And that, in an age when sitcoms try too hard to make audiences laugh, or get too caught up in the drama of their characters’ lives, is as refreshing as it gets.

EXTRAS

In the same good spirit of the show, these extras are also a delight. There are numerous featurettes including "Twist and shoot - Interviews with the 3 crew members who got to direct episodes", "Don't try this at home - A look inside the spectacular stunts" and "Long-term residents - Featurette highlighting memorable guest stars",

There is also a very amusing look at the on going behind the scenes game of "Dare" between the cast and crew. Great viewing.

Conclusion: Movie 100% Extras: 60%