How Scrubs Pulled Off A Perfect Season 

The line "where do you think we are" will always give me chills. I love comedies like this because they add weight with dramatic moments but then take the time to show how to recover from those low points and why it's important that people do.

I loved how Scrubs was primarily a comedy, but they seamlessly blended elements of both drama and humour into their scripts. One of my favourite episodes is "My Lunch", when we get to see more of a vulnerable, humane side to Doctor Cox.

I don't think I realized how many of my favorite Scrubs episodes were in S5 until now. Such a fantastic series.

The fact that Dr. Kelso who was a two dimensional evil boss at the beginning could be considered a friend by many of the characters by the end is a testament on how well the characters progressed throughout the show.

That episode with Dr. Cox being depressed over patient deaths hit so hard. Yet, all I can think about is "She is not saying 'That's so sad.'"

Dr. Cox's emotional arc in this season was so powerful that it made me tear up just watching it recap'd in this video

A show that could have you crying with laughter one moment and crying with heartbreak the next is one of the reasons why it's up there as one of the best sitcoms for me. It's pronounced analgesic not analgesic, pills go in your mouth.

Scrubs is criminally underrated. It is just 8 seasons of good comedy and a whole lot of fun to watch.

One of my favorite shows of all time. The cast (Zach, Donald, Sarah and Judy) came to Mexico City and I won a dinner with them. They were awesome! They stayed for like four hours were super friendly. You could feel the chemistry they showed on screen.

I've watched Scrubs from start to finish so many times since being introduced to it back in 2006 that I can resite every line of seasons 1 thru 8. (Because as we all know, Season 9 doesn't exist.) But now when I come back to the series every year, I usually only watch Seasons 4-6 as they're easily the most watchable, bingeable of the seasons.

When 'how to save a life' plays during THAT episode 🥺

Honestly, Community is one of my favorite shows ever and I don't think it exists without Scrubs.

My fallen Idol will always be my favorite episode. The humanization of Dr cox,The fact that everyone came to his aide and ultimately JDs talk with him about how he idolizes cox for the fact that he continues to care after all those years at Sacred Heart which seems to bring Cox out of his dark place in my opinion was just the best at really showing that Cox wasn't just some cocky air bag to all of them but he was in fact one of them. I mean even Elliot tried and we know those two Never had a great relationship... That and the use of "How to save a life" when Cox was losing it when all three patients died was just was the cherry on top. To this day I cry. Scrubs is and always will be my favorite medical show sitcom or not for many other reasons..but My Fallon idol is just one. Thanks for the years of laughter and tears.

I LOVE the end of "My Fallen Idol". The blend of seriousness and comedy is perfectly encapsulates in Dr Cox finally speaking again and telling JD "you don't drink Scotch". And JD spitting it out.

To those day, my favorite all time show. I've rewatched it so many tines. But yes Bill described 5 the best season, and 6 as the absolute craziest of the lot.

The last episode of scrubs was "my finale". Nothing came after that. ☝️

Cox's breakdown at the end of My Lunch features some amazing work by John McGinley. Watching him trash the room while screaming "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" hits so hard every time.

Doctors love to discuss best medical TV shows and obviously many choose Scrubs, but people often are surprised when I say it’s the most accurate. Not the exact medical terminology used, but the zany humour we use to cope, the camaraderie, the highs and lows…It really captured something other shows didn’t. (My joint favourite is ER, another pioneering single camera show that went downhill after season 5)

Imo, Scrubs is THE BEST sitcom ever created, perhaps even the best tv show ever made. Great comedy, amazing chemistry, great as a Drama not just comedy - it’s got it all! It still holds insanely well even in 2023, I just started rewatching it again and it is still absolutely amazing! You can’t really say the same about too many shows. And what’s even freaking better is that there’s this amazing podcast “Fake Doctors, Real Friends” where Zach and Donald and often guests go through each episode and talk about the behind the scene process, which is for someone who deeply enjoys all sorts of BTS and Making Of content is absolutely amazing!

Not only was season five the perfect season, this might be the perfect video. Well done.

Scrubs was / is one of the best shows I have seen so far. Should any of the cast read this message, thank you for the laughs, sadness, and overall awesomeness you shared.

Thanks so much for making this. Scrubs was such a good show.

Scrubs is my comfort show, and I will always never not cry at Laverne's death, Brendan Fraser's episode, and the five stages of grief episode

"My lunch" broke me and it still gets to me every time. It's one of the reasons my wife dislikes the show, actually. She doesn't like the harsh changes in tone between comedy and drama (which is the main reason I love the show). That and she doesn't like the level of sex humor "in a hospital", but the tonal shifts are the main reason for her.

Seasons 1-5 are genuinely perfect

His Story 3, My Lunch, My Fallen Idol and My Deja vue My Deja vue are the best 4 episode run of the entire series. My Deja vue doesnt get the credit it deserves for its story telling

Wow this video really makes me appreciate Scrubs even more even Season 5

Scrubs is my favorite sitcom. Has been since I started watching it during Season 5. Hands down, my favorite episode will always be My Way Home. This video really made me see how perfect this season was.

I am so happy to see someone view the season (and certain episodes) EXACTLY the way I see them. I love your ability to articulate the intricate machinations that make for a memorable season.

it's great to see some love for Scrubs. Not enough people talk about it these days.

Agreed! Well said Nerdstalgic. Season 5 is by far the best. Every episode has a general life lesson. The drama and comedy is spot on. Any time I’m having a hardship in life, I pop on season 5 and sure enough there’s always something I find in the episodes that truly helps me in my own life.

I really love the way you do these video essays. As many of the commenters below, I've watched this series numerous times. Gaining a better understanding of how each one works to create a complete season is fascinating. can't wait for the next video!!

Oh. Great. Now I have to go watch ALL of Scrubs ALL over again because you reminded me how much I loved the show. Gee. Thanks.

I've been watching scrubs since 06. It was my get off school show. I'm still re watching it today. And get hit with more of the emotional feels more than ever. Especially when it's Dr. Cox. The way he needs to be seen as bulletproof. When he's hurt its really felt.

I loved all 8 seasons of Scrubs. Just finished another rewatch

i was only a kid when My Lunch aired, and i didn’t fully grasp the gravity of it but i just remember feeling immense sadness and associating the frays how to save a life with that episode forever

The sad part was them rushing to undo a lot of changes and reestablish a status quo in the next season - JD ditching his partner who is pregnant is very out of cast and disjointing, for example. Excellent video, thanks!

Scrubs is one of my favourite shows ever and this is a great video!

Scrubs may be the best sitcom ever on tv. I can't think of a show, let alone a comedy, that has made me cry as much as Scrubs. Ben's Funeral, the Rabies deaths and Dr Cox's breakdown. Good god John C McGinley was so underrated and now he's retired to persue medical activism

Scrubs was the perfect combination of comedy, drama, with perfect casting, music, writing and it will always be my #1.

I'm on Season 6 currently and what a perfect rec from my fav movie channel

Season 3 had always been my favorite season of Scrubs, but I didn't realize until watching this video how amazing Season 5 actually is. It is filled with incredible episodes.

I would love to have a new Scrubs like show. Even if it's a completely different setting, a show like that would be great to watch

Season 5 was the first season I watched, which is crazy, I never do that with shows and start in the middle. But my friend only had seasons 5-8 and we watched them religiously. It wasn't until years later that I finally watched the first 4. So when I think of Scrubs, I always think of season 5 and onwards. I'm so familiar with it and the quality was just as good as the first half of the show which really isn't common in television.

I rewatch the entire series at least once a year (I’m currently on season 8…thank you Disney+) and to this day, My Way Home is my favourite episode of the entire show (My Screw Up a very close second) The Blanks (Ted’s Band’s) version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is to this day the single greatest cover of that song ever in nearly a century - made all the more impactful and beautiful since the loss of Sam Lloyd. And despite living in Ireland, I count myself phenomenally fortunate enough to be able to say I’ve seen The Blanks live in concert and met Sam and the band in person! They were spectacularly good and were truly lovely men who took a big group picture with me and my friends and had a proper chat with us about our shared love of Scrubs

Hands down my favorite show. It had a profound impact on me for sure. Great video.

I have called season 5 my favorite since the show ended. Thanks for articulating why it’s so good.

Scrubs is one of the shows I can watch over and over again and still enjoy it.

The world needs more heart felt shows like scrubs ❤

You were absolutely right about the visual memories of this season being my go-to when I think about Scrubs. I think you hit the nail on the head with this one!

Great vid, thanks

1:08 ok children, repeat after me: there is no season 9 of Scrubs.

My favorite episode of scrubs is where a patient is hallucinating everything as a musical.

fav show forever season 5 always resonates the most with me

No I'm not crying. I got something in my eye.

I love scrubs because all the diolog flows so musically at all times, the insults the crying the songs it's all flows and links like someone is about to sing and sometimes they doooo

Scrubs is my comfort show. Grew up with scrubs already on syndication on Comedy Central so i watched it every day after classes.

My favorite show. Of all time. Not just sit-com, but show. Everything about this show was outstanding. The old cliche about what makes a great movie/story applies to Scrubs: It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me think.

I must be in the minority then. I preferred scrubs in its early seasons when it wasn't slapstick or riduclous, and the comedy came through the traits of the different characters. If there was over the top comedy it only came through the mechanism of JDs daydreaming.

One of my all-time favourite shows

I'm a nurse (or a murse if we want to be specific) and I often credit Scrubs, and in particular Carla, for the representation on screen, that at least in part made me feel like I knew what was gonna happen going in. The show is a long time favorite of mine, both for the way it attempts, sometimes perhaps a little hamfistedly, to break down toxic masculinity and normalize love and emotional intimacy between male friends. It also shows the faults in the American healthcare pretty well, and how people working in that system will try to let humanity win out. I've never thought of any one season as a perfect season, but sometimes it does take a youtube analysis to put things into perspective, and I will say, this season definitely has some really awesome episodes. My fallen Idol is obviously a standout, and calling it the best of the series is not far off. Having now worked as an ER nurse for several years, I can relate better and better to the show with each viewing.

For me every season of scrubs 1-8 was great, but somehow 8 seems really perfect. Just cause every character seems to be at their prime and they all look great, but it's still interesting to watch

Great video.

I think that scrubs put hard-hitting emotional (sad) scenes in the middle of funny episodes is what made them work so well. They didn't start the episode out "doom and gloom", so there was no "warning". just like there usually isn't one in real life.

Hate that I missed this show when it was on. Got out of the military, jobs here and there, college, met and married my wife, had my first child. It wasn't till it started to air on Comedy Central that I finally sat down and gave it a shot. Think I enjoyed it more when I was a bit older (and had become an RN) than had I started it when I was 22 when it came out. So glad I found this show.

Great Video!

Also the soundtrack for this show was so damn good. I discovered so many classic songs through this show.

I love "My way home." The somewhere over the rainbow at the end is now my favorite version.

Season 1-5 are awesome. I never thought season 9 to be part of the original scrubs. Nevertheless it always rubbed the wrong way how jn season 7 and 8 JD seems to abandon his child and his role as a father to give audiences the ending they wanted after season 5.

My Fallen Idol slapped me hard .. A fantastic episode that showed the depth of the cast .. Scrubs was brilliant

My favorite season is either 5 or 1. I think it's because both perform more or less the same task of setting the characters on their respective long-term tracks, while making bold moves in establishing the tone of the show. Season 1 is really raw, and I think that's why it's not necessarily super popular as a favorite season, but for me, I think that's part of the charm. You can feel through the screen that they knew they might not get more than that initial set of, I believe, about 13 episodes, so they really let the characters grow fast and be super reactive. For instance, people often cite season 5 as being when Kelso is first shown to be in charge of making really tough decisions, and caring a lot more for the patients than he lets on, but one of the very first episodes, I believe 1-04 or 1-05, features an entire episode surrounding a battle between Kelso and Cox over JD, which includes Kelso opening up about not liking that he has to worry about the bottom line, but that keeping the hospital running is the only way they can help anyone. Perhaps it could have been interpreted as Kelso just trying to get JD to empathize with him, so that he would be an ally, but later seasons finally expose that it really is a troubling position for him to be in. I think I also just really like the character dynamics where there are more disparate positions of power between the main cast, as is the case in season 1 in particular. The Janitor being proud to tell JD that he makes more money than him really eats at JD in a way that simply couldn't happen later on, and it contextualizes a lot of the worries of the younger characters. Some of the editing choices in season 1 didn't age too well(whip pans, excessive sound effects, etc.) but when they worked, they really gave the show a different look and feel to everything else at the time. Maybe it's harder to get into season 1 now, as opposed to nearly 20 years ago when I first watched the show, still well within its run.

Love this show so damn much. Was my first anytime binge show. I legit have old school standalone hardrives FULL of episodes. Literally EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Theres never a time that I DONT want to watch Scrubs... I feel like IF YOURE ONE of the ppl who GET the show, you REALLY GET IT but ive noticed most ppl who dont like the show, have VERY STRANGE REASONS not to.

Easily my favorite sitcom. No other show made me so emotionally invested and this is a comedy

I hurt every time nobody gives this show a chance. I've tried telling so many people to watch it because it is a beautiful show and almost nobody hears me.

The fact that the show is still talked about and loved to this day, really shows how well written and acted it was

I seriously love the show and the sheer mention of the episode My launch gives me Goosebumps and tear eyed because of the scene where doctor Cox loses control and rages out gets me every time.

Scrubs is the only show I still watch on DVD. 1) its that awesome and 2) they mess up on the music license a lot the songs have change when streaming.

"My Screw up" has always been the best memorable episode for me.

I always value deep dives like this, and I agree with it. I think we probably all have our favorite seasons, but Scrubs did something most shows don't and yeah the infamous Season 9 happened, but I think people often forget why 9 was so disliked. The series finale (season finale of 8) was pretty much perfect. It closed out the story, and it wasn't until they were essentially forced to keep going that the product fell apart. Scrubs brought a unique tone, fantastic writing, interesting characters and most importantly, respect. Sure there was slapstick, people looked dumb or silly at times but no character was ever *just* that. No one was just the bad guy or just the good guy. Every part of Scrubs evolved and was respected. It'll always be one of my favorite shows ever and I'll always appreciate it.

I’ve always seen seasons 2 and 3 as the peak of this programme but you make a compelling argument here!

Season 5 has always been my favourite. I remember getting my friends hooked on Scrubs as well through Season 5. Great great show

I am laughing so hard at the casually thrown in line "...which ironically takes place as [Janitor] holds JD hostage in a water tower"

My Fallen Idol was an amazing episode, it was the only TV episode of any show that has brought me to the edge of tears. It really solidly humanized the characters of the show in a way they hadn't up to that point. The chemistry the characters had past that point was forever changed and it was apparent in the writing of every episode past that point.

One of my favorite shows of all time. Favorite comfort show.

I agree with all of this and love the full breakdown of all of why this works, and got hit like an emotional bus just seeing Cox on his couch in that whole recap, but point of order - using Brooklyn Nine Nine in the reel of "other sitcoms that don't allow their characters to grow over time" is a disservice to the characters in Brooklyn Nine Nine.

My absolute favorite show. So many quotable moments. Also goes from making you laugh your ass off to pulling at the heartstrings. This show deserves so much more love. This video makes me want to binge the show again. Just kind of annoyed Hulu changed songs in some of the episodes at the end.

Mrs. Wilk’s storyline was incredibly heartbreaking. You really got to know her and then because JD couldn’t look past that Cabbage was a terrible intern (and Keith was a great one). As was the two parter of My Lunch and My Fallen Idol because it shows Dr. Cox’s vulnerability. And of course, the Janitor with His Story III. I agree, Season 5 was my favorite overall. Still had the zany moments but it had a lot of heart (or fart) and serious moments.

I literally always instinctively go back to Season 5 as the peak of the show. It really is perfect.❤

After my first rewatch of S05e03 I thought "Wow, these are all amazing episodes, I wonder if there is a bad episode in season 5. No. No there wasn't. It's the best!"

the climax for me in "My hero" is where Cox thanks JD at the end of the episode, using his actual name. I believe this is the only time he addresses him as JD which makes the thank you so much more sincere

His Story III is my all time favorite episode. I love how they humanized janitor. And now I work at a hospital and I think about it all the time.

and now i want to binge the entire show again :) one of the best series.

I just watched, My Way Home last night... 3 times... The tv version, the extended version, and the extended version with Zach Braff narrates... Haha, I love Scrubs...

Scrubs will always be my absolute favourite series. Ted Lasso comes really close. But most of the things you said about Scrubs is also true for Ted Lasso. Characters grow. I guess Bill Lawrence’s influence is felt there as well.

The episode with dr cox's brother in-law was wild

Season 5 of Scrubs is my all time favorite and I would put it up there as one of the greatest seasons of any TV show - comedy or drama. It is hit after hit with so many memorable scenes and stories

Scrubs is my favorite show ever and each episode in season 5 just leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy inside. It was truly the season with the most goofy comedy and 2 episodes that perfectly blended comedy and drama while exploring Dr Cox and JD. It's just stunning how many amazing episodes with perfect comedy and drama and were in season 5.

I saw the title of the video and immediately said out loud "gotta be season 5."

How come you have no nerdstagic videos for the TV show 24. That's one helluva show, innit? It got wobbly in season 8

It debuted literally 22 years ago. Today is October 10, 2023