A key concept analysis of the comedy 'Scrubs'.

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Antony White

A key concept analysis of the comedy ‘Scrubs’

The show ‘Scrubs’ has 24 episodes and was first aired at 10pm on sky one every Thursday, although not a prime spot in the week, it still had a high viewer rating. It is now playing on channel 4 at 10.35 again on Thursdays. The time it is aired at, shows the adult humour of the programme and some scenes that could be unsuitable for children. I am analysing the first show in the series. In my opinion it is the most important as it determines if you are going to watch the rest of the series and should introduce the main characters. The approximate running time is 20 minutes.

  Named a “Future Classic” by the TV Land cable network, “Scrubs” averaged a 5.3 rating and a 13 share among adults 18-49 in its first season and is the highest-rated new comedy series to return for the 2002-03 season.

(Extract form allyourtv.com)

  This half-hour comedy from the co-creator/executive producer of "Spin City" focuses on the experiences of fresh-faced medical intern John "JD" Dorian (Zach Braff, "The Broken Hearts Club") as he embarks on his career at a hospital full of unpredictable staffers and patients.

  Joining him in his new world are his college buddy, Chris Turk (Donald Faison, "Felicity"), an intern with a more elite surgical group, and the beautiful and driven Elliott Reid (Sarah Chalke, "Roseanne"), JD's fellow medical intern whom he instantly tries to pursue romantically. Keeping the new interns on their toes are: the fatherly chief of medicine, Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins, "Beverly Hills, 90210"); the abrasive, no-nonsense Dr. Phil Cox (John C. McGinley, "Any Given Sunday"); and jaded nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes, "Oz"), who doesn't take any flak from anybody.

(Extract from NBC.Com)

    (Picture from scrubs-tv.com)

Top row, left to right: (Chris) Turk, Dr (Perry) Cox, Dr Bob Kelso.

Bottom row, left to right: Carla, Elliott Reed, John Dorian (JD)

  The main character is JD who has joined a hospital after finishing medical school. A narrative technique used, is the ‘spoken thought’ this is diegetic sound as it is the thoughts of the main character.

  Scrubs has a varied genre, as with many other TV soap operas. It has comedy and drama, which blend together effectively.

  The narrative is quite traditional it starts with several problems that are eventually solved by the end of the show: JD being anxious about his first day, his fear of doing anything to the patients (he gets the nurses to do it), the problem of getting an apartment with Turk, and JD being worried about being on-call. These are eventually resolved and equilibrium is reached by the end of the program. The format of each episode deals individually with the characters problems but does not have a final ending, but a conclusion of the problems of that episode, so each episode starts fresh.

  The first episode starts with the camera on JD which basically shows you that he is the main character. The shot is an extreme close up, which shows you that the main character is a young good looking male. The shot then has a reflective view from a camera of JD in the mirror acting stupid (wearing a shaving foam bikini) which gives us a good first impression and makes us laugh.

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  The camera shot then changes to the hospital, the camera is on the ground and looks up which conveys a sense of overwhelming power which is meant to convey to us what JD feels on his first day. The hospital is shown after JD says, ‘This isn’t just any day, it’s my first day…’, and we connect that statement to the hospital by what is called the Kuleshov effect.

  We consider music a key element of our show, so much that writers, cast members, and producers all scour local clubs and CD racks for bands we feel should ...

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