It doesn’t even feel like Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence cares anymore. And who can blame him, really? NBC mistreated Scrubs when it aired there, and now ABC has done the same thing, moving the sitcom on and off its schedule and unceremoniously dumping the last two new episodes of the year last night and next week.
But Lawrence is to blame too. Now that he has a middling hit with Cougar Town, it feels like he’s already moved on from this medical sitcom, especially since Zach Braff has left. And what I thought would be a cool refreshing of the series by introducing new characters and redubbing the show Scrubs: Med School turned out to be a mistake.
“Our Driving Issues,” dealt with two semi-serious storylines as Dr. Kelso realized he’s getting too old to be a safe driver and would have to give up his freedom, while rich kid dink Cole (Dave Franco) was dealing with a mole on his chest that turned out to be cancer.
Cole is such an unlikable character that I want to reach through the TV screen and punch him in the face, so I couldn’t have cared less that he might be dying. And the fact that Lucy (Kerry Bishe) is in love with him just makes me dislike her as well. Why would she stay in an abusive relationship like this? Scrubs is supposed to be funny, but the way Cole treats Lucy isn’t.
Much more appealing is Drew (Michael Mosely), who was caught in an emotional – and physical – tug of war between hottie girlfriend Denise (Eliza Coupe) and Dr. Cox. The best line of the night was uttered by a fed-up Drew when he confronted the duo.
“I’m not sure why – maybe it’s because my dad used to dress up in my mom’s clothes and ask, ‘Am I pretty? Am I pretty?’ – but I view you guys as my role models.”
That was the only memorable line of the night; pretty bad for a sitcom that used to pepper viewers with hilarious and constant patter.
Scrubs should have ended with last year’s touching season finale, which had J.D. looking ahead to his future with Elliott, and he and Turk’s kids playing together, all set to the strains of Peter Gabriel’s “The Book of Love.”
Instead, it’s going out with a whimper.
Scrubs’ season finale airs next Wednesday, March 17 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC
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