Scrubs needs medical help

Imagine E.R. meets The Nanny, or Ally McBeal Takes On the Medical Community; your basic, formulaic, cheesy comedy in which attractive but inept individuals struggle to fulfill the requirements of their job, in this case as medical interns.

Welcome to Scrubs, NBC's new Tuesday night comedy, lauded by The Washington Post as "the best of the season's new comedies." (http://www.washingtonpost.com) This "innovative" new show combines all the clichs of sitcoms' slapstick comedy, frustrated romance, annoying bosses and cute 20-somethings with the time-tested appeal of the medical drama.

Created and produced by Bill Lawrence, Scrubs is indeed a bit unlike any other sitcom that I can remember. Rather, it is an amalga-mation of many. It has the comic timing of Spin City, another Lawrence creation; the off-beat hero much like the title star of Ed (they even look alike!), as well as the fake medical jargon that peppers medical dramas and the self-conscious effort at ethnic diversity that is common to countless modern sitcoms.

The show's premise is simple, following the bizarre experiences of brand-new, bumbling medical interns in a hospital overflowing with unpredictable doctors and patients. Our hero is first-year medical resident J.D. Dorian (newcomer Zach Braff), a young man struggling to meet the challenges of practicing medicine. J.D. is joined by his best friend and surgical intern Chris Turk (Donald Faison, Clueless), and beautiful fellow intern Elliott Reid (Sarah Chalke, Roseanne). The three must answer to the fatherly chief of medicine, Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins, Homefront), the abrasive Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley) and jaded nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes).

The pilot episode left me very unimpressed. I would mention its plot, but there didn't seem to be one. In his quest for innovation, Lawrence manages to bypass any sort of logical storyline, opting instead for a bizarre blend of tricks. The show is shot with a single camera, so scenes are short and jerky. Viewers can occasionally hear J.D.'s thoughts or see his secret fantasies, adding to the disjointed feel of the show. The humor was often forced and rarely funny.

The following two episodes were a bit improved. Lawrence uses the same techniques as in the pilot but adds a more recognizable plot. For instance, the third episode examines the strained relationship between J.D. and Chris as they find it increasingly difficult to make time for each other. It also develops the inevitable budding romance between J.D. and Elliott.

On the whole, the show isn't bad. It is by no means in the league of Seinfeld or Friends or Frasier or any of the other great sitcoms of our time, but it passes as mindless entertainment. The characters are slowly becoming more three-dimensional, and once in a while Lawrence produces a real laugh. Jenkins and McGinley are especially entertaining as the interns' unpredictable, quasi-psychotic mentors. I doubt, however, that Scrubs will survive more than a couple seasons. Even its prime positioning on Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. after Frasier won't be enough to save it from destruction.

There are two problems. First, there is the problem of plausibility. How long can these medical residents maintain their wide-eyed ineptitude? For that matter, how long can they be medical residents?

More importantly, it is too difficult to balance the dual tones of comedy and drama in a half-hour sitcom. A medical show necessarily confronts death and suffering, topics that certainly do not lend themselves to pranks and kitsch. The subject matter is simply inappropriate for pure comedy, and anything other than pure comedy is difficult to manage in a half-hour sitcom. The current arrangement will force the show away from its sweet innocence into acerbic indifference, ? la Becker.

The bottom line? Enjoy it while it lasts.