Scrubs
My First Day, originally transmitted 2nd October 2001
Written By: Bill Lawrence
History
Bill Lawrence was heavily influenced by The Simpsons and conceived of Scrubs as a life action interpretation of that sort of humour. He wanted a central core of characters supported by a large number of recurring background characters and big name guest stars. The show is currently on its seventh and final season and opened the doors for other single camera comedies like Arrested Development, My Name is Earl, 30 Rock and Extras (prior to 2001 the only significant single camera comedy shows were M*A*S*H, The Wonder Years and Malcolm in the Middle). With it's use of flashbacks, fantasy sequences and blend of comedy tragedy being so familiar to us now it is hard remember what a ground breaking show this really was.
Story
We open on JD (Zach Braff) as he prepares for his first day as an intern at the Sacred Heart Hospital. Reality hits him square in the face when he enters the building which is packed full of bleeding patents and right there and then he realises that despite all his training he knows jack.
We flash back to his hospital induction the day before where the focus is not so much on helping patients, but on avoiding lawsuits (“alcohol + surgery = no no”). We meet the smiling Dr Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins), the hospital’s chief of medicine, “think of me as your safety net” he says inspiring the new members of the hospital to go out and do their job.
JD then introduces us to his best friend Turk (Donald Faison) who is also starting his first day. Their relationship is quickly established in flash back (yep that is a flash back in a flash back), they both went college together, med school together and now they have been placed in the same hospital. Turk is a surgical intern and the divide between his and JD career path is quickly shown when he says that surgical interns are going out for a beer, while the medical interns are having a pac-man tournament. JD backs this up this divide by saying that surgeons are the jocks, while medical interns are the chess club. As JD watches the Pac-Man game, Elliot (Sarah Chalke) joins the pair and JD is instantly dumb struck by the blonde med intern.
*For those paying attention in the first 3 minutes of the episode they have set up the main character, his best friend and a love interest. Not only that but it has also set up the conflicts. The conflict between treating patients and making money and the divides between the different departments in the hospital. A minor sub plot is also established as JD tries to convince Turk to move in with him. The style of humour is also clear as JD’s voice-over moves from setting up story points to verbalising his thoughts “Your butt looks like two Pringles hugging”. Hot on the heals of that we have the first of many fantasy sequences where JD rushes down the hospital hallway as if he is running marathon, a scene topped off by him pouring a cup of coffee over himself as if it was a glass of water.
JD and Eliot start their first day and it is quite chaotic, we meet Carla (Judy Reyes) a nurse who is instantly established as someone who knows how the hospital is run. Finally to complete our character set we meet Dr Cox (John C. McGinley ) who comes in and stamps his authority as a no nonsense Dr.
*at the five minute mark we have met all six major characters in the series, not only that but they have established their personalities and their roles. The only exceptions are Dr Cox who comes off as an uncaring thoughtless Dr and Dr Kelso who comes off as a caring individual ready to support his team no matter what they face.
So JD’s day continues and we learn that he is still feeling out of his depth and although he can answer questions, when comes to actually doing anything he has to ask a nurse. This causes conflict with Dr Cox who does have time to deal with every one of JD’s insecurities. JD tries to defend himself by mentioning Dr Kelso, but Dr Cox dives right and says without any sarcasm points out that the smiling chief of medicine “is the most evil being on the planet.”
JD is struck by the reality of the hospital, he thought he would be dealing with younger people, but most of his patients are old and “checked out”. Again Cox pulls no punches in explaining that modern medicine is keeping people alive who should have died along time ago. Dr Cox also remarks that should anyone find out that JD has nurses doing his procedures he will be out on his ass.
*8 minutes in and we have the major dilemma spelt out for us. JD has got to get his shit together or he looses his job.
JD meets up with Turk who has no problem sticking anything in anyone, this makes JD feel even more insecure and it is not until his final patient of the day does he find any courage. In a private moment JD makes a giant leap towards becoming a doctor as explains his concerns to an elderly patient.
Day 2 and even with Turk by his site JD is still scared of carrying out even a simple procedure and when there is an emergency call instead of attending to the incident he hides in the closet.
JD again seeks advice from Dr Cox and is amazed to see the doctor he thought didn’t care actually has a really great bond with a young patent. Dr Cox still remains brash with JD telling him the worst thing that can happen is that he kills someone and that he should keep letting the nurses cover for him.
While JD waits for his first night on call he is approached by Dr Kelso who suggests patient of his that has put forward for a transplant should remain on dialysis a while longer, “we might get lucky.” The smiles mask his true intent, but JD doesn’t see this and nonchalantly agrees.
JD’s first night on call is crazy, he hardly gets a moment to think, eat or sleep. Finally he has to pronounce his first death. It turns out to be the patient he bonded with the day before. The difficult moment is made harder by the fact that he cannot stop to reflect on this mile stone and has return to work. Relief comes when Turk admits that he too is scared and although he previously said he doesn’t want to move in, actually decides he does. With the news that even the Über confident Turk is scared, JD gets a second wind and hits the floor.
JD runs into Dr Kelso who asks why the patient is still on the transplant list, JD explains his reasons and the formally pleasant chef of medicine drops the charade as he belittles JD “you are just a pair of scrubs” and follows this up with “if a patient has insurance you treat them and if they don’t you show them the door”. With the realisation that Kelso is the villain. JD wonders who the good guy in the story is. The answer comes when he attends an emergency call, there he finds himself helping Dr Cox who gives him the confidence to perform a complicated procedure, thus saving a life.
As JD leaves the hospital the chaos continues around him, he still has much to learn but he has overcome his first hurdle.
Retooling
The Scrubs pilot is an excellent example of how a show changes from the pilot to the transmitted show.
In the pilot the hospital looks very dirty, the walls look dirty, the floors look dirty, even the patients look dirty and colours are muted. This comes from the reality of underfunded hospitals that the show is presenting, but when it came making the series everything was glossed up. The colours went from tan to pastels, it is more like a hospital you would like to visit rather than one that might exist in a country where health care is not a priority.
The character stayed pretty much the same, although Dr Cox and Dr Kelso are far more up front about who they what they represent. Elliot came off as a bit of bitch in the pilot and according to the Bill they tried play this down in re-shoots. When it came to future episodes Elliot’s character was softened and shown to be more vulnerable.
Single camera comedies where not considered to be very funny, to compensate for this and the absence of a laughter track the show was packed with comedy sound effects, although these continued during the first series they were later dropped when it was clear the writing was funny enough.
The pilot had to focus very much on JD, as the series progressed the other characters were able to develop and have stories of their own. Treachery characters like Janitor, the Todd and Laverne also come to the forefront although they rarely show the same depth of character. As the series progressed other regular extras would also come to the forefront.
Verdict
For what eventually became an ensemble piece it is interesting to see how JD is thrust front and centre for this episode. For all budding writers this is a good lesson to learn, in that first episode before the audience knows who all the characters you have to pick one to drive the story forward. Yes, secondary characters like Eliot and Turk do have a story but is told within a few scenes rather than giving them great chunks of the episode, they also serve to show how other people are coping in the same situation. JD has the great bedside manner, but can't do simple operations, Turk seems to fit right in, he has no problems jumping into surgery, but admits he is still afraid. Elliot is smart and capable, but also a little selfish thinking that she doesn't really need anyone's help.
Nothing goes to waste in this episode, every line of dialogue is either telling us something about the character or moving the story forward. While the show is definitely a comedy, it is still able to undercut the humour with moments of poignancy. Healthcare in America is a controversial issue and themes of Scrubs looks at the reality of help for those who can afford it with Dr Cox and Dr Kelso standing as generals on the two opposing sides.
Scrubs seems to have also ushered in a wave of voice over dependant shows. Voiceover has been frowned upon as an easy for a writer to explain what is going on and Scrubs certainly leans on this crutch very heavily in the pilot episode. This is possibly how so much information is conveyed to the viewer in such a short space of time, but it would be interesting to see how well the episode would hold up without it.
