MovieChat Forums > Scrubs (2001) Discussion > When did Scrubs go sour for you (if ever...

When did Scrubs go sour for you (if ever)?


Looking around the internet, I've noticed a lot of varying opinions of when this show started to go downhill. So... when do you personally think the show started to take a dive in quality?

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For me it was season 3. However, I consider the first two seasons perfection, so it's kinda unfair to compare them. I stopped watching after season 6

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Season nine. The show ended well and then they made season nine. It's so bad you can almost hear them trying.

Fine cinema enthusiasts please prepare to talk smack about my intelligence and/or education

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After just finishing the 8 seasons I can pinpoint when it went a bit sour for me. Season 5. There were two reasons for this IMO;


Reality and daydreams started to blend together much more. Such as Turk fitting JD into a normal sized rucksack or JD falling in a puddle then appearing in another puddle further away. These happened in "reality" and it was just stupid. There are plenty of other examples.

Basically JD's daydreams started to become much longer and much less funny. Nothing to expand on there.

I still think the show was watchable up to the end though.

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I do believe in you... I just know you are going to fail.

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The first time through I finished thinking they should have just axed the final season; after watching the whole series through yet again I now feel differently. It's definitely NOT up to par with the series, but the characters and writing is just such gold I would rather have that little tid bit more rather than end it sooner.

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season 1: damn near perfect television. humour balanced with character development balanced with diversity in the casting, manages to push comedy without slut-shaming women or hitting on racial stereotypes, the characters are all grounded... My Bed Banter... the Ben story arc... just stunning!

seasons 2 & 3 were brilliant but not quite as on the nose as season 1. the show gets more surreal and TV-ish (TCW, Dr. Kevin Casey, etc.). it's still absolutely amazing but not quite perfect.

season 4: still great but they haveta play around with the new dynamic (Turk & Carla married) before they get comfortable. second half better than the first.

season 5: the turning point. still watchable but with only a couple of moments of greatness (My Half-Acre, My Lunch) in it. the characters at this point are absurd caricatures, especially Elliot who is just HORRIBLE pretty much all season.

season 6 & 7: bilge. the show loses all touch with reality. the musical episode embraces this and so is, bar Carla saying goodbye to Laverne, the only standout moment from two years of television.

season 8: best stuff since season 3. My Last Words, My Cuz, My Chief Concern and My Finale all absolutely stellar episodes, esp My Last Words & My Finale (one of the all-time great TV finales). should have been one hell of a way to go out.

season 9: lol.

together the ants can crush the elephant.

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Yeah I'm with you.. great response, however I'd put seasons 1 & 2 in the near perfect category and season 3 I the brilliant category.

Season 5 was definitely the turning point - I hated that JD turned from a confident, smart, quirky character to an ultra effeminate character that was defined by his day dreams. Dr Cox also changed incredibly. Shame..

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It went sour for me sometime around season 5 or 6. I also used to get depressed watching this show because I look kinda like JD and I am a similar age and we both started our careers at the same kind of time. But he had WAY more fun, way hotter girls, and a far better time working in a big hospital full of fun people. I was working in a small office and my life didn't turn out that great and Scrubs was a constant reminder of how I took a *beep* path.

Also it was so wacky at first and it was so unusual but after a few years it started feeling forced and became stale.

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I thought "Scrubs" became a bit pointless when Kelso retired, but started to hang out in the hospital. It was a long running show at that time and with this and other things you got the feeling they did not really know in which direction to move the show. Still a funny show. I also did not like season 9. Not that it was really bad, but I thought the new main cast members could not live up to their predecessors.

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Show should have ended with Season 4

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My attitude to Scrubs has changed now. At the time I agreed with the views that when Kelso had to resign and Kim came on the scene etc, the show had developed some low points. Now that I watch the repeats that doesn't bother me as much, as overall the show was brill and the great episodes far outweighed the poor ones. Afterall, all long running series end up repeating things or trying new things that don't quite succeed but the warm familiarity of the characters helps you overcome that.

I still don't like the last series [because as with most shows, I hate when familiar elements that made you enjoy the show in the first place, are slowly eroded away. Like most reviewers I think it should have been shown as a breakaway series. However, now that I am getting older and more nostalgic, I'm glad it showed that the sad poignant hope of JD in the gut wrenching fantasy finale of series 8 became a reality and that he did settle down happily with Elliot and continued his friendship with Turk etc. I detest when new TV executives come along and start picking away at the old ways because it isn't hip enough for today's tastes.

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I think it was around Laverne's death in My Long Goodbye the show started to decline a lot more rapidly. I'd say around the time of Kim Briggs and "My Urologist" the show started the first of the decline. But after Laverne's death, the show really never returned to the quality that came in the first few seasons.

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Welcome to the O.C., bitch. - Luke Ward, The O.C.

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