My Two-Cents on Scrubs 2.0

It was announced today by Entertainment Weekly, that the upcoming 9th season will be drastically different than the previous 8. The biggest change revolves around the setting of the show because season 9 will be taking place in the classroom versus the hospital.

The concept is Dr. Cox and Dr. Turk will be professors to a new batch of med students, but they will not be washing their hands of Sacred Heart altogether since the students will be spending time in the halls of our favorite hospital. This move allows past regulars to make cameo appearances without them sticking out.

Now, I have always been skeptical about season 9 of Scrubs because I felt that it is unnecessary. Bill Lawrence and Co. were able to get their act together and give us a great season 8 on par with earlier outings, and it almost took the bad taste out of my mouth that was left by seasons 4-6 (7 was on route to being good but of course the strike had to happen). "My Finale" is still one of the best episodes ever, and no matter what they say it will be ruined by this new season.

Unfortunately, this new idea hasn't convinced me to be back on the Scrubs bandwagon just yet. Sure, it will give the show a new direction, essentially rebooting the franchise to account for a lot less JD, but it just doesn't feel quite right. Dr. Cox & Dr. Turk have always excelled at being teachers in the hospital, and seeing them in lecture halls is going to take some getting used to.

Also, it sounds like there are going to be new "newbies" which kind of upsets me because I actually liked most of the new interns, and now we have to get used to a whole new batch of characters. I'm sure we'll be seeing Sonny, Denise, & Katie when the action moves to Sacred Heart, but there were still a lot of good stories that could have surrounded the season 8 interns.

The only bright spot is the idea that a big name might be cast as a med student. After seeing Alexis Bledel play a doctor on ER, I'd kind of like to see her in the Scrubs universe. She's proven that she can do comedy and drama, and she looks good in a white coat. I'm sure that's a long shot, but her being added to the cast might be the only thing that saves the show for me.

Now, I've been very negative about this news, but to be honest I'm going to watch season 9 because at the end of the day I'm a fan. Sure, I might not agree with Bill Lawrence's decision to keep going, but I do trust him. It's going to be an interesting mid-season to say the least.