It’s a rare, banner week for broadcast TV comedy when two genuinely funny new shows premiere.
‘Scrubs’
Whenever a TV series returns 16 years after it first ends, there’s always good reason to worry that a revival will sully memories of the original, that the new episodes won’t live up to what came before, particularly if the show had a memorable finale.
“Scrubs” offers a unique opportunity to test those concerns because the show ended twice already: First, at the end of its eighth season when some of the show’s stars curtailed their involvement, and again after an ill-begotten, quasi-spin-off ninth season focused on med students.
The new “Scrubs” doesn’t have to worry about messing up a beloved finale because “Scrubs’ ” conclusion was …. messy.
The good news is ABC’s revived “Scrubs” (8 and 8:30 p.m. Feb. 25, WTAE) lives up to the memory of the early seasons of the original series. Developed by Aseem Batra (‘Scrubs,” “A.P. Bio”) and Tim Hobert (“Scrubs,” “The Middle”), with original series creator Bill Lawrence returning as an executive producer, the “Scrubs” characters sound and behave of a piece with their younger selves.
The first episode finds J.D. (Zach Braff) working as a concierge doctor when one of his patients gets admitted to Sacred Heart Hospital, which brings him back to the original show’s setting.
J.D. bonds anew with best friend Turk (Donald Faison) and wife Carla (Judy Reyes), now parents of four daughters, and they arrange a reunion dinner.
“We haven’t been out to dinner since the Disney princesses were white,” Turk says.
J.D. also encounters fellow doc Elliott (Sarah Chalke) and again craves approval from his mentor, chief of medicine Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley), who now calls J.D. “oldie” instead of “newbie.”
Seeing these characters interact again is fun, as are the returns of multiple secondary characters, most notably Todd (Robert Maschio), but what makes this “Scrubs” work so well is an element that also made “The Pitt” stand out from “ER”: Times have changed, medicine has changed, what’s acceptable in how colleagues treat one another in the workplace has changed. “Scrubs” uses these changing societal norms to its comedic advantage.
When Dr. Cox begins to erupt in anger and frustration at his latest set of young doctors-in-training, an HR specialist (Vanessa Bayer, “Saturday Night Live”) threatens him with additional work/life balance sensitivity training if he can’t control his temper.
“I can’t work them crazy hours or abuse them anymore,” Cox complains.
Through four episodes made available for review, this new “Scrubs” manages to integrate its new young doctors better than the ninth season of the show’s original run did with its med students. It helps tremendously, of course, to have Braff back full-time as the central figure who holds together the show’s mix of humor and heart.
But the new newbies also work well because they’re of the moment, including one Cox nicknames Dr. Tik Tok (Ava Bunn) for her penchant for constantly posting about her life on social media.
“I believe kindness is the best medicine,” says a young British doc-in-training.
“Actually, medicine is the best medicine,” J.D. replies.
There’s also a new foil for J.D., catty Dr. Park (Joel Kim Booster), and two new charge nurses (Michael James Scott, X Mayo) with amazing comic rapport who also banter well with returning staff.
It’s rare for a TV comedy to return in as strong form as this new “Scrubs.” Fans who loved the show in its early seasons on NBC should happily scrub back in for ABC’s new iteration of the series.
‘Reggie Dinkins’
As ABC reactivates “Scrubs,” NBC brings back a comedy with the flavor of “30 Rock,” “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” (8 and 8:30 p.m. Feb. 23, WPXI), executive produced by “30 Rock” vets Robert Carlock, Sam Means, Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan.
Morgan stars as disgraced former football star Reggie Dinkins who’s attempting to rehab his image with the help of filmmaker Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter”), a professor at the University of Maryland’s Center for Documentary, Anime and Pornography.
Like “30 Rock,” single-cam comedy “Reggie Dinkins” features Morgan as a privileged, idiot manchild – yeah, it’s what Morgan always plays, but he’s great at it – surrounded by smarter, more put-together characters who ultimately reveal themselves to be as fallible as Reggie.
The first episode, which premiered last month and repeats Monday at 8 (and again at 1 a.m. March 1 after “Saturday Night Live”), reveals that Tobin needs to stage a comeback as much as Reggie does at the same time that the series introduces Reggie’s nearest and dearest, including his ex-wife, still-manager Monica (scene stealer Erika Alexander, “Living Single”), son Carmelo (Jalyn Hall), perpetual houseguest/best friend Rusty (Bobby Moynihan, “SNL”) and Reggie’s semi-vacuous current girlfriend Brina (Precious Way).
In each episode the show unearths some element from Reggie’s past that Tobin tries to document. That A story also illuminates an issue in the present that forms the episode’s B story. In episode two, flashbacks are set at Penn State, feature a cameo by the school’s student newspaper and reveal Reggie’s misunderstanding of the meaning of the word “Nittany.”
Shot in mockumentary style – episode two even has a reference to “The Office” and Jim’s tendency to break the fourth wall on that show – “Reggie Dinkins” uses quick cuts and cartoon-like tangents in a manner that will feel familiar/comfortable to “30 Rock” fans.
The return of “Scrubs” and the debut of “Reggie” offer solid evidence that with the right talent involved, comedies still have a place on broadcast TV.