1/22/09
Scrubs hit a bit of a sophmore slump this week. And by slump, I mean had one episode that wasn't omgawesome. "My Saving Grace" was full of laughs (inteferon sounds like a robot that always gets in people's way), but somehow had an ending that felt empty and unfulfilling. Just like that. Courteney Cox was gone. She had not been that great at all anyways so her leaving is a good thing. Now we can let the show progress with no more distractions from a character with the depth of a puddle... and not a puddle so large that a manatee lives there. The "everyone hide in the closet" bit was a little too outlandish for me but this kept the realism of seasons 1-3 for the most part.
So the episode wasn't perfect, but it was still better than season 6 and 7.
My Happy Place was amazing. Classic Scrubs. The Todd finally came on the show this season and was more funny than he's ever been. The Dr Cox and Turk plot was full of great parts and led to a satisfying conclusion with Dr Cox letting Turk believe that he trusted (but still watching him secretly). Janitor and Ted's plot was also quality stuff too.
The main course of the episode was JD and Elliot trying to help Kelso find a new place to hang out besides Coffee Bucks. That morphed subtly into him thinking they were still dating, finally talking about things and dating again. JD and Elliot are finally together and it was handled in a mature, non-cheesy, non-Ross & Rachel way. Can't wait to see more of them together. Loved the ending montage with them holding hands. So different from their wild, sexual flings before. Glad to see these characters have evolved and finally become mature. I'm willing to bet that JD and Elliot are 100X less annoying to watch than Jim and Pam are as a couple.
The thing I loved about both episodes (and about the first 2 episodes as well) is how perfectly they are leading to the show's ending. Every episode seems to have a purpose in advancing these characters' storylines, which is not something I can say for season 7 at all (the triviality and pointlessness of some episodes being one of the things that drove me nuts). The potential in each character's storyline seems to be being fully utilized this year. I can't wait till we get passed all the "cast sitouts" and we hit the last few episodes which have the whole cast in them and are incredibly important, according to Bill Lawrence (the show's creator).
My Saving Grace: 7.5
My Happy Place: 9/10
I’m sitting on the couch, half asleep, staring at the television. After a few minutes of searching, stay on VH1, because this channel shows programs that require the low level of brain activity I am willing to exert in this near hypnotic state. The show that pops up is Celebrity Sober House, or maybe it’s just called Sober House. It is the sequel to the show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which I vaguely remember watching over the summer.
The premise of Rehab was to follow celebrities as they quit doing drugs. I remember none of the American Idol rejects, or has-beens, who were supposed to put the Celebrity in the title of the show.
Sober House is the next step in sobriety for these F-listers. Instead of living in a supervised rehab facility, our participants are put in a house in California and told to stay sober. Dr. Drew, who hosted the first two seasons of Rehab, tells us that he will not be present in Sober House. The Doctor has been the co-host of the radio call-in-show Love Line for twenty-five years, which is probably how he got the gig hosting Celebrity Rehab. Drew tells us, “I will not be their babysitter in this show,” in a voice too monotonous for radio. His absence makesSober House feel like The Real World. He talks for a couple more minutes about how his absence from the show, which starts to sound more and more like Real World’s “this is the story of seven strangers…” speech.
Celebrity Rehab was a terrible show, but it had a point and a goal. It shows us what rehab is like, even viewers as dull as the targeted audience could come away from each episode with something they’ve learned about addiction. Also, if someone is addicted to drugs, they could be inspired to go to rehab when they see their favorite 70’s sitcom star could do it. Despite it being a shameless reality show, full of manipulative editing to make things seem more dramatic, I can respect what they are trying to do. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that rehab has gone mainstream. It was informative, and even inspiring.
Sober House is a reality show as much as Rehab was, but it lacks Rehab’s substance. In the episode I saw, the former Guns ‘n’ Rosesdrummer shows up high on heroin on the first day. Most of the episode is spent following him as he attempts to talk to people, wanders around, and makes faces at the camera. By the last fifteen minutes, he is severely tweaking out, and even has to vomit because of how much heroin he’s taken. His belongings are searched, and a tinfoil tube with is found. The drummer had been smoking heroin with this tinfoil. I, assumedly like most people, did not know that one could smoke heroin through tinfoil. While the former show taught us about quitting drugs, this show teaches us about different ways to take heroin. The people who run the house do not know how to handle this situation, so they call Dr. Drew. Drew decides to go to the house, even though he said he was not going to do that. Dr. Drew and the house supervisors emulate a football huddle, without touching each other, while they decide how to handle this situation. Heroin drummer goes unpunished, except he has to spend the night at one of the supervisor’s house. The only thing we can gather from him is a new way to take heroin. None of the other characters even get screen time!
The only other noteworthy Celebrity in this show was an adult film star named Mary Carey. The reason I call her noteworthy is not her line of work, it is because I remember her from the first season. The only thing I remember was Dr. Drew telling her that she will have to quit doing pornography if she wants to stay sober. The only problem is, her exposure on VH1 probably gave her video sales a boost. So she becomes torn between staying sober and making easy money. Also, she would not be on CELEBRITY Rehab, if it weren’t for this career choice. If anything, Celebrity Rehab had a negative impact on her struggle with sobriety. She, however, makes the show more marketable. For viewers who do not know who she is, she serves as a pretty face to look at. For those who are familiar with her, she attracts people to watch because pornography is taboo. Nobody knows much about who makes it. Nobody knows how she acts. To them, it’s like watching an alien, or a dog with rabies.
This show is clearly crafted to get people to watch, not to help the participants. The way these two characters are shown does not help their sobriety. They are being treated like celebrities, when really they should be treated like addicts. When it comes to other television shows I don’t like I can just change the channel. This show compels me to watch because it deals with real people who need help. I will wind up suffering through the entire season because I want the characters to beat the odds and get sober.
aha somebody has too much time on his hands
but i do enjoy your writing, it's funny
i learned about smoking heroin from reading Grateful Dead biographies - Jerry Garcia smoked heroin that was called Persian and slang for it was "rat." haha that's funny how that would have been the only part of the show i'd be entertained by