Thursday, January 19, 2006

Just a Note: A Character of Note on SCRUBS


(Note: SCRUBS contains vulgar humor, and is rated NFE, Not For Everyone)

On this week's episode of SCRUBS ("My New G-d"), Cheryl Hines played Dr. Cox's sister, Paige, coming to town for his son's baptism. Paige has one thing about her that Dr. Cox can't stand -- she is a non-apologetic, born again Christian.

She was played full out, calling for prayer for a dying patient, giving God credit for creating medicine. Her character was mocked, ridiculed and derided for her beliefs by Dr. Cox. In other words, she was treated like all of the other members of the show.

And she gave back as good as she got, mocking and ridiculing her brother -- as a good sibling would. And, in true SCRUBS fashion, all that mocking masked something deeper: respect, love, and a mutual understanding that only two siblings surviving a horrific childhood together could have.

Next time we want to see a full-on, devout, evangelical Christian portrayed on television as a real person and not a caricature, we should give creator Bill Lawrence and his people a call.

Your servant,

Sean

4 comments:

Jeffrey Overstreet said...

Cool. That's great to hear. I like the show, and I wish I'd seen this episode.

FWIW, I've blogged you.

Anonymous said...

Sean,

Cool to see you blogging. I watched this ep of SCRUBS and was also impressed -- the show really goes deeper than the surface on a lot of interesting issues.

Gaffney said...

Thanks Chris.

Yeah, SCRUBS is among my favorites in terms of being able to dig deep without letting you know they are digging. They seem able to remain a comedy, while mining the dramatic in a way similar to MASH, but without showing the strings of manipulation.

Gotta love it.

-Sean

DAN BUCK said...

A mutual connection linked me to this post Sean. Like Chris, I'm glad to see you in the blog-o-sphere. Check mine out as well if you get the chance.

Dan Buck