Abortion. Euthanasia. Stem cells.
These are famous examples of some of medicine's oldest and greatest debates. There is no shortage of passionate people on each side arguing their position, and unfortunately there will likely never be a solution that satisfies both sides.
The times are changing, however, and a new debate is emerging, one that involves medical TV shows. Yes I'm speaking of Scrubs and Grey's Anatomy, both of which have huge and loyal followings. Is it Scrubs, the quirky single-camera show about the life of three residents and a nurse, or is it Grey's Anatomy, the new medical drama about a group of surgical interns?
Never fear, Axis is here to help settle this debate. I will attempt to evaluate this dilemma by using several objective criteria to answer modern medicine's ultimate question once and for all.
Medical Accuracy
Let's start with the easy one. The medicine that takes place on Scrubs is nearly dead-on. Internists diagnose and surgeons operate. Classic stereotypes are explained (e.g. surgeons as knife-wielding morons, ob/gyn's as sorority girls, etc.), inside secrets about medicine are revealed, and the emotional aspects of medicine are well conveyed . On the other hand, in Grey's Anatomy surgeons deliver babies and neurosurgeons do abdominal procedures. Most interestingly, the interns have hours of free time on their hands. Point goes to: Scrubs
The Girls
Elliot and Carla on Scrubs are both fairly attractive and well-fed. On Grey's, while Katherine Heigl is hot (albeit whiny), Ellen Pompeo is so skinny she looks like an ashen grey skeleton ... and Sandra Oh looks like a catcher's mitt with eyes. Point: Scrubs
Attendings
You can't beat Dr. Cox: who else can turn a word with two syllables into six? Who can come up with a new girls name every 10 minutes? In fairness, Dr. McDreamy is unusually popular, both on- and off-screen. Point: tie
Chiefs of Service
This is a tough one. On Scrubs, Dr. Kelso is a scowling money-driven Chief of Medicine who makes everyone's life miserable (especially for Ted, that poor attorney). On Grey's, the chief is Dr. Webber, a big guy who simply plays a generic "stern black man". Point: tie
Humor
Scrubs is overflowing with quirky humor (my personal favorite) while Grey's has none (quirky or otherwise). Point: Scrubs
Drama
But what Grey's lacks in humor, it more than makes up in drama. Grey's Anatomy is not so much a medical TV show but rather a soap opera that happens to take place in a hospital. Medicine is occasionally practiced, but only if an intern can hook up with an attending in the process. The winner here is clear-cut. Point: Grey's Anatomy.
Timeline
Characters in Scrubs progress nicely each year, from intern to junior resident to senior resident, etc. In Grey's, the characters apparently are so dumb that they are still interns after three years. Point: Scrubs
And the winner is: Scrubs.
There you have it peoples, objective proof that you may safely avoid watching TV on Wednesday nights. Anyway, it's time to watch Scrubs ... seeing how it's the better show.
28 comments:
Chief on Grey's = Dr. Webber.
And the timeline on Grey's is correct. It's only been a year in the show's world, even though it's been three in real life. If you actually follow the show, you'll notice that they've only had one Thanksgiving and one Christmas in the past "three years."
anonymous -- thank you! I made the change. (Apparently Pickens is the name of the actor.)
"But what Grey's lacks in humor, it more than makes up in drama."
Is melodrama still drama ? Ha !
I wholeheartedly concur, Dr Axis. "Scrubs" is an order of magnitude better.
One of the other doc-bloggers did a very amusing rundown of all the medical shows a while back...think it might have been Sid Schwab but not sure.
It's kind of sad that a comedy is more accurate than all the "medical dramas" !
Dork
Hmm I may steal your idea to make a House vs Scrubs, the only two shows I watch. With your permission, of course.
Great run-down and welcome to the blogosphere. Ignore the freaks who are die-hard Gray's fans and will stand to correct every minor misnomer you make. People who watch that show need to be told it's not much more than General Hospital (and the crowd goes 'oooo').
Thank you for this cogent analysis. I agree with everything except the Attendings issue. Dr. Cox RULES! Those whiny wimps on Grey's are too irritating to bear.
You are correct in your analysis.
Scrubs is a couple of orders of magnitude better that Grey's.
-Parcho
My feelings exactly. . .were my life like Scrubs, it would be far more funny.
Hee. I love Scrubs, the only medical show I can even watch. The only one that gets close to reality.
How are you hanging in as Match approaches?
Applause! Applause! I couldn't agree more...I've been trying to convert everyone I know to switch from Grey's to Scrubs. I think I'll share this blog with some of my friends :)
great write-up!
i watch both up to their latest episodes and i must say i can't side either.
SCRUBS for its humour and its supposed true and honest reflections on life as a doctor, and hey, the friendship of J.D. and Turk. And its great to see them progress through the ranks of the medical career.
GREY's ANATOMY for its drama -mama. remember the episode with the bomb! woah! how i yearn to work in such a "happenin" hopsital! and hey, izzie is prettier and way hotter than any of the SCRUBS gals...
I'm amazed. I've seen only one episode of Scrubs, accidentally, and it was the biggest piece of crap I've ever come across! It's funny on such a simple, low - intelligent basis, I was wondering if it actually has some viewers. It's ridiculous to even compare it with Grey's Anatomy. Medical accuracy, whatever, but Scrubs is so dumb, I thought it was a joke.
that was my initial impression of scrubs after having watched a single random episode and deciding to judge it out of context, like a typical idiot with an inferiority complex. however after having acquired the first five seasons of scrubs before watching them in order, I realized that its medical accuracy crushed shows like House(my previous favorite medical show) and grey's anatomy(garbage).
I agree with the other poster about the hilarity of a comedy show displacing dramas for medical accuracy. Hell, it even rapes the dramas on drama(except maybe the lame, sheep herding, romance "sequences", which mainly appeal to girls with low self-esteem, of some other shows).
In terms of levels of comedy, scrubs successfully incorporates every level. from my experiences of watching, with focus on the comedic aspects, shows like arrested development, curb your enthusiasm, seinfeld, house, over a dozen woody allen's, monk, the office(both UK and USA), entourage, ali g, the larry sanders show and it's always sunny in philadelphia, I have to say that scrubs trumps all of them in terms of comedy(curb and seinfeld are iffy, because they use some more sophisticated comedy at times). you can't bash a show just because some ideas go over your head.
I've wondered how accurate scrubs is, and I already knew GA was little more than farce XD thanks for the post!
Hey! I liked your analysis, and I defenitly agree with the winner. Well, personally I enjoy and adore all comedy Tv Shows such as Scrubs!
In fact, I hace to do some kind of analysis of en episode of Scrubs next week...
Hey umm...could you send my en mail or something..I kinda have to ask you something...
claups88@gmail.com
Thnx!
grey's anatomy is way better then scrubs and grey's does have humor stupied
I'll take Grey's over Scrubs.
1. If I watch too much scrubs, I start to feel a little sick, not sure why, but I just do.
2. Grey's has a good amount of comedy and drama
3. speaking of comedy, I like Grey's way of doing comedy over Scrubs
4. Grey's is an hour long while scrubs is not.
But when it comes to all medical shows, ER will be my number 1. While Scrubs is accurate in the doctor relations and stereotypes they have about one another, ER is much more accurate in the medicine part. I even prefer the weaker final 5 years to Grey's.
Of course, I will take Scrubs over House which I just can't stand at all. Its just the same old thing on House and so on.
But yeah, between Scrubs and Grey's. Greys is my show...even though I have only gotten into Grey's recently.
disappointed that you clearly didn't watch of Grey's Anatomy to make this blog, I watch both and prefer neither, just depends what mood i'm in and if i can be bothered to sit down and take interest. Scrubs - For a chill out and some laughs... Grey's Anatomy - Want to concentrate and take in the drama of a show
When you said Grey's Anatomy had no humor, i immediately didn't take your argument seriously. I would think to have an opinion about either of these shows you would have to at least watched them both, and to say Grey's Anatomy has no humor is sadly ignorant.
Therefore your argument is highly biased and one sided. Waste of time, constructive criticism.
Discover the Grey’s Anatomy Scrubs From Pulse Uniform . Very nice review!
This review is ridiculously biased- I personally never liked Scrubs. Probably because I don't find sketch comedy funny but it's gags always seemed over the top and constant. I like humour that is character based and relevant to the story, not just "let's see how much crazy things we can get our actors to do today".
It really comes down to whether you want to watch a drama or a pure comedy show. Scrubs, in my opinion, cannot be taken seriously and could never even be considered a drama. I love Grey's so much because it is the most emotional, real drama on TV, as opposed to dramas like Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty which I still love too.
Grey's Anatomy is an amazing show and for you to write it off so easily is pretty lame.
This comparison is really biased. Grey's may have medical inaccuracies but in terms of relations, friendships and choices its very realistic! scrubs is comedy and not taken seriously.
and what do you mean sandra oh looks like a catchers glove?! she is flawless and you didn't bother mentioning about character's development
I love greys anatomy
Do you even watch Grey's Anatomy? It seems like you watched half an episode and then automatically formed an opinion. The "Girls" section is honestly really misogynistic, I mean, is it really your job to decide if Meredith's weight is ok? The Chiefs of Service one really doesn't work because Dr. Webber is a lot more than a 'stern black man'. You obviously went into this piece knowing who would win...
Okay clearly this post was made by someone who has seen one or two episodes of Grey's then got the rest of his research on how to be ignorant.com
1. Starting with Medical Accuracy, your comparing apples to oranges and your information is wrong. In Scrubs, they are medical residence. They treat and diagnose people. In surgical, there are different fields. General nero cardio neonatal etc. Neonatal focuses on newborns. They do more than deliver babies. They perform surgery on babies that won't make it to their first birthday. Also please give me one example at which Dr. Shepard preformed an abdominal surgery? Because he was the only nero surgeon and only worked on the brain.
2. IM NOT EVEN GOING TO COMMENT on the fact you called Christina a what was it? Oh right. A "a catcher's mitt with eyes" you racist. No, I'm going to comment on the fact that you believe that a good way to compare the two shows is to discriminate the girls and rank the shows based one their looks. If you were to have one on the guys too, that would be different. But to undermine women being nothing more then to be visually pleasing? Why don't you get off the high horse your riding because i bet any money the "catcher's mitt with eyes" and "ashen grey skeleton" are 100x hotter than you.
3. Turning a 2 syllable word into a 6 syllable is pretty easy. And Derek isn't "unusually popular". He's extremely nice to people.
4. Generic black guy. Really? Dr. Kelso is a terrible person and shouldn't be chief. It even shows that the last time he treated someone was right before he became chief. Chief Webber on the other hand is kind, stern, quirky and all in all an amazing leader who actually cares about his hospital and staff.
5. Your drama and comedy sections are stupid. Apples and oranges.
6. as someone else pointed out, the timeline for greys doesn't match up with ours.
It is clearly obvious you dislike Greys based on your "avoid watching TV on Wednesday nights" (fyi it has never aired on a Wednesday) and are team scrubs making this a biased opinion. Now because your an ignorant dumbass let me rewrite your post for you cuz i actually enjoy both shows.
Medical Accuracy
Although I haven't yet gone to medical school, the actual medical accuracy is hard to tell if possible or not. But, Greys focus more on the medical aspect then scrubs and shows different specialties. Point: greys
The Recidents
Where J.D and Turk are two lovable best friends, grey has Christina and Meredith. Two badasses. Point: Tie
The Attendings
Greys has a variety of different attendings. None of which are as mean or funny as Dr. Cox. The Attendings in Greys have great relationships with one another but at the end of the day just aren't as sassy as Dr. Cox. Point: scrubs
The Cheifs
Dr. Kelso is an arrogant old man who abuses his job and employees and doesn't actually help people. Dr. Webber (who even though isn't currently chief, will always be in all the fans hearts), is a loveable and stern doctor who always puts the needs of the hospital over everything else. He plays the fatherly role in all of the staffs hearts. Point: Greys
Humor
Greys being a TV drama, focuses more on quick and more conventional humor. Scrubs being a comedy, has a sider variety of ways to make the audience laugh. Going from Dr. Cox calling J.D every girl name he can think of, to Todd's terrible pick up lines. Point Scrubs
Drama
The drama in scrubs lasts about 1-2 episodes and doesn't carry on; where as 1/4 of a season may be devoted to major drama such as the recovery after the shooting that took place. But since Greys is a TV drama, this is normal. Point: Tie
Timeline
The timeline is Scrubs follows our timeline, making it more fast pace where as in Greys, they spent the time to really show you what residency is like. It took 3 years in our time where was it was one year in the shows. Point Tie.
Winner: TIe. Which is better? Thats the viewers opinion.
Grey's takes the win in all your criteria. Your opinions are, unfortunately, biased. Grey's anatomy is ALWAYS MEDICALLY ACCURATE, And if you actually watched it, you'd know it is funny too! The guys are hot i.e. McDreamy and McSteamy, and the woman are gorgeous too, Yang, Grey, little Grey and Torres. There are too many positives about Grey's Anatomy to list! Scrubs is simply a parody of GA. I like Scrubs, but Grey's Anatomy is the real winner here.
Lol at the people losing their shit about TV shows, if you like comedy you'll like scrubs if you like drama you'll like Grey's, even if Grey's technically have taken a format that scrubs used first and stretched it out and dramatised it (the voiceover, the interns, the use of emotional songs to emphasise particular scenes, etc) regardless of the similarities my first point still stands
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