My ABC's

"My ABC's"
Scrubs episode
Episode no.Season 8
Episode 5
Directed byBill Lawrence
Written byBill Lawrence
Production code713
Original air dateJanuary 27, 2009 (2009-01-27)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"My Happy Place"
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"My Cookie Pants"
Scrubs season 8
List of episodes

"My ABC's" is the fifth episode of the eighth season and the 155th overall episode of the American television sitcom Scrubs. Written and directed by series creator Bill Lawrence, it was broadcast on January 27, 2009 on ABC.

Plot

The episode starts with J.D., Turk, and Izzy watching Sesame Street. J.D., Elliot and Dr. Cox each choose an intern to work with. J.D. picks Denise, who lacks compassion towards patients. Throughout the whole episode, J.D. calls Denise "Jo" because she reminds him of a character from The Facts of Life. Their patient has lung cancer that has been in remission, and they haven't told his eight-year-old son of the cancer. They hope the illness is a minor infection, but after J.D. runs tests he finds that the cancer has returned. J.D. sends Denise to tell the man's distraught wife. J.D. tells her that she shouldn't let the wife put her husband on machines, which would only cause more pain. In response, Denise bluntly tells her that if she does put her husband on machines, it might lead to an infection and then to antibiotics, causing him more pain because she was "too selfish to let him go". In a final scene, the patient's wife is seen talking to their son, as J.D. looks into the patient's room with tears in his eyes.

Elliot's intern Katie tries to use her to land a case study with Turk, who eventually gives the case study to Katie after some prodding from Elliot and Carla. In the end, however, Elliot learns that Katie has not changed at all upon overhearing her say that she'll be fine in the hospital because she "has Dr. Reid wrapped around her finger."

Dr. Cox chooses Ed, who is lazy and arrogant, but talented. He tries to figure out why he hates him so much, finally figuring it out after witnessing Ed refusing the case study and relaxing in the coffee shop. While Cox says that Ed is "better than most" interns despite his lack of work ethic, he also tells Ed that he will be continuing to keep an eye on him.

The episode ends with J.D., Elliot, and Dr. Cox looking on solemnly as their respective interns collectively leave the hospital for the day. Elliot sighs and notes that "it's going to be a long year."

Broadcast

  • This episode was originally scheduled to air on January 20, but was rescheduled to a week later so that ABC could cover the Neighborhood Ball to celebrate the Presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.
  • This episode was originally intended to be the season premiere, but ABC decided to change in order to have the Courteney Cox character introduced in the first episode, as such they did some pick-up shots referring to things in the middle of the season.[1]

Cultural references

References

  1. ^ Alan Sepinwall (28 January 2009). "Scrubs, "My ABC's" & "My Cookie Pants": Flash back to flash forward".