Scrubs 2x01-2x22

Am now in NYC! Managed to brave the crowds at the airport as well, though honestly, they weren't all that crowded.

I can hear the band practicing for the Macy's parade right now.

Yay!

Guess who stayed up last night till an absolutely ungodly hour finished S2 of Scrubs? So good! My wee shippy heart squees! Also, I have S3 all downloaded and prepped for viewing for when I get back, yay!

I'm still not quite sure how the show got me hooked so very quickly! I don't know, there's something in it that makes me love all the characters and feel soft and mooshy toward them (except for Dr. Kelso and the Janitor, but then, they just crack me up). I don't know how much of this is normal for a sitcom, seeing as how I don't watch many, and how much of it is Scrubs.

One of the things that I've found I really like about the show is that the characters all have separate relationships with each other -- even while Carla dates Turk, she looks after JD, tries to be friends with Elliot despite Elliot's constant case of foot-in-mouth, and she even watches after Dr. Cox. I like that sense of friendship. Also, I was happy that Elliot and Carla get to be closer friends this season. They're not best friends like Turk and JD yet, but I like that it's there. And I like that Dr. Cox has friendships with the other residents who aren't JD as well (well... I use "friendship" loosely), and that Turk and Elliot are friends, and etc. And even the Janitor is starting to talk to non-JD people!

Another bit that I've really been liking about the show is its portrayal of relationships. Again, I'm not sure how much of this is actually special and how much of it is me being warped by experiences in the Jossverse and XF. But right now, there are two long-term couples going on in the show. ( Sort of spoilery, if one can be spoilery for this sort of thing )

Also, I like how Scrubs focuses on the small moments between couples. Like, Carla and Turk having a romantic dinner on the roof -- she brings salad for her and buffalo wings and blue cheese for him, because the thought in getting his favorite foods is more romantic than the stereotypical chocolate and roses. Or Dr. Cox getting completely irritated with Jordan and then going out to get her a hamburger and not forgetting the curly fries. I'm actually not that interested in watching the formative stages of a couple -- I see that often enough in chick flicks and read about it enough in romances. Everyone goes for the heady romance of falling in love, and I wish more shows and books would address the aftermath of building a relationship instead of going for breakup drama.

Again, I'm not sure how much of this is just Scrubs, or if most sitcoms do this or what.

It does have a little more girls-gone-wild type daydreams than I would like; I wish Elliot in particular wouldn't keep taking off her shirt. Also, I wish there were more minority characters in larger roles. Carla's Latina and Turk is black, as is Nurse Laverne. There's also Dr. Wen, the attending surgeon, who's Chinese, as is Bonnie, the star surgical resident. I feel somewhat that this is more than most shows I watch, but again... I keep wondering if the sitcom sphere is different somehow. The topic of racism and feminism comes up every so often, not in an anvilly way though. Well, they do tend to make Elliot the feminist advocate, but in her sort of neurotic Elliot way. I also like that Turk and JD are best friends, and that race isn't ignored, but it's also not a Special Issue of the Week thing. (JD: "I think it's so racist how you have that stereotype of black people yelling at the screen in horror movies!" Turk: "You just wish you could do that." JD (wistfully): "Yeah...") Ok maybe that was a bad example. It's hard to explain though.

I just get such a sense of fondness from the show! Watching the extras, I get a feeling that the actors all love the show, that the producers and the writers all love it, that everyone there is goofing around and having a really fun time. I like how John C. McGinley's interviews (he plays Dr. Cox) usually have the actresses who play Jordan and Elliot sitting around and laughing as well. It feels comfortable.

The show itself just seems so nice and squishy at heart, despite being a comedy. Even Todd the macho surgeon who goes around making penis jokes isn't offensive, amazingly, because he's so happy when he does it and he honestly doesn't mean any harm. He... just doesn't know how else to socialize or something (also, he runs after tennis balls when JD throws them). I also get a sense from all the characters (except Dr. Kelso and the Janitor, of course) that they're all trying hard, that they really want to do the right thing. Even from prickly Jordan and Dr. Cox. And oh, I am getting all squishy and sappy now, but it is so nice to watch something in which the characters are complicated but are also nice, decent people underneath.

Anyway. Someday I will stop babbling about Scrubs, but I fear you will all have to suffer some more babbling as soon as I get through S3.

Happy Fooding Day!

Happy Day of Much Fooding!

Or, er, giving thanks.

Or... giving thanks for much fooding!

I am sitting in my sister's apartment and doing absolutely nothing to help with the feast-preparing. I think so far mashed potatoes, some sort of herby chicken, pumpkin pie, and dumplings are on the menu. Somehow, dumplings for Thanksgiving are traditional for my sister, and I like that.

This is so very different from the past three Thanksgivings I've had, all of which were at the boy's parents' place. And I don't mean to sound ungrateful, particularly on Thanksgiving, but.. I'm not good at traditionally celebrating things, even things like Chinese New Year's. My family also isn't much for doing this type of thing. I like this Thanksgiving, comprised of 10 people crammed into a two-bedroom apartment, random conversations going on every which way, random DVDs playing, people deciding last minute how to cook the chicken. I like that the plates don't match and that there is no turkey, I like that we all slept through the Macy's parade.

I've had "traditional" Thanksgivings now, in which there are tables laden with cheese and appetizers, where the boy's mom would cook pumpkin soup and pie and turkey in the kitchen while people watched football on TV and his grandmother would bring in mushroom or green bean casserole. And I'm glad that I've been to those, and they were great fun in their own way (also, I had Yorkshire pudding for the first time, which was awesome!). But like I said... my family's isn't very traditional. I'm not very traditional. We celebrate things between cultures and between countries, we're never in the same place at the same time.

In college, Thanksgiving was too short to go home, so we'd go to other people's houses or spend the time with friends, or something. Back in Taiwan, we wouldn't have the day off, so the moms would bring in turkey and mashed potatoes and pie, along with mi fun and fried rice. So I guess this is my tradition -- having a haphazard day with friends, too many cooks in the kitchen, no one quite knowing what to do. And I like it, and it is good.

So happy fooding for anyone else celebrating, and I hope you're doing so in a manner you enjoy, be it with all the works and three types of cranberry jelly (mmmm, I am jealous), or by yourself with a good book on a comfy sofa.