"Scrubs" (2001) More at IMDb Pro »TV series 2001-????

The show's clever, the dialogue smart, the characters engaging and the the occasional veering into the absurd and outrageous provides a refreshing break from TV fare that is generally tepid at best these days.

Yes, the characters may not all be nice and some may be nasty throughout the show, such as Tara Reid's cameo as J.D.'s slutty girlfriend. But they're always interesting, and the show's constantly funny. The love-hate relationship between Dr. Cox and Jordan is a pleasure to watch and keeping the J.D.-Elliot love/relationship off-kilter is a smart move on the writers' part.

At a time when American TV audiences seem enraptured by garbage, such as "Survivor," "The Bachelor" and "Who Wants to Marry a Gold-Digging Slut/Hunk on a Deserted Island While Answering Questions With 19,000 Chances to Telephone Relatives and Friends for the Answers," NBC's "Scrubs" provides a breath of fresh air.

It is the best sitcom on TV today and I only hope that NBC does right by this show and promotes it as much as it did the over-hyped "Friends." Because "Scrubs" deserves all the promotion so that it can stick around for a long time.

Addendum: The current season of "Scrubs" - where NBC runs two new episodes every Tuesday - is particularly good.

This show gets absolutely no respect from its network and the show's creators, I think, believe this might very well be the last season. So they're pulling out all the stops and the lunacy is inspired, inventive and unquestionably funny.

The remarkable thing about this show is that is so deftly balances wacky, wild humor - the non sequitur fantasy sequences are hilarious - with surprisingly moving and quiet moments.

Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison and Judy Reyes have a wonderful sense of comic timing. And even though the series revolves around Braff's character, J.D., the show, I believe, belongs to John C. McGinley as Dr. Cox.

His riffs are howlers and, yet, McGinley always finds the humanity in his character and the situations. And Dr. Cox's relationship with his wife, Jordan (Christa Miller, who is superb), is one of the series' highlights.

I only wish the DVDs of the series would come out much sooner. "Scrubs" is one of the best sitcoms ever on TV and its 2006 season provides ample proof of that.