"My ABC's" is the 155th episode of the television series '' Scrubs'', and the fifth episode of the series' eighth season. It was broadcast on January 27, 2009 on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Plot

The episode starts with J.D., Turk, and Izzy watching ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

''. J.D.,

Elliot Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott, Eliott and Elyot) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name has historically been given to males, females have increasingly been given the name ...

and

Dr. Cox Percival Ulysses "Perry" Cox, M.D., is a fictional character played by John C. McGinley on the American television comedy-drama '' Scrubs''. Dr. Cox appeared in every episode except " My Last Words", " My Comedy Show", and " My Full Moon", all ...

each choose an intern to work with. J.D. picks Denise, who lacks compassion towards patients. Also, throughout the whole show, J.D. calls Denise "Jo" because she reminds him of a character from '' The Facts of Life''. Their patient has

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

that has been in remission, and they haven't told his eight-year-old son of the

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. 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 An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention o ...

, causing him more pain because she was "too selfish to let him go". 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 Carla is the feminized version of Carl, Carlos or Charles, from ''ceorl'' in Old English, which means "free man". Notable people with the name include: * Carla, French singer and former member of the children's music group Kids United * Carla Abe ...

. 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. 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 Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. * This episode was originally intended to be the season premiere, but ABC decided to change in order to have the

Courteney Cox Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom '' Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...

character introduced in the

first episode A series premiere is the first aired installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. In the United States, many series premieres are aired in the fall time or, for mid-season replacements, either in the spring or ...

, as such they did some pick-up shots referring to things in the middle of the season.

Cultural references

* The song at the end of the episode is a cover of the ''

'' theme song by

Joshua Radin Joshua Radin (born June 14, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter. He has recorded nine studio albums, and his songs have been used in a number of films and TV series. His most successful album, '' Simple Times'', was released in 2008. Beginni ...

. *Dr. Cox asks the new interns if any of them watch ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht (Netherlands), Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this f ...

.'' After an intern raises their hand, he tells them to leave. * This episode includes appearances by four ''

'' Muppets:

Oscar the Grouch Oscar the Grouch is a Muppet character created by Jim Henson and Jon Stone for the PBS/HBO children's television program ''Sesame Street''. He has a green body, no visible nose, and lives in a trash can. Oscar's favorite thing is trash, as eviden ...

, played by

Caroll Spinney Caroll Edwin Spinney (December 26, 1933 – December 8, 2019) was an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author, artist and speaker, most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on ''Sesame Street'' from its inception in 1969 until 2018. E ...

;

Grover Grover is a blue Muppet character on the popular PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street''. Self-described as lovable, cute and furry, he is a blue monster who rarely uses contractions when he speaks or sings. Grover was originall ...

, played by

Eric Jacobson Eric Jacobson is an American puppeteer. He is best known for performing Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle for The Muppets Studio, as well as ''Sesame Street'' characters Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and Guy Smiley—all role ...

;

Elmo Elmo is a red Muppet monster character on the long-running PBS/ HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street''. A furry red monster who has a falsetto voice and illeism, he hosts the last full five-minute segment (fifteen minutes prio ...

, played by

Kevin Clash Kevin Jeffrey Clash (born September 17, 1960) is an American puppeteer, director and producer known for puppeteering Elmo on ''Sesame Street'' from 1984 to 2012. He also performed puppets for ''Labyrinth'', '' Dinosaurs'', '' Oobi'', and various ...

, and an Anything Muppet named "Ex Ray", played by

Stephanie D'Abruzzo Stephanie Ann D'Abruzzo (; born December 7, 1971) is an American actress, puppeteer and singer. She has performed various Muppets in the TV program ''Sesame Street''. She held starring roles on '' Oobi'' and ''The Book of Pooh''. She was one of ...

. ** D'Abruzzo had previously appeared on-screen herself as the patient in the musical episode, "

My Musical "My Musical" is a musical episode of the American comedy-drama television series '' Scrubs''. It is the 123rd episode of the show, and was originally aired as episode 6 of season 6 on January 18, 2007 on NBC. The episode follows the story of P ...

". * The title of this episode is also a reference to the recent switch of ''Scrubs'' to ABC, as well as a reference to the fact that the ''Sesame Street'' Muppets make an appearance.

Reception

This episode was watched by 5.12 million American viewers. The episode following this one was viewed by 5.05 million, averaging 5.09 million viewers for the hour.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:My Abc's Scrubs (season 8) episodes 2009 American television episodes Crossover fiction