If you grew up into adulthood in the early 2000s like me, you might have watched a little show called Scrubs. Set in Sacred Heart hospital, it follows the lives of several young doctors, surgeons and nurses as they progress through their careers and discover their work and love lives collide more than they might think.

Whilst it was a sitcom - and it featured much comedy and recurring themes - Scrubs also addressed the darker realities of life in a clever, subtle way that sometimes smacked you in the face at the same time (can you honestly say you saw Ben’s death coming?)

Along with many of the sadder moments, came a soundtrack from an electic mix of artists - many of whom were unknown before their work featured in Scrubs.

Scrubs returns for a reboot this week after nearly 16 years away. To honour its return, I’m sharing soundtracks and artists that I probably wouldn’t have discovered had it not been for Scrubs.

Part 1 - Collide by Howie Day

In series 4, episode 20 “My Boss’s Free Haircut”, Turk and Carla are still working through their marital difficulties. Dr Kelso (“the Bobbotron”) agrees to look after a patient to prove he is still connected.

His patient is suffering with complications due to her weight, but opts for weight-loss surgery: what Kelso believes is the easy way out.

This leads to Kelso’s moving speech of how “nothing in this world worth having comes easy” and it seems like he’s not just talking to his patient, but to Turk too (“Turkleton, I have no idea why you’re chiming in, but I’ll say this to both of you…”)

That moment introduces the first beats of Howie Day’s “Collide” as Turk realises what he needs to do to save his marriage. The ending of the track marks the end of the episode, with Turk and Carla making small steps to reconcile.

Check out the video, music and lyrics in my Lyrics Library here.

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Turk and his weight loss patient listening to advice from Dr “Bobbo” Kelso.


Note for Disney+ viewers:

Due to expired licensing agreements and agreements that were originally signed on the basis it was for television broadcasting, some tracks (especially in series 1-4) have been changed from their original on Disney+ and other streaming services.