My First Day

"My First Day"
Scrubs episode
On their first meeting, the Janitor threatens J.D. when he suspects the new intern of jamming a door with a penny, hence beginning the series-long animosity between the two.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 1
Written by	Bill Lawrence
Directed by	Adam Bernstein
Guest stars	Jake Fritz (Billy) Mary Gillis (Mrs. Pratt) Lynne Maclean (Nurse Kearney) Shannon Welles (Old Woman) Matt Winston (Dr. Jeffrey Steadman)
Featured music	"Away" by Leroy "I Want You To Want Me" by Cheap Trick "Over Me" by Tricky "Please Forgive Me" by David Gray
Production no.	535G
Original airdate	October 2, 2001
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List of Scrubs episodes

"My First Day" is the pilot of the American comedy-drama Scrubs. It originally aired as Episode 1 of Season 1 on October 2, 2001.

Plot

Dr. John "J.D." Dorian starts his first day as an intern at Sacred Heart Hospital. His story begins with a first-person narrative, setting the tone and style of the series while introducing the main characters. J.D.'s life slowly unfolds to the audience, showing flashbacks to illustrate J.D.'s strong friendship with Chris Turk. They soon meet Elliot Reid, a recurring love interest of J.D.'s throughout the series. As J.D.'s day continues, he is thrust into the fray, but, due to his nerves, freezes up and relies on Nurse Carla Espinosa to carry out a routine IV placement, in this scene we are also shown the ever-dominating, bitterly sarcastic presence of Doctor Percival "Perry" Cox, J.D.'s later mentor. J.D.'s first movement towards Elliot occurs during rounds with the Chief of Medicine, Dr. Bob Kelso, in which J.D. gives Elliot an answer when she appears to be struggling. When asked what she could do to repay him, he replies "Let me take you out to dinner." When she chooses not to help J.D. in order to show her intelligence, J.D. takes back his invitation. J.D. encounters the hospital's janitor repairing an automatic door. J.D. innocently speculates that the cause of the problem is a penny stuck in the door. The suspicious janitor swears vengeance on J.D. if this proves to be the problem. (*Note* In the series Finale 8 years later, J.D. admits to the Janitor that he did accidentally kick a penny along the floor and it had gotten wedged in the door. In the same episode, the Janitor reveals that he knew that J.D. had done this as he had witnessed it himself. He just wanted J.D. to own up to it at the time.)

J.D. runs into a medical supply closet to hide and discovers Elliot in there, hiding as well. J.D. furiously states how she betrayed him and asks why she did it. She claims he just wants to sleep with her. J.D. says he wanted more, but no longer wants to. Cox comes across them and is unfazed. J.D. is later on the floor, hurting after being kicked in the stomach by Elliot (he was attempting to lock her in).

The dark side of Dr. Kelso that Dr. Cox detests is shown in his selfish cruelty of only caring for patients who have the required health insurance, crushing J.D.'s previous thoughts of Dr. Kelso being his "safety net". J.D. eventually overcomes his fears and, with Dr. Cox's encouragement, successfully inserts a chest tube. Elliot comes to tell J.D. she talked to the family of his patient which was pronounced dead--as an apology. Happy to have gone through his first three days "without looking like a complete idiot", he leaves, runs into a glass door and falls to the floor.

Cultural references

• In the first scene, as JD rises out of the bed, he is wearing a "Clone High" t-shirt. "Clone High" was also created by "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence.

Continuity

• "My First Day" is the only episode in which Elliot wears glasses.
• Michael Hobert, who was later cast as Lonnie in Season 3, is listed in the credits of this episode as "Pizza Guy". He is the patient in the MRI machine while J.D. and Turk discuss living arrangements, oddly, he is wearing a pizza delivery boy outfit, rather than the usual hospital gown.

Production details

Several of the scenes from this episode are based on the real-life experiences of Medical adviser, Jon Doris a close friend of director Bill Lawrence. This includes the scene where an attempted paracentesis results in a jet of fluid, and another where J.D. hides to avoid being the first on the scene of an emergency, although both of these scenes are exaggerated.^[1]

• J.D.'s sitcom fantasy was filmed on the set of "My Wife and Kids".
• Footage from this episode was later re-used in "My Urologist", with Dr. Kim Briggs digitally worked into it to make it look like she was there on J.D.'s first day.
• This was the only episode of Scrubs not shot at the former North Hollywood Medical Center. Instead, it was filmed at another hospital in Glendale, California. This hospital has since been torn down.^[2]

References

1. ^ Baca, Ricardo (September 28, 2001). "'Scrubs' proves refreshingly witty". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. http://www.caller2.com/2001/september/28/today/ricardob/12855.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-10. 
2. ^ My Own Personal 'Net Thing

External links

• "My First Day" at the Internet Movie Database
• "My First Day" at TV.com