As the coronavirus continues to spread, the live music industry has taken a major hit. Nearly every festival and concert tour this summer has been canceled or postponed in order to adhere to social distancing guidelines, and consequently, live music and touring stocks have fallen drastically. In the midst of the festival and concert tour schedule changes, Ticketmaster is making it more difficult for ticketholders to get a refund. But artists are responding by doing what they can to return money to their fans.

Ticketmaster recently faced backlash for quietly altering their refund policy. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the company offered full refunds for shows that were either postponed or canceled by the artist. But, in recent weeks, Ticketmaster changed their policy’s language to remove concert postponements from refund availability. That means fans can only get their money back if a concert was canceled entirely, not postponed.

Musicians like Bon Jovi are attempting to combat Ticketmaster’s policy change. In a statement, the veteran singer’s crew announced they would be canceling all summer shows, rather than postponing them, so fans are able to receive refunds and financially support themselves:

“Due to the ongoing global pandemic, it is no longer feasible for Bon Jovi to tour this summer. Given these difficult times, we have made the decision to cancel the tour entirely. This will enable ticketholders to get refunds to help pay their bills or buy groceries. These are trying times. You’ve always been there for us and we’ll always be there for you. We look forward to seeing everyone again on tour when we can all safely be together. We will continue to send out news and updates on Bon Jovi touring in the weeks and months to come.”

Though some fans are not able to receive refunds to postponed shows, some artists are making sure fans can exchange their tickets for a later date. Taylor Swift recently announced she would be postponing all her 2020 tour dates. While that means fans cannot receive a refund through Ticketmaster, all tickets will be automatically transferred to the reflect newly scheduled date.

Late last year, Kali Uchis debuted her first solo music since her 2018 breakout album Isolation. Her track “Solita” arrived as a standalone single and the singer has been keeping her new music under wraps ever since. Uchis recently collaborated with Little Dragon for “Are You Feeling Sad?” and Kaytranada for “10%.” But, other than those two tracks, Uchis has remained relatively quiet. However, the singer revealed on Monday that fans won’t have to wait much longer for new music.

Kali Uchis unveiled that her upcoming EP is arriving at the end of this week. Announcing the project on social media, Uchis said: “can’t give you my album yet, but i recorded some demos in my room for u.” The demos are compiled to form Uchis’ EP To Feel Alive. Along with sharing her EP’s release date, the singer revealed its raunchy cover art. Partially censored for social media, Uchis’ To Feel Alive cover art is a pastel painting of the singer performing a sex act on herself.

While the art may be jarring for some, Uchis was quick to thwart any pushback from fans. Replying to one fan who called the artwork “ugly,” the singer had the perfect comeback, writing in an understandably now-deleted tweet, “u & the cover have that in common.”

To Feel Alive EP is out 4/24 via Universal. Pre-order it here.

Previously on Jesus Christ, Superstars: Bob Backlund wore a jacket that made him look like a patriotic disco pirate, Marty Jannetty dressed up like a Starburst, and WWE Network took five months to upload new episodes. Thank God we’re back!

If you’d like to watch this week’s episode, you can do that here, and you can support the column (so we’re allowed to keep writing it) by reading previous installments on our Jesus Christ, Superstars tag page.

If you like these, and our break from the normal Best and Worst format, make sure to share it around so it gets read and drop us a comment below.

Here’s what you missed 28 years ago on WWF Superstars for December 12, 1992.

Jobbers Of The Week

The last time we saw “John Richner” on Superstars, he fell victim to Papa Shango’s dreaded voodoo leg cramp. This week, he’s back with the actual spelling of his name — John Rechner — and teaming with the Brooklyn Brawler. Say what you will about the Brawler, but tagging with a face from WWE’s Mount Rushmore of jobbers is a major step up from jobbing to a spooky Charley horse.

It’s also worth noting that despite having one of the worst haircuts in Superstars history, he topped it by shaving off just the middle of his scalp merkin. So now instead of having a big drain clog on the top of his head, he’s got two, smaller clogs. I think he just left a tuft in the back so Sags would have a handle while relentlessly raking the man’s face in Brian Knobbs’ razor burn.

Anybody else bothered by the Nasty Boys doing a “gross armpit” spot but shaving their armpit hair? Isn’t the hair getting stinky and gross what makes it disgusting? It’s not like all the other parts of Knobbs and Sags’ bodies aren’t sweaty. This and other observations from the guy who once wrote an entire paragraph arguing that Mr. McMahon’s “Kiss My Ass Club” isn’t as gross as they pretend because he just makes them rub their nose against his butt cheek, which is funny gross, but not gross gross like if they actually went up in there. Basically you’re just kissing his leg. What, is the lower back disgusting? It’s biologically equidistant. Butt cheek grossness is a social construct.

Please unread the previous paragraph before proceeding.

A Brief Aside About Capitalism And Classism

Not to derail Jobbers of the Week as soon as we got it back, but I have to mention this week’s green-screen promo from Money Inc. on the Nasty Boys. Sean Mooney, gift from God that he is, prefaces it with the statement, “Now when you are Tag Team Champions there is hardly time to dream; and considering the tough competitors out there in the tag team ranks, there is no rest for the weary, or the very rich.” SOCIETY!

IRS goes full MAGA while describing the Nasties:

“I’ll tell you something, Million Dollar Man. We know why they call them the Nasty Boys. They nastily stink, they nastily smell, they’re just nasty, nasty people. But we know how to deal with nasty people: we just put them back on the STREET where they belong!”

Bonus points for using some variation of “nasty” six times in four sentences to describe a team choosing to call themselves the “Nasty Boys.” Mooney sticks the landing with a deadpan, “compassion certainly not a trait of Money Incorporated.” GREED CERTAINLY NOT A TRAIT OF PHILANTHROPY LLC.

Okay, back to the jobbers.

Speaking of haircuts and terrifying armpit grossness, Gus Cantankerous is back this week, and he’s grown out his hair from when we saw him back in October. He’s on “Lance Cassidy” duty, whom you may remember as the World Wrestling Federation’s brief attempt to make Steve Armstrong a southern heartthrob with a vague “guns and mullets” vibe. Shit’s rough when you’re the fourth best wrestling Armstrong.

Harlem Globetrotters Bit Of The Week

Half Beatle John Paul returns as well this week, losing to Bam Bam Bigelow. If you aren’t familiar with Bigelow (and/or haven’t been reading the Best and Worst of Nitro) Bammer’s basically what would happen if you made the Nasty Boys into one guy and set him on fire.

Unfortunately the match is all about the encroaching Doink the Clown, who brings out a bucket during the match and drinks from a bottle of water inside the bucket to … show us the bucket has water in it, somehow? Don’t think about it, it’s like doing a submission hold on a table. It hurts more. The bucket’s got water in it. But anyway, if you’ve never seen a Harlem Globetrotters game and don’t know where this is going, Doink threatens to douse fire-type Bam Bam with water, only for the bucket to be filled with harmless confetti. Swerved!

That’s only the first half of the bit, though. Once you’ve established that you’re pretending the bucket of confetti is water, you have to flip it. So after Marty Jannetty defeats future Light Heavyweight Champion (no really) Dwayne Gill, Doink returns with the bucket.

Marty, having the deductive reasoning of a trout, is like, “haha, what a cool confetti bucket!” And then … well, you know.

The look of absolute, unfathomable betrayal is the funniest part of this entire episode. Dude wasn’t this shook when his tag team partner kicked him in the face and threw him through a stripper’s barber shop window.

Debut Of The Week

Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler’s WWE career is one of the few seemingly infinite things in the world, but have you ever wondered where it began? On this December 12, 1992, edition of Superstars. The best part? He’s debuting right now because the Royal Rumble is coming up, and it has “Royal” in the name. No, really.

“All of this talk about royalty, the Royal Rumble, it’s only natural that the true royalty of wrestling should appear on the scene.”

As you might imagine, having Bobby Heenan and 1992 Jerry Lawler on commentary at the same time is like letting Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets call your show. McMahon is a perfect intermediary, though. If you’re going back and watching the episode, watch his eyes when Lawler says, “You don’t have to refer to me as Mr. Lawler, King will suffice nicely.” It’s BUG-EYED DISBELIEF followed by a moment of pleasant acceptance followed by BUG-EYED DISBELIEF.

Goodbye Of The Week

The seven-month WWF career of justifiably angry ex-convict Nailz ends this week with a win over Repo Man’s used car salesman cousin, Mike Collins.

As we’ve mentioned before, very few people have as dramatic an exit from WWE as Kevin ‘Nailz’ Wacholz. The most reliable third-party story we have on the incident is from Bret Hart, who in his autobiography recalled that Wacholz got The Berzerker to watch the door so he could corner Vince McMahon in his office and scream at him for fifteen minutes over a pay dispute. A loud crash was heard, which turned out to be Wacholz, “knocking Vince over in his chair, choking him violently.” He was fired, of course, which led to him filing a wrongful termination lawsuit and claiming that McMahon had given him steroids, made him do steroids, and sexually assaulted him. Also he saw McMahon in the closet making babies and he saw one of the babies and the baby looked at him.

Nailz would go on to have a storied career in World Championship Wrestling — calling himself “The Prisoner” to lose his first match to Sting and immediately disappear — and would, believe it or not, team with Ron Simmons in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Super Grade Tag League (now the World Tag League) in 1994. See you never, Nailz. Heaven needed someone to put on Herman Munster shoes and choke a cop.

Positive Affirmation Of The Week

Slick, the Reverend who somehow just now found religion, delivers a surprisingly timely sermon comparing life to the Royal Rumble:

“You know in comparison, sometimes my friend, life can be just like the Royal Rumble. Every couple of minutes, things all around you are just changing. You don’t know how to trust. Trouble coming from every direction. And I want to say unto you today, this is the reverend with a message of hope: say to yourself every day, I’m going to have a happy day. I’m gon’ have a happy day, though my sky may be clouded and gray, I’m gon’ have a happy day.”

Saturday morning Slick promos for children just hit different in quarantine.

Planet Hollywood Event Of The Week

One of this week’s most interesting time capsule packages is a video about the World Wrestling Federation having a Make-a-Wish fundraiser at Planet Hollywood, featuring Macho Man Randy Savage, Ric Flair, and others. John Cena’s also there somehow, but I think they just CGI’d him in. Yokozuna arrives via what Sean Mooney calls “traditional transportation,” which he adds is, “much to the driver’s chagrin.” Who needs legs anyway?

I should also quickly note that WWE had a guy named “The Undertaker” pull up to a Make-a-Wish event in a hearse. Thank Christ for context.

Starfleet Command Of The Week

This week we learn more about Max Moon than we’ll ever learn again. He arrived in the WWF, “after battling many various enemies throughout the universe” — thank goodness he’s fought VARIOUS enemies — and is, “totally focused and FOOLY prepared for the task ahead.” What’s that, you may ask? “To blast my opponents right out of the ring, and launch them into orbit.” I wish his promo had just been, “I HAVE FOUGHT SO MANY ALIENS AND NOW MY JOB IS TO KILL A BUNCH OF WRESTLERS AND SEND THEIR DEAD BODIES INTO OUTER SPACE.” I also wish that he’d succeeded at least once, and that I could write the sentence, “Gus Kantarakis was then launched into orbit, where he suffocated in the vacuum of space and was never seen again.”

Also, did you know Max Moon supporters are called his “Star Fleet?” I bet those fans were really disappointed to see him get Roddenburied.

PACKAWHILEJACKALS Of The Week

This week’s main event segment is a “special interview” featuring a condor in Liberace’s bathrobe screeching at a Canadian drum major. [squints] Sorry, this is Ric Flair interrupting Bret Hart to scream at him about how the Royal Rumble’s coming up, which means Flair’s probably going to be champion again. Have you SEEN the 1992 Rumble? This of course ends with Flair and Razor Ramon attacking the champ 2-on-1 until professional turncoat Mr. Perfect arrives to make the save.

Later, Bret does his standard great “how DARE you” promo where he calls Flair and Ramon a “pack of wild jackals” and goes full Canadian with, “I don’t care if it’s one’a ya, or both’a ya!” He also calls Ramon “Mr. Match-IS-mo,” which is delightful. Challenge them to a fight in your dad’s dank gym!

Next Week Of The Week

Bob Backlund, Genichiro Tenryu, and Carlos Colón. Also El Gigante is there dressed as a giant naked man with fake muscles and airbrushed-on He-Man underpants. I’m not making any of this up.

The Lovebirds starring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae was just one of several films that saw its spring release date jettisoned as the ongoing pandemic shut down theaters across the globe. But while other releases went straight to VOD or remained in flux, hoping that they can still make it into theaters, Paramount went a different direction and brokered a deal to release The Lovebirds on Netflix, with this new trailer showcasing the film’s romcom-crime highlights.

Unfortunately, Netflix and Paramount didn’t provide a release date at the time of the announcement, but that’s no longer the case. In a surprise Twitter video that Nanjiani dropped on Monday morning, he reveals to Rae that their romantic action comedy will be available for streaming on May 22.

You can watch Nanjiani’s announcement below, which also features Rae getting in a few jabs about his new Marvel physique:

The Lovebirds was originally scheduled to debut at SXSW, but like most festivals and mass gatherings going into the foreseeable future, that event was cancelled as the world quickly retreated into self-isolation to slow the spread of the pandemic. With studios still shuffling release dates in a mad scramble to make sure its biggest blockbusters see their full box office potential, it makes sense for smaller films like The Lovebirds to broker deals with streaming services where audiences are starved for content.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the film from Entertainment Weekly:

It hijinks start when Jibran (Nanjiani) and Leilani (Rae) are accosted in their car by a guy claiming to be a cop commandeering their vehicle to chase down a perp. But it doesn’t appear that this guy is legit an officer of the law when he runs over his target… again and again and again. Now the couple are on the run, framed for the murder.

The Lovebirds will start streaming on Netflix on May 22.

After explaining the origin of House of Pain’s biggest hit in last week’s teaser, Everlast’s full, super-sized episode of People’s Party With Talib Kweli has arrived.

In this week’s episode, the Golden Era pioneer breaks down a number of topics, from representing his Irish heritage and swapping straight-up rap for rock on Whitey Ford Sings The Blues to how he formed his hip-hop supergroup La Coka Nostra with B-Real, Ill Bill, and Sick Jacken. He also details his infamous beef with Eminem, how that beef wound up pulling in Dilated Peoples, and how it was eventually squashed with the help of B-Real.

“We were the only guys that battled on Napster, honestly,” Everlast admits, referring to the equally infamous file-sharing service that once shook the music industry to its core. “The only time it became a stress factor,” he says, “At our first initial meeting, I tried to shake [Eminem’s] hand and just kinda felt like I got igged. So I put a little kind of, what they’d call a subtweet… It got noticed, and the funny part was that I got called by B-Real,” who was also managed by Paul Rosenberg at the time, as Eminem was. Everlast breaks down how he and Eminem traded shots but ultimately let it go, because there were so many mutual connections and that alternative stations picked up on the beef and started leaving him off their festivals because they didn’t want to offend Eminem. Eventually, B-Real jumped in and helped mediate the feud. Everlast maintains that the only thing he would have done differently is change a line about Eminem’s kid.

Watch Everlast’s full interview above.

People’s Party is a weekly interview show hosted by Talib Kweli with big-name guests exploring hip-hop, culture, and politics. Subscribe via Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.

Ken Block is no stranger to entertaining. The famed rally car driver and member of the Hoonigan Racing Division has spent years behind the wheel, whether it be for a race, a television show, or his YouTube channel, which boasts 890,000 subscribers as of this writing.

Now, Block is one of the many names to hop on board with Quibi for the first wave of shows during the mobile streaming app’s launch. In the aptly named Block vs. Elba, Block and Idris Elba go head-to-head in a collection of car-themed challenges. While logic would dictate that Block has a major leg-up, Elba is no slouch behind the wheel, either, and without giving anything away, the show’s second episode features him being far more eager than Block to do a particularly dangerous challenge.

Block vs. Elba made its debut last week, and Uproxx Sports caught up with Block to discuss how this came to fruition, making the show, and why he thinks it’s perfect for Quibi.

How did it come about and what was the timeline on making this show go from an idea to reality?

Yeah, good question. The impetus of it was really Idris. Idris really likes cars and likes to do car-type activities, everything from racing to the shows. So he sought me out, came out and visited me in a race a couple of years ago in England and we hit it off and really enjoyed hanging out with each other. So he pursued a couple of different show ideas with myself, and the first one that we’ve done now is this show with Quibi. So this was his production company that did it, it was their idea and I just came along for the ride, which I gladly did because I liked the idea of it, I liked working with Idris, and I think they did a great job.

Filming the show, can I get a general timeline of how that looked, where it happened, and then just the sheer amount of organization that goes into setting up the various challenges that you two put yourselves through?

Yeah, the show was filmed last June in a part of London by the London airport ad it took three or four days to shoot, I think a total of four days. Some of the stuff, interviews and little bits between Idris and I were done separately, but then a bunch of the competitions were obviously done together. So it was really quite fun to do and quite a challenge for the production team to do all those different set-ups in a small area.

The ones that I saw were the obstacle course in the first episode, the long jump, and then driving on two wheels. Why were those things that you guys wanted to get into this as challenges?

Well I think the basic impetus of it was Idris knew if we just went out and raced that, most likely, my experience in the racing field would put him at a disadvantage. So they came up with a bunch of fun and interesting challenges that would challenge us in different ways, because I’ve never driven a vehicle on two wheels, so that was something that we kind of equaled the playing field because we both have skills in the car but this challenges those skills in a totally different way. So I enjoy adapting and approaching each challenge as a unique way to challenge all the race craft that I had, but I think it was a great way, like I said, to make the challenges an equalizer that didn’t make it just so the race car driver went out and beat the non-race car driver.

Yeah, I was going to say that second episode, it seemed like you were a bit surprised that Idris was so gung-ho about having a car launch off of a ramp and onto a bed of other cars. Did you kind of get surprised by his desire to do some of those crazier things that you might not expect that a Hollywood celebrity would be into doing?

Well, he comes from a slightly different world where stunts that normal stunt drivers do. Like, jumping a car to a dead stop is kind of normal but for me that’s the opposite of what you want to do. Every jump that I do is a very calculated jump with a take-off ramp and a landing ramp. I want to roll away from the jump, I don’t want to come to a dead stop. So I think that one just came more as a surprise to me that people wanted to do that. But for him coming from the world that he comes from, he sees a lot more of that stunt action, which is a bit more standard in that world and that’s something that excited him a lot more than it excited me.

What’s the number one thing that you wanted to accomplish with this show?

Well for me it was great to be able to have someone like Idris challenge me in this way and it was a lot of fun to do. But also there were certain challenges in there, like driving on two wheels, like driving a monster truck and doing the Wall of Death. These were things that I always looked at as interesting and fun things to do with vehicles that I just had never gotten the chance to do. So this show gave me the opportunity to go out and do some things that were just on my bucket list to try but I just never had the chance to set them up. So for them to set up a fun show for me to go out and compete against a great guy like Idris and create really fun content on a new app, that’s very cool. I like Quibi, it was just a very great opportunity for me.

In that first episode you say, I think verbatim, “I really don’t think Idris has a chance here. He’s basically screwed.” For someone like you who has done this competitively for years, does your competitive spirit kick in right away, or do you take more of a “this is supposed to be fun” approach. How does doing something fun like this mesh with Ken Block, the person who has done this competitively for years?

I’m competitive no matter what I do. So I always try and have fun and enjoy myself, but at the end of the day, I want to put myself in the position to win. So when we originally started looking at this, I thought, “Crap, Idris is going to come out looking pretty good no matter what in this.” Because I’m the race car driver, I’ve got everything to lose. So if I lose, that’s going to make me look pretty bad. But if he wins, he just has a nice upside really, no matter what. Even if he comes close to beating me, it still looks great for him.” So yeah, there was a bit of extra pressure on my side, but I wanted to have fun and enjoy myself competing with Idris. But at the end of the day, I want to win no matter what.

Of all the challenges you did in this show, what was your favorite one and why?

I would say my favorite one was actually driving on two wheels. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time and my buddy Terry Grant, that’s a stunt driver in England, has taken me for several different rides on two wheels at events like Goodwood Festival of Speed or a demo somewhere like Gymkhana GRiD. So I’ve always been intrigued by that but never had the opportunity to learn it. So that was a huge challenge and it was a lot of fun to kind of unscrew my brain and try and learn a new skill that just made no sense to me, so that’s the one I enjoyed the most.

It seems that you and Idris both had a blast. What was the most fun part of all of this?

I would say the most fun part was really interacting with Idris and really the sportsmanship and the challenge of trying to beat someone else, and he’s genuinely like a car guy and a fun guy to compete with. So just that whole interaction of trying to outdo a guy like Idris was just a really fun part and now that I’m doing all this.

I know you’ve done plenty of TV over the years. How do you think a medium like Quibi is right for this kind of show?

Well, I think that all of us are kind of experiencing really the birth of the internet and social media and how us as humans are using it and to watch new apps come along and be very successful based on the way that we consume media. So I think Quibi is really found a niche in the idea of making short, high-quality content that people can watch sitting on a train or in between appointments or however they want to do it. And it really resonates with me because a lot of the things that I do, especially like the Gymkhana videos, average around 10 minutes. So for me it’s something that I really appreciate. I think it goes right into sort of my sensibilities of how I like to use my phone and watch content. So I think they’ve done a great job.

Have you and Idris spoken about possibly doing a season two? Would there be any interest in that sort of thing?

Yeah, we’ve had a couple discussions about it. I mean instantly when we got done filming this show, he was talking about trying to do a second season, so I’m game. I really enjoyed it. I think there’s ways that we could even up the level of the competitions even more next time. So I really hope it happens.

Is there anyone else off the top of your head you can think of that you’d be interested in competing against in a format like this or is number one you want to run it back with Idris and see what else you guys can cook up here?

Well, I enjoyed working with Idris because he’s definitely a car guy. I get to compete against all sorts of different race car drivers around the world from the likes of Petter Solberg to Vaughn Gittin, doing different things. So I enjoy that element of it. But this, doing it with an actor and a personality like Idris was really cool. So I’d love to do that again but if I had to pick someone else, I’d love to do it against another celebrity like Idris, or like a Brad Pitt, or someone like that that’s really into cars and competing. But I really hope that we do a second season of this show because I enjoyed working with Idris and his production company, so I hope Quibi makes it happen.

With today’s plethora of social media platforms, it can be hard to decipher where exactly a piece of art originated. Because of this, many musicians have been accused of using artwork without an artist’s permission. Kanye West and Nas were charged with lifting artwork from a Bay Area producer in 2018. Just a few months ago, Lil Uzi Vert offered to pay money to an artist whose drawing was used as inspiration for his “That Way” cover art. Now, rapper IDK is on the other side of the debate. IDK has called out Netflix for creating a thumbnail that is suspiciously similar to one of his album covers.

IDK took to social media to slam Netflix for the thumbnail from their new series The Innocence Files. The Netflix Original series’ graphic touts a similar look to IDK’s IWASVERYBAD album cover. Addressing Netflix directly, IDK expressed his frustration. “I woke up in the middle of the night to this,” the rapper began. IDK then went on to explain the sentimental meaning behind his original album cover:

“Another big company praying on the creativity of someone who they think doesn’t have a voice and can’t do anything about. Since you all were inspired enough to to use my artwork rom IwasVeryBad, let me explain the origin of where it comes from. The dove on the back of my shoulder represents my mother (RIP) the person that I though had no love for me, the person I thought wanted me to be something outside of what I wanted to be. The person who told me ‘if you ever go to jail, don’t call me b/c I won’t pick up’. When I went to jail, forget my friends who I use to run with, forget any girls or even other family member. She was the only one that had my back during these times. And this artwork was for her.”

Read IDK’s full letter to Netflix and The Innocence Files above.

Some of the musicians covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

We’re all looking for things to listen to while we’re stuck in quarantine. With digital streaming platforms, we have all of the music in the world at our fingertips, but still can’t seem to figure out exactly what we want to hear. Lucky for all of us, Geoff Rickly is here to help with Making A Mixtape, the new video offering from Uproxx’s Indie Mixtape. As the singer for the post-hardcore band Thursday, Rickly has a unique and experienced perspective on what it takes to craft an epic mixtape.

After creating a “Moody” list with Cloud Nothings and an “Energy” list with Girlpool, Rickly is joined by Gordi to examine the unique and exciting “Details” that can make a song special. With certain tracks, it can be a single image in a lyric, a synth swell, or even just a little vocal inflection that keeps you coming back for more.

Check out the new episode of Making A Mixtape above, and follow the “Energy” playlist here.

Mannequin Pussy — “Drunk II”
Better Oblivion Community Center — “Dylan Thomas”
Bon Iver — “Hey, Ma”
Gordi — “Aeroplane Bathroom”
Helado Negro — “Please Won’t Please”
Waxahatchee — “Can’t Do Much”
Porches – “Patience”
Angel Olsen – “Acrobat”

Follow us or subscribe to the Indie Mixtape newsletter to hear about future episodes.

As it approaches 20 years since its 2001 debut, Scrubs has quietly become one of the most celebrated and beloved sitcoms of the century. While it doesn’t get as much attention as The Office or 30 Rock, and while it doesn’t have the cult following of Community, and while it’s not as known for its sense of optimism as Parks and Recreation, Scrubs in a lot of ways helped pave the way for the success of those single-camera comedies and others in the 2000s.

While Scrubs may not have been quite as popular as The Office, while it may not have had as much heart as Parks and Rec, and while it may not have been as irreverent as Community, the Bill Lawrence series successfully managed to triangulate the sensibilities of all three. It was a brilliantly funny show popular enough to run for nine seasons, but it also had a huge heart and some of the best sitcom gags of all time. Scrubs was a remarkable celebration of friendship, of mentors, and of medical workers. But like the HBO drama Six Feet Under, the series also spoke frequently on the subject of death in sometimes heartfelt and other times devastating ways.

Plus, Scrubs featured the Turk dance.

Currently, Scrubs‘ stars Zach Braff and Donald Faison are rewatching all the episodes for their podcast Fake Doctors, Real Friends, produced by iHeartRadio, and it is a legitimately fantastic podcast and a fun trip down memory lane that reveals Braff and Faison to be very similar to their Scrubs character counterparts in the best possible way. (Our Brian Grubb recently spoke with Braff and Faison about the podcast.) It’s worth revisiting all nine seasons of the series (even that final season, which is much better than it gets credit for), but these 15 episodes are not just the best of Scrubs, but the iconic Scrubs episodes that every superfan should know.

15. My Last Chance (Season 4, Episode 8)

The Story: J.D. makes-out with Molly at her going-away party. He then gets approval from Elliot to sleep with Molly before she moves away. Dr. Cox has to complete community service in an ambulance with a paramedic who talks endlessly.

Why It’s On the List At the end of Heather Graham’s arc on Scrubs, J.D. is granted permission from Elliot (who slept with J.D.’s brother, after J.D. dumped her) to sleep with Dr. Molly Clock, but the Janitor hilariously drives him out into the middle of nowhere and abandons him (“It’s been four years! How did you not see this coming?”). It’s a race to get to Molly before the end of the night, only for J.D. to realize that Eliot snookered him. Dr. Cox, meanwhile, is partnered with an EMT driver played by Molly Shannon, who drives him absolutely insane but he digs deep and finds a soft spot for her when he finds out that her son died when he was 10. It’s one of those really fantastically written episodes that ends with a hilarious storyline to offset the more heartfelt one, because the best Scrubs episodes also leave us with a bittersweet emotional high.

14. My Half Acre (Season 5, Episode 9)

The Story: When a potential new girlfriend enters J.D.’s life, Elliot offers J.D. relationship advice and tries to help break his bad habit of ruining romantic moments by uttering really inappropriate things. Meanwhile, Jordan and Carla each have problems with Dr. Cox, and Turk joins the hospital airband.

Why It’s on the List: It’s the Turk dance episode, people. What else do you need? If there was nothing else in the entire episode, the Turk dance would get it into the top 15. But it also features Mandy Moore as a hilariously, ridiculously klutzy love interest, plus Dr. Cox finds out how to save the life of a Jehovah’s Witness without a blood transfusion. Oh, and it ends with a brilliant air-band rendition of Boston’s “More than a Feeling” that I still watch at least twice a year if I need a pick-me up.

13. My Occurrence (Season 1, Episode 22)

The Story: When Jordan’s Brother, Ben, comes in for a medical exam, Dr. Cox reveals his more compassionate side and J.D. must reluctantly deliver the bad news about Ben’s health.

Why It’s On The List: The first of three appearances of Brendan Fraser’s character, Ben (all three episodes are represented on this list). Ben is Jordan’s brother and her ex-husband Dr. Cox’s best friend. Dr. Cox has always been a tyrannical hard-ass, but it’s Ben that occasionally brings out Dr. Cox’s softer, more compassionate side. Scrubs is never more affecting than when Dr. Cox drops the veneer, and we see that for the first time here when J.D. delivers the news to Ben that he has leukemia.

12. My No Good Reason (Season 6, Episode 14)

The Story: Laverne and Dr. Cox get into a debate about Laverne’s Christian belief that everything happens for a reason.

Why It’s on the List: There is a very unfortunate subplot in this episode about Turk’s nanny that does not hold up well at all in 2020. However, in the other storyline, Dr. Cox and Nurse Roberts argue about whether there is a reason for things happening, and it looks like Laverne will win the argument when they discover a tumor in an eight-year-old who is otherwise senselessly stabbed. However, Dr. Cox ultimately seems to win the argument in the worst possible way when Laverne dies in a car accident, delivering one of the biggest gut punches in the sitcom’s history.

11. My Long Goodbye (Season 6, Episode 15)

The Story: Laverne was in a car accident and is in a coma. Everyone has a hard time dealing with it. Jordan is having her baby, but Dr. Cox doesn’t want everybody knowing about it. J.D is the only one who knows about the birth and is obsessed with becoming the baby’s godfather.

Why It’s on the List: In eight seasons of Scrubs (plus that other season), Laverne is the only series regular who is ever killed off the series (nevermind that her “twin” returns). It’s a heartbreaking follow-up to “No Good Reason,” where Sacred Heart says goodbye to Laverne one by one, while Laverne — in a coma — continues to hang on until Carla can finally say goodbye. Meanwhile, Dr. Cox and Jordan have a daughter, but Dr. Cox doesn’t want it to overshadow Laverne’s death or vice versa, so he keeps it from everyone else except J.D., who eventually convinces Jordan to name him the baby’s Godfather. Again, this episode does what Scrubs does best, which is to mix the sweet with the sorrowful.

10. My Cake (Season 4, Episode 6)

The Story: J.D.’s brother Dan comes back to tell J.D. their father died.

Why It’s On The List: After J.D.’s father dies, Dr. Cox can’t bring himself to comfort him, and his misguided attempts to do so only make it worse until he joins forces with J.D.’s brother Dan, another emotionally crippled narcissist. The two manage to have the necessary conversation with J.D. about his father’s passing by wearing sports jerseys and watching football. Elsewhere, Turk is diagnosed with Type II Diabetes but can’t bring himself to tell Carla, even though Carla knew all along. The episode’s real comedy, however, comes from The Janitor gaslighting Dr. Kelso in order to convince him that he has Alzheimer’s until it spectacularly backfires. It’s not completely apparent until the last two minutes, but it’s a remarkable episode, and one that is dedicated to John Ritter, who played J.D.’s father and passed in real life. It’s also one of those episodes that really highlights the importance of Neil Flynn’s Janitor character to the series.

9. My Catalyst (Season 3, Episode 12)

The Story: Dr. Kevin Casey the medical attendant and surgeon comes to the hospital to impress them with his extraordinary medical skills, and his severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Why It’s On the List: In the first of his two episodes, Michael J. Fox guest stars as Dr. Casey, a brilliant doctor (and former classmate of Dr. Cox) with OCD. Dr. Cox develops an intense case of professional jealousy, especially as J.D. looks up to Dr. Casey as his mentor, until Dr. Cox realizes that being the best doctor in the hospital comes with its own heartbreaking downsides. It’s a terrific episode that emphasizes the importance of work/life balance, but it also features a truly remarkable performance from Michael J. Fox, which ultimately put him on the path of a series of Emmy-nominated guest turns in other series.

8. My Hero (Season 1, Episode 23)

The Story: Ben’s diagnosis sends shock waves throughout the staff at Sacred Heart. Surprisingly Cox is the man keeping everyone afloat.

Why It’s On the List: Part 2 of the first Ben episode with Brendan Fraser, “My Hero,” is the episode that really elevates Dr. Cox into a full-fledged character on Scrubs instead of a ranting, abusive antagonist. Here. J.D.’s hero, Dr. Cox, shows his vulnerable side when he’s too scared to be there for Ben. “The day we admit we’re not heroic is the day we’re the most heroic of all,” J.D. says of Dr. Cox. It is also, I believe, the first time that Ted introduces his A cappella group, a recurring mainstay on the series.

7. My Musical (Season 6, Episode 6)

The Story: A patient hears singing from everyone, turning Sacred Heart into a musical extravaganza. Meanwhile, Elliot determines whether or not J.D. should move in with her, and Carla determines whether or not to go back to work.

Why It’s on the List: Creator Bill Lawrence and Zach Braff are huge fans of musicals. Midway through the sixth season, it was probably difficult to keep a show like Scrubs creatively juiced, but they came up with a terrific musical episode that brilliantly pays homage to a number of other musicals. The songs include one about fecal samples, “Everything Comes Down to Poo”; a song about Carla’s conflicting feelings about staying home after having a baby, “It’s Going to be a Long, Long Year,”; and, of course, “Guy Love,” about the heterosexual bromance between Turk and J.D. This episode really illustrated the range of talent on the show.

6. My Way Home (Season 5, Episode 7)

The Story: As a tribute to “The Wizard of Oz,” the four companions go on a similar journey.

Why It’s On the List: A brilliant Wizard of Oz homage begins with J.D. — who Dr. Cox calls Dorothy — listening to Toto ‘s “Africa,” on his day off, but when he’s called back into the hospital, he is thwarted from returning home by Carla’s lack of courage over having children, Turk’s inability to talk a family out of letting their son pass away so that they can have his heart, and Elliot’s need for brains to teach a class. The whole episode is stacked with clever Oz references, the back half is shot in something akin to “technicolor,” and somehow, Ted’s A capella group’s performance of “Maniac” from Flashdance may still be the best part of a phenomenally fun, funny, and heartfelt episode. It’s a little corny, but it is a terrific 22 minutes.

5. My Old Lady (Season 1, Episode 4)

The Story: The whole crew learn their share about death when JD takes care of an old woman ready to die, Elliot and Carla watch over a woman who can’t speak English, and Turk becomes too close with a patient.

Why It’s On the List: The series’ fourth episode ever features guest star Kathryn Joosten, the late actress probably best known for playing Mrs. Vanlandingham in West Wing, and her character in this episode meets the same fate. This episode is where Scrubs really started to gel — and where Carla and Elliot first bonded — and where the series’ trademark whiplash poignancy began to take shape. It also highlighted that the series’ true villain wasn’t Dr. Kelso, it was death, the one character everyone on Scrubs could rally together against. What may be best remembered, however, was how a patient helped J.D. cope with her death, a poignant reversal of roles.

4. My Lunch (Season 5, Episode 20)

The Story: The Sacred Heart Staff, under the leadership of Dr. Cox, works to keep three patients who need transplants alive. Meanwhile, J.D. runs into ex-patient Jill Tracy, who he finds extremely annoying, and Carla and Elliot pry into Todd’s personal life, but Turk warns them to leave it alone.

Why It’s on the List: This is one of those episodes that starts out as a funny episode about an annoying former patient and The Todd’s sexual orientation, but then takes a hard turn after the annoying former patient presumably kills herself. Her organs are harvested for the three transplant patients, but because she actually had rabies, all three organ recipients die and Dr. Cox spirals in the absolute most devastating episode of the series. It’s a tour de force performance from John C. McGinley, who did a lot of dramatic heavy lifting in the series. Through nine seasons, it’s this one he’ll probably best be remembered for.

3. My Fallen Idol (Season 5, Episode 21)

The Story: Carla persuades all her coworkers to rally around a despondent Dr. Cox, after three of his patients die because of his mistake. Everyone participates except J.D., who thinks his selfish reaction crossed the line.

Why It’s on the List: After the devastating events of the previous episode, the typically unflappable Dr. Cox spirals into a rage depression. Consigned to his couch, no one can bring Dr. Cox out of his funk, and J.D. won’t show up for his mentor because he lost respect for him for showing up to work drunk. It’s another turning point in the series, where J.D. realizes that his mentor is not invincible, but he also helps Dr. Cox see his failure from another perspective: “I’m proud of you,” J.D. tells him, “because after 20 years, you still get broken up when you lose patients.” This is the second part to “My Lunch,” but it’s also the spiritual counterpart to “My Hero.”

2. My Finale (Season 8, Episodes 18, 19)

The Story: J.D. continues his last day at Sacred Heart, and tries to hold out hope for a great sendoff.

Why It’s on the List: It’s J.D.’s last day at Sacred Heart, and the end of Scrubs 1.0. The first episode is total build up — no one, in particular Dr. Cox will give J.D. what he wants, which is a big, emotional send-off. He doesn’t get it until the second episode, where he gets a goodbye from everyone else. We also finally find out The Janitor’s name, sort of (it’s Tony, not Glen Matthews, as he tells J.D.). Ultimately, it’s a low-key but very sweet send-off for J.D. that also previews his future with Elliot, their kids, and their lifelong relationships together. It’s a terrific episode and a better overall episode than the 15th episode that season, “My Soul On Fire,” but I still like to consider this clip from that episode to be the real series finale (notwithstanding season 9).

1. My Screw-Up (Season 3, Episode 14)

The Story: It’s Jack’s first birthday, so Jordan’s siblings Dani and Ben are in town. Dr. Cox tells J.D. to leave a patient for half an hour and check up on Ben’s leukemia, but when a patient dies, Dr. Cox blames J.D. and takes over his patients. Carla and Turk argue about Turk getting rid of his mole and Carla taking Turk’s last name.

Why It’s On The List: Scrubs pulls off a remarkable and heartbreaking M. Night Shyamalan twist in “My Screw Up,” which sees Dr. Cox so heavily in denial that his best friend, Ben, is dead of leukemia that his guilt-ridden brain invents a birthday party for his son to emotionally protect himself from the truth of Ben’s funeral. I’m not sure I have ever seen a half-hour comedy either before or since this capable of bringing viewers to tears. For 20 minutes, “My Screw-Up” is a hilarious episode — Turk has his mole/tickle button removed — but the final 30 seconds and the Joshua Radin song are absolutely devastating. It’s not just the best Scrubs episode, but one of the absolute best sitcom episodes of the 21st century, one capable of sticking with its viewer for days afterward.

---

View Entire Post ›