Scrubs DVD cover analysis

This is a DVD cover from the 5th season of the famous Hospital situation comedy, 'Scrubs'. We are first struck with the reference to the medical basis of the show, with suggestions from the costume in which the title characters are wearing, which are the "Scrubs" in which you wear if working in a hospital/Medical centre, corresponding with the title of the series. There is also medical equipment such as a stethoscope to support this. The genre of this text appears to be a ‘Situation-Comedy’. We find this out by the “situation”, being the lifestyles of working in a hospital, as we see everybody in the cover working doctors/nurses uniforms, as well as the logo that represents the hospital they work in. the comedy element is prevalent as they appear to posing with clichéd melodramatic face expressions, as well as the quote on the back cover claiming it to be “sitcom of the decade”.

The title character, is evident as he is the at centre focus of the group shot, and is holding his fist out maybe to signify a heart, to relate to the name of the hospital in which the T.V. show is based, ‘Sacred Heart Hospital’. The characters in the cover picture, seem to be taking on comical poses that relate to their characters in the series, giving the viewer an impression that this is a comedic T.V. show.

The Spine of the cover holds the industrial logos above the ‘Title Font’ image, with “the complete fifth season” below it. Giving the viewer everything they need to know if they found it upon a shelf in a store, compelling them to pick it up and read further in to the series.

On the back of the cover, there is a quote from ‘Tom Carson’, a famous critique writer from CQ magazine saying that ‘Scrubs, My own stealth nominee for sitcom of the decade.” This allows the viewer to be reassured by the quality of the text being critically acclaimed and bring the viewer closer to purchasing the DVD.

There is a sequence of frame-shots from the episodes of the DVD down the left side of the cover, allowing the viewer to see certain shots of the season, before deciding to purchase. Adjacent to the photo’s, the blurb tells us more information about the text and a brief description of the stories that will unfold.

The target audience to me would be a family entertainment text, as there appears to have representations of old and modern doctors, (Old doctor – big white lab coat and confident posture, new doctor – scrubs and a stethoscope with an expression of apprehension), this could be a recurring juxtaposition throughout the text, giving the ‘sitcom’ more appeal to younger and older viewers. There seems to be a multi-racial cast also (Donald Faison – African American, Judy Reyes - Latino Dominican, Zach Braff – Caucasian), This could also appeal to a wide ranging audience as it appears sympathetic to mixed racial views, and may hold political satire within the text.