"Scrubs" testing the healing power of music

I have never visited the set of NBC's hysterical medical sitcom "Scrubs," but I imagine that it has to be an absolute blast to work there. How could it not be, considering all the nutty gags, outrageous fantasy sequences and screwy antics in which the show dabbles every week?

The joint really must have been jumping during the production of tonight's highly entertaining musical episode, which has the quirky lunatics of Sacred Heart Hospital getting their groove on.

Granted, injecting a Broadway song-and-dance ethos into a weekly TV series isn't exactly groundbreaking stuff. The goofballs behind "The Simpsons" have pulled it off several times throughout the years. And the 2001 musical episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" ("Once More With Feeling") had us jumping off our couches and blurting "Bravo!" at our TV sets.

But while "My Musical" doesn't quite hit as many high notes as "Buffy" did, it definitely has its moments.

The episode is pegged to a patient (guest star Stephanie D'Abruzzo) who checks into Sacred Heart complaining that she's hearing incessant music instead of normal conversations. That doesn't explain why doctors and nurses are kicking up their heels in the parking lot when she arrives via ambulance, but let's give them some slack.

What ensues is an episode packed with 10 numbers co-written by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marks, Tony Award-winning composers of "Avenue Q" (D'Abruzzo was an original cast member of the show), that have traces of everything from the melodramatic strains of "Les Misérables" to the upbeat stylings of "Grease."

One of the songs, "Everything Comes Down to Poo," will have some viewers wincing. But others are real showstoppers.

"Guy Love," for example, has J.D. (Zach Braff) and Turk (Donald Faison) singing about their unique relationship ("It's like I married my best friend"). Not only is it germane to the series, it's fall-on-the-floor hilarious.

It helps, too, that Braff and Faison don't totally stink as singers.