Remember the show Emergency? I used to love that show. Along with Adam-12, it was just about the calls that the paramedics went on and we got very little info about the personal lives of the characters. I'm sure NBC's new medical drama Trauma (say that 10 times real fast: drama Trauma, drama Trauma, drama Trauma) will have lots about the personal lives of the characters, though I think I'm going to be be more interested in the action scenes, and this one below is a doozy.

Trauma premieres on Monday after Heroes (I wonder if that will work out).

There's a battle right now over President Obama's plans for healthcare, but the battle isn't going to be as funny as this one between Daily Show correspondents Samantha Bee, John Oliver, and Wyatt Cenac (well, it might be as funny, but in a sad, shake-your-head sort of way). I never want to see back-testicles ever again. (Video also here.)

(S02E09) The Adult Swim schedule grid has this episode listed as "Holy Image," but the opening credits had it as "Holy Visage," so that's what I'm calling it. At the start of this season I received an e-mail from creator Dino Stamatopoulos that said the title of the episode may change from "Holy Image" to something else. I assume it was changed so viewers wouldn't confuse it with "God's Image," an earlier episode. [Note: Dino e-mailed me and confirmed this after I posted this review].

(S01E08) A question for all you mothers and wives out there: if your husband was dying and needed medicine, would you send your only children out to the unknown, where they could be killed or lost or made sick? I would think that since you might lose your husband, you'd at least want one of your kids to stay behind. Maybe send out one of your sons and someone else from the town.

I ask this because Gail sends both Jake and Eric to Rogue River to get the medicine he needs or he'll die in 12 hours...

On April 12 (check local listings), PBS will air a two-hour documentary called Rx for Survival: The Heroes, a companion to the six-part series, Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge. I mentioned the series back in November, and recently saw an advanced screening of Rx for Survival: The Heroes.

The special, narrated by Brad Pitt, takes an in-depth look at something many of us take for granted, which is the men and women who work to both maintain and eradicate diseases most of us never think about. The special not only focuses on major epidemics like HIV and tuberculosis, but on diseases not so well-known, such as "night blindness" in Southeast Asia, an ailment cured by an eye doctor in Baltimore who simply administered drops of Vitamin A to the children, a nutrient their regular diet lacked. This treatment, which was initially slammed by the medical community, also helped prevent other series diseases, resulting in a cut in child mortality rates by as much as one third. The special also focuses on a tenacious effort to once and for all eradicate polio from the Earth, just as small pox was destroyed in the early 80s.

The most fascinating aspect of the special, besides the medical professionals, scientists, and community volunteers from these areas who work to both treat diseases and spread awareness of them, is how Western science is often challenged by religious belief. In one scene, a man refuses to give his son a polio vaccine, claiming it is the will of Allah to decide what happens to his son. The man eventually accepts the medication for his son, but it illustrates there is more to fighting these diseases than just administering drugs. There is also the challenge of trying to get two very different cultures to see eye to eye on a very important issue that has the potential to affect us all. 

In 1998, science fiction author Thomas M. Disch wrote a book called The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of which chronicled how science fiction books and movies predicted a lot of the technological advancements we have today.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Science fiction, as opposed to science fantasy, has to be grounded in science, at least to a certain degree. What made all those space age weapons and doodads so intriguing was that they could possibly exist, perhaps not at the moment, but eventually.

Scrubs is finally returning to television tonight! And guess what? The writers, directors, and actors have all been locked in a hospital in the San Fernando valley, thinking that this could the last season, so they're doing it all for us, the fans. You know what that means? Extra wacky voiceovers, imaginary sequences, Mandy Moore, and an homage to The Wizard of Oz (100th episode, airing Jan. 24th). In several recent interviews, Zach Braff has said that everyone on the show went no-holds-barred on the scripts because they had no idea whether anyone would ever see the show. NBC inexplicably kept them off the schedule for the first half of the season. So, as Braff says in the Indianapolis Star, "It's about going, OK-- these are our hardcore fans, let's make shows for them." They are producing a full season of 24 episodes, which means that we will be treated to back-to-back episodes of Scrubs for the rest of the season. The season premiere airs tonight at 9 pm, followed by another new episode at 9:30 pm.

[Thanks for the reminder, Ryan M.!]

Katherine Heigl, who plays Izzie on Grey's Anatomy, is dropping hints about what's going to happen during the second half of the season at Seattle Grace Hospital. Stop reading here if you don't want to know any more.

Heigl says her character is going to be involved in a love triangle, there is some sort of prom episode coming up, and she also says that someone is going to leave the show. That last revelation comes as no big surprise to me as it is becoming painfully obvious that they are going to get rid of a certain intern whom I will not name. Fine by me, as that character has pretty much run its course. There's always the possibility that they will boot Addison Shepherd off the show but I find that extremely unlikely considering all the drama she causes among the interns. Plus, I'm rooting for her in the other love triangle. What Katherine doesn't do is reveal the big question that everybody seems to want to know: will Meredith and Dr. McDreamy reunite?