Look, I'm not a doctor; I don't even play one on TV. However, after watching Tuesday night's episode of Scrubs and reading brother Joel's review I got to thinking (which is always a bad idea): was the diagnosis wrong?

Well, no. To recap, in Tuesday's episode three patients at Sacred Heart died after rabies infected organs (liver, heart valve, kidney) were transplanted into their bodies. The organs came from a patient (Jill Tracy, played by Nicole Sullivan) who J.D. (Zach Braff) though passed away from an overdose.

In actuality it seems that the case of rabies-infected organs was 'ripped from the headlines' from an event that occurred in 2004. According to the CNN article,  three recipient patients at three different hospitals in the United States died after the infected organs (one liver and two kidneys) were transplanted. It also turns out that the organ donor also died of rabies, which infects the central nervous system and can cause symptoms such as hypersalivation (foaming at the mouth), insomnia and anxiety.

Rabies is normally not tested for during transplant procedures. More common infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and C and syphilis are more commonly tested.

And you thought you couldn't learn anything from TV.

 

Stop! Don't touch the remote! Keep that finger away from the Power button! In other words, don't turn off your TV during TV Turnoff Week. If you do, you'll be missing one of the funniest comedies on television today.

I am talking about NBC's Scrubs. There hasn't been a comedy since Friends, not even Everyone Everybody Loves Raymond, that makes me laugh out loud like Scrubs does. I mean, how can you not chuckle while Chris Turk (Donald Faison) dances and lip-synchs to Bel Biv Devoe's Poison. Or snicker when Dr. Cox (John McGinley) goes on one of his 30-second rant on, for instance, why the purple Wiggle is always sleeping (for the uninitiated, the purple Wiggle is Jeff Fatt of the very popular children's television show The Wiggles). Or guffaw when J.D. (Zach Braff) has one of his surreal daydreams in the middle of a conversation.

If you've shut off your TV for TV Turnoff Week -- and really, why would you? -- you're missing a lot, especially if you're a Gilmore Girls fan. Why? Because the show's going to give its loyal fans a "sneak preview" this week, one that they didn't even know they were going to get after watching the last episode.

What do I mean by that? Well, Tuesday's episode, named "Super Cool Party People", was written by Dave Rosenthal, who just happened to be named the new executive producer of the show, effective next season. It also, if the TV listing for it on the WB's website is any indication, will advance one of the more annoying storylines of the season in a way that the fans may actually enjoy.

So if you want to get an idea of what GG is going to be like without the Palladinos, pay close attention to tomorrow's episode. Even though it'll still have AS-P's fingerprints all over it (she and her husband rewrtie scripts they don't write themselves), it might still provide some clues.