Bob Kelso

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Dr. Robert "Bob" Kelso

Dr. Robert "Bob" Kelso (most commonly referred to as Bob Kelso or Kelso); (born 1949) is a fictional character played by Ken Jenkins in the American sitcom Scrubs.

Profile

Bob Kelso is the truculent Chief of Medicine for the hospital. He graduated 12th in his class at Stanford University in 1968, which means he was 19 at the time - apparently he is a very smart person. He appears to be more interested in profit and staying out of legal trouble than helping patients; on the grounds that if he permitted pro bono treatment towards impoverished patients, the hospital would close. He is fond on spending the hospital budget on his own comfort - on occasion he opted to buy a VCR and TV for his own office rather a MRI machine. He and the Janitor are the only major characters whose personal lives we do not see in detail.

Personal Background

It is known that he can play the guitar and wrote numerous country songs in college (a number of them about his now wife Enid "Bunny" Kelso), and his father left their family on his bike (the source of Kelso's hatred of bikes). He was in the Navy in the past, which he refers to from time to time. He claims to have a tattoo of the word 'Johnny' on his butt. He has two children, one son, Harrison, a gay heavy metal fan and another child who is his secret love-child 'Kwong Tri Kelso', presumably the product of his love of Oriental prostitutes.

Peculiarities

He is a strong advocate of nepotism. He is despised by the more medically ethical Dr. Cox (who refuses no opportunity to insult his boss and even punched Kelso in the face at the end of Season 2, in the episode My Dream Job). Cox has often been the perpetrator behind pranks on his boss, though he doesn't always escape retribution. Kelso also has a few traditions following his anniversary with the following day being the only good day any staff can approach him and ask him for something and the other being an evil personality trait: He picks out one individual at least one semester and drives them to breaking point, just to reinforce the fact that he is boss, but this is what leads up to Cox's outburst end of Season 2. Bob Kelso is also a master at PacMan and uses the game as a stress reliever. In one episode, Turk cut off the power cord to his PacMan arcade in retribution for Bob parking on the basketball court.

Bob Kelso also has "oddly" youthful legs, which is seen in Episode 24 of Series 5, My Transition (1). He shaves them during spring so he can show them off in the hospital, and is able to jump 8 feet thanks to his well-defined calf muscles. In Vietnam, he was able to jump into helicopters when they hovered above the ground for pickup.

Kelso's humanity

According to Dr. Cox, Kelso is "The most evil human being on the planet, and may in fact be Satan himself" (Episode 1). In spite of this, Kelso is shown to have a soft side when he looks after his gardener and their family ("Who wants Dairy Queen!?"), and when he gives Carla a lift in to the hospital and demonstrates a close, friendly relationship with people outside of his work. In addition, the country songs he wrote were very tender and loving, and Elliot considers them to be indicative of a tender side that he has. Also, while he often jokes about it, he is accepting of his gay son's lifestyle and really does love him. It should also noted that on occasion his morally dubious decisions are based upon professional and practical concerns rather than any callousness or greed. This human side of Kelso is also shown in Season 5, episode 4 ("My Jiggly Ball") where Kelso seems to show regret at taking a patient with a brain tumor out of a drug trial in favor of a wealthy patient. His regret is shown at the end when he watches Dr. Cox cover the dead body of the patient who was removed from the drug trial and exits the hospital noticeably saddened while, on the narration, J. D. said: "As far as Bob Kelso goes, I know sometimes even the good things he does are for the wrong reasons. Still, I also know that I wouldn't want to have to make any of the decisions that he makes. But when all is said and done, I'd like to think he does care a little even if he's too proud to show it."

Nicknames

Nicknames: Bobbo, Bobcat, Bobbotron, Big Bob and on one occasion, Beelzebob and Bobacator.