Bob Kelso
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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.
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[edit] 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. 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 of spending the hospital budget on himself -- he opted to buy a VCR and TV for his own office rather than an MRI machine. He and the Janitor are the only major characters whose personal lives are not seen in detail. Kelso is so far the only main character not to have an episode told from his point of view.
[edit] Personal Background
Kelso mentions playing baseball as a star shortstop growing up in Altoona, Pennsylvania, but other episodes have said he is from Monroeville. It is known that he can play the guitar and wrote numerous country songs in college (a number of them about his wife) and that 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 buttocks ("He was an old Navy buddy of mine, and if you went through what we did you'd understand"). He is married to Enid "Bunny" Kelso, a nurse who worked in his hospital during his early career and who snores loudly when she sleeps. She is also paralyzed from the waist down and is confined to a wheel chair. He has two children: a son, Harrison, a gay heavy metal fan, and a secret love-child, Quang Tri Kelso, the product of his relationship with a Vietnamese girl (presumably while serving in Vietnam). Kelso's wife and son are unseen characters who are often referred to but never seen by the audience.
[edit] 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 has a tradition following his anniversary: the following day is the only good day any staff can approach him and ask him for something. He also has an evil personality trait: He picks out one individual every semester and drives them to breaking point, just to reinforce the fact that he is boss (this is what leads up to Cox's outburst end of Season 2). Dr. 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 Ms. PacMan arcade in retribution for Bob parking on the basketball court. Bob also "competed" with Chris Turk for a spot on the bench to eat their lunch in a peaceful area in mid-season 1 (he becomes impressed with Turk's efforts). He calls Turk "Turkleton" after getting drunk at Turk and Carla's wedding, although he has called him by the normal "Dr. Turk" in the past (acceptable since he thinks his full name is in fact Turk Turkelton). Dr. Kelso has a strange obsession with cupcakes. One of his personal quotes is "What has two thumbs and doesn't give a crap? BOB KELSO!"
Doctor Kelso seems to pine for the old days of being a doctor as well, having not personally dealt with patients since he was promoted to the position of medical head of the hospital. He confesses to Dr. Cox in My Boss's Free Haircut that he misses the days when doctor's were respected, well wished, and even rewarded for their deeds.
Bob Kelso also has "oddly youthful" legs, which is seen in Episode 24 of Season 5, "My Transition ". He shaves them during spring so he can show them off in the hospital, and is able to jump eight 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.
[edit] 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 nurse Carla a lift in to the hospital and demonstrates a close, friendly relationship with people outside of his work ("My Drug Buddy"). In addition, the country songs he wrote were very tender and loving, and Elliot considers them to be indicative of a tender side. While he often jokes about it, he is accepting of his gay son's lifestyle and really does love him. It should also be noted that on occasion his morally dubious decisions are based upon professional and practical concerns rather than 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 (in order to secure money for a recently closed program for the impovershed in the hospital). 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. Another time that he shows basic human decency is during one episode in season 4 when he allows one man without financial insurance to be given a free stay at the hospital. The reason he does this is because he found the man's eight-year old child to be particularly affable and couldn't doom the boy's father to certain death right before Christmas. When he says that the man should be given a free ride to one of his nurses over the phone, his next comment is "Yes this is really Bob Kelso!"
| Scrubs |
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| List of Scrubs episodes | List of relationships on Scrubs | Sacred Heart Hospital |
| Characters |
| J.D. | Elliot | Turk | Carla | Dr. Cox | Bob Kelso | Janitor | List of minor characters of Scrubs |
