Usually bitter, although it is not as universal as acidic foods tasting sour. Many types of plants produce alkaline compounds to prevent being eaten and these are usually very bitter. If you have ever had a baked good with too much baking soda you may have also noticed a bitter flavour.

Yes. Buses like Greyhound, Peter Pan, and Shortline.

What are the units? This doesn't tell me anything because I don't know if this is percent change, annualized percent, or something else.

While I agree that Scrubs is better, it's much more comedy than drama. The better comparison is E.R. versus any of its clones.