{"id":504688,"date":"2026-02-26T05:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T05:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/504688\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T05:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T05:59:08","slug":"whos-back-which-couples-survived-big-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/504688\/","title":{"rendered":"Who’s Back, Which Couples Survived, Big Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSPOILER ALERT:\u00a0This article contains spoilers for the Season 1 (or Season 10? Season 9?) premiere of \u201cScrubs<\/a>\u201d (2026), which premiered Wednesday night on ABC.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen the cast and producers of hit early 2000s comedy \u201cScrubs\u201d reunited for a panel at the ATX TV festival in 2022<\/a>, the question naturally turned to a series revival. Most of the cast loved the idea \u2014 but figured it was a non-starter. \u201cIt can\u2019t be a full season of a show,\u201d said star Donald Faison<\/a> (Turk), who suggested a TV movie instead. \u201cEveryone is doing things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut creator Bill Lawrence<\/a> \u2014 who\u2019s pretty busy at the moment (\u201cShrinking,\u201d \u201cRooster,\u201d \u201cBad Monkey\u201d) \u2014 nonetheless was eager to get the gang back together again. \u201cI just thought it would happen,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople often go, \u2018why would you reboot this?\u2019 If you enjoyed spending time with and working with people you know, I would think you would be crazy to not take a shot. Even if the worst thing that happens is that you get to spend some time again with people you love. We had reached points in our lives that we weren\u2019t getting to spend as much time with each other \u2014 because everybody\u2019s successful and doing their own thing \u2014 that everybody would ultimately be receptive to giving another spin and seeing if we had fun again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStar Zach Braff<\/a> (J.D.) noted that the \u201cScrubs\u201d rewatch podcast that he and Faison hosted over the pandemic, \u201cFake Doctors, Real Friends,\u201d helped garner interest in a revival. And then there are those T-Mobile ads, where Braff and Faison play themselves \u2014 but remind viewers of their \u201cScrubs\u201d characters\u2019 chemistry. \u201cI think that kicked it into even a higher gear,\u201d he says. \u201cI think that that\u2019s when Bill started actually trying to figure out how to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBecause Lawrence is obligated to produce his other shows \u2014 and he\u2019s under contract at Warner Bros. TV, whereas \u201cScrubs\u201d is produced by Disney \u2014 he tapped \u201cScrubs\u201d alum Assem Batra to showrun the revival. \u201cI feel this show in my soul,\u201d she says. \u201cThe balance of heart and funny. Bill gave me a lot of leeway of what will this be. It feels like we\u2019ve been talking about it for years, so it\u2019s exciting that it\u2019s finally happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNow that the \u201cScrubs\u201d revival has officially premiered on ABC (next day on Hulu), here are some things to know about the show\u2019s return:<\/p>\n

\t\tThe new \u201cScrubs\u201d opens with a bit of an homage to \u201cThe Pitt\u201d before revealing it\u2019s all a J.D. fantasy, and he\u2019s really working as a successful, but bored, concierge doctor.\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ll tell you right now, my favorite medical show on TV is \u2018The Pitt,\u2019\u201d Lawrence says. \u201cI\u2019ll put Scrubs as a close second, but I\u2019m obsessed, and it kind of represents that world of what it means to be dropped into a place that you know, on some level, just by the very simple act of being there. It\u2019s because you want to be of service and do things that matter for the world. Man, that\u2019s the kind of a storytelling arena that always hooks me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tBut as J.D. visits Sacred Heart, he realizes he misses the calling of being in the middle of the action. And so when Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) offers him the job to replace him as chief of medicine, he accepts.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tSays Braff: \u201cThat\u2019s in him, that passion, and that\u2019s when Cox says, \u2018what are you doing?\u2019 He has the attitude of, \u2018I trained you to be far more than what you\u2019re doing, and you\u2019re better than just being a concierge doctor. You should come back and make a difference.\u2019 I think that really lands with JD, especially when he sees what a difference he can make. In that two days he spends at the hospital, he gets a little glimpse of what it\u2019s like to be a teacher, to share your knowledge. It just kind of comes back into his system. Like, \u2018I miss this. This is a lot harder, and the money might not be as good, but I want to make a difference again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe decision by Dr. Cox to retire was also out of necessity \u2014 McGinley was busy shooting Lawrence\u2019s new HBO Max series \u201cRooster.\u201d But that Dr. Cox\/J.D. relationship is still front and center in the first episode. \u201cWe always kept that dynamic where Cox did not let him in, and he\u2019s letting him in a little bit more now,\u201d Aseem says. <\/p>\n

\t\tAs \u201cScrubs\u201d returns after 15 years, its characters are now the veteran doctors teaching a whole new generation of \u201cnewbies.\u201d\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNew cast members include Joel Kim Booster as Dr. Eric Park, J.D.\u2019s new rival (and someone who was expecting to replace Dr. Cox in charge) and Vanessa Bayer as hospital HR director Sibby. Ava Bunn, Jacob Dudman, David Gridley, Layla Mohammadi and Amanda Morrow play the new generation of interns.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s 21 minutes and 30 seconds, and you almost feel like you\u2019re doing two shows,\u201d Batra says. \u201cYou\u2019re doing a show with our legacy cast, and you\u2019re doing a show with the new cast. So it is tricky, but we hope there\u2019s enough for old fans and new fans to hook into this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tAmong the themes for the returning \u201cScrubs\u201d characters: What it\u2019s like to be getting older.\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn healthcare, you\u2019re dealing with humanity so much every day, and part of humanity is aging and getting older, and what that means emotionally and spiritually and physically,\u201d Batra says. \u201cIt\u2019s almost organic to see our cast go through these issues in a hospital setting. We\u2019re actually talking head on about, \u2018what does it feel to get older?\u2019 And we have an episode of that coming up.<\/p>\n

\t\tFans quickly learn that J.D. and Elliot (Sarah Chalke) have divorced.\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Elliot\/J.D. relationship was always tricky, because people root for them so much,\u201d Batra says. \u201cBut if you go back and look at their dynamic in the first season, it was a hot mess. There was something we felt we could get out of them not being together that would be more complex and layered than if everything had worked out. It felt like Turk and Carla were always the core, the solid couple. We were actually excited to do this, because even being split for Elliot and J.D. didn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t love each other. And being able to have that arc for them of how do they come back together, even if it\u2019s not romantically, we don\u2019t know. But seeing them rebuild something together is also gives us so much to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSays Chalke: \u201cElliot and J.D. figuring out who they\u2019re going to be to each other in this new iteration, that was really, I thought, such a smart way in. I thought it just leaves so much room for story lines and for conflict and interest. It\u2019s such a unique experience to get to come back and play a character that you spent eight years doing. It\u2019s unique to get to do it once, but then to get to do it again, feels really lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tBatra and Braff, who directed the pilot, say they wanted to keep the return of \u201cScrubs\u201d more grounded vs. the flights of fancy the show was famous for later in its run.\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think what we both understood and agreed on was we had to keep it tonally grounded,\u201d Batra says. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t start at the \u2018Scrubs\u2019 10 at goofiness. We had to give people a way in, to hook in emotionally. We know it\u2019s going to get pushed more toward the comedy, but we really wanted to connect with our audience, and so we have grounded it more in that for now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSays Braff: \u201cOutside of the fantasies, we really wanted to ground the show back to where it was in Season 1 of the original show. We got broader and broader over the years, and it almost became cartoonish at points. And we want to be real. When I was directing, I\u00a0 would catch myself and the other cast and go, \u2018that\u2019s kind of a heightened version of that. How would you really say it in the real world?\u2019 And I just kept trying to ground it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tThat\u2019s not to say there isn\u2019t some fan service. Eccentric surgeon Hooch (Phill Lewis) \u2014 seemingly fired in Season 8 \u2014 is back, as is bro doctor The Todd (Robert Maschio).\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Todd was a tricky one, because we\u2019re like, \u2018well, the Todd in this day and age, it\u2019s so problematic,\u2019\u201d Batra says. \u201cSo for the spin on the Todd, he thinks he understands what\u2019s going on, and he\u2019s kind of like, \u2018you get consent.\u2019 So he\u2019s not a bad guy. He\u2019s just a dated guy, and he\u2019s trying very hard to understand the rules, but probably getting them wrong. So that\u2019s how we decided to address Todd in this day and age.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso making return appearances: Judy Reyes as Carla, Christa Miller as Jordan and Neil Flynn as The Janitor. \u201cIt is difficult to thread that needle of giving the fans everything they want, even just with availability and being able to introduce a new cast, versus putting emphasis on older cast,\u201d Batra says. \u201cAfter the pilot, we got eight episodes, which I think also determined what we can do. Hopefully in success and a Season 2, we\u2019ll be able to bring back a lot more fan favorites and address some of the things. Sam Lloyd [who played Sacred Heart lawyer Ted] passed away, and we wanted to do a memorial to him. Something like that may come up next season, because we really feel his absence in the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tAnd yes, Turk and J.D. revive their \u201ceagle\u201d lift in the season opener \u2014 but soon realize that their bodies aren\u2019t cut out for it anymore.\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe just didn\u2019t want it to be a greatest hits nostalgia session,\u201d Braff says. \u201cAlthough we do have characters that people like, and of course, we do our probably first and last \u2018eagle\u2019 at 50 years old in the pilot, I think mostly it\u2019s like, we want to introduce a new audience that doesn\u2019t know \u2018Scrubs\u2019 to this world and have it be the case that you could just start the show anew without having known anything about \u2018Scrubs.\u2019 In that case, it\u2019s about a doctor who returns to work at a hospital after being gone for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tABC is branding this as \u201cScrubs\u201d Season 1, even if it\u2019s technically Season 10. But Lawrence prefers to call it Season 9.\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI would say that this is the ninth season of Scrubs, and it just takes place 20 years later,\u201d Lawrence says. That\u2019s because the previous final season of \u201cScrubs\u201d was actually a bit of a different show, as attention turned to new characters played by Eliza Coupe, Kerry Bish\u00e9, Michael Mosley and Dave Franco.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe ninth season of \u2018Scrubs\u2019 wasn\u2019t supposed to be \u2018Scrubs,\u2019\u201d Lawrence notes. \u201cIt was called \u2018Scrubs Med,\u2019 and it was supposed to be a fun spin off. And as a spin off, I don\u2019t regret it at all. I think a lot of those actors and actresses, Mike Mosley and Eliza Coupe and Kerry Bouche, Dave Franco, they were doing really funny, cool stuff. And if it would have been interesting to see where it went. But for me, the show \u2018Scrubs\u2019 ended the eighth year, and this is kind of picking it up 20 years later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdds Braff: \u201cIn terms of going back to the Bill Lawrence vision of \u2018Scrubs,\u2019 it\u2019s Seasons 1 through 8. And if you look at eight the way it ends, when all those images are projected on that sheet, that\u2019s just what J.D. hopes will happen. That\u2019s what he daydreams will happen. It\u2019s not saying necessarily that any of those things actually occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tThat means some of what happened in Season 9 is no longer canon, and the new \u201cScrubs\u201d instead picks up after the events of Season 8.\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean that we don\u2019t respect Season 9, but we feel like that was more of the spin off thing,\u201d says Batra. \u201cSo we really decided, let\u2019s follow after Season 8. We knew we would annoy some people with that, people who are hardcore about all that, but we decided that just felt right to us tonally and everything else.<\/p>\n

\n\tAdds Faison: \u201cFor all my nerds out there, just look at Season 9 as a \u2018what if.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tThe cast and producers are on board to keep the \u201cScrubs\u201d revival going.\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe definitely want to keep going and tell more \u2018Scrubs\u2019 stories,\u201d Braff says. \u201cThis is sort of like an audition, if you will, to see if people like it. And I think if people like it, I know that we and ABC would like to do more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SPOILER ALERT:\u00a0This article contains spoilers for the Season 1 (or Season 10? Season 9?) premiere of \u201cScrubs\u201d (2026),…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,252530,252463,134,104873,427,104878],"class_list":{"0":"post-504688","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bill-lawrence","11":"tag-donald-faison","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-scrubs","14":"tag-tv","15":"tag-zach-braff"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}