Series revivals are and have been a hot topic for some time now. Sometimes we dread seeing them come back and watching things silly their reputation, (“Frasier“) and other times they up the game and show how much life was still in the project (“X-Men 97“.) When talk of a “Scrubs” revival started being tossed around, we were skeptical. Now we have some added hope as we can report that Zach Braff is officially on board for the upcoming series.
“Scrubs” aired for 9 seasons, though the last one is in itself kind of a spin-off. While it featured members of the original cast, it didn’t revolve or feature much of main character, John “J.D.” Dorian. Braff’s portrayal of the young doctor and his friendship with Turk (Donald Faison) were central elements of the series. Instead, it focused on new medical students attending classes at the teaching hospital that Sacred Heart became to continue the plot past its natural ending point.
We already reported that this revival has a better shot at doing something right because it’s bringing back series creator Bill Lawrence to develop the series, even though he won’t be the showrunner. It took a good deal of work to get Lawrence on board since he’s currently developing and working on series for Warner Bros. Television. Similarly, Disney/ABC has reportedly had some problems getting Braff on board due to pay issues and disagreements about where filming will take place. They must have ironed these out though because Braff is officially reprising his role.
It remains to be seen if they’ll be able to get the rest of the cast back. Along with the aforementioned Faison, there’s Sarah Chalke as Elliot Reid, Judy Reyes as Carla, and John C. McGinley as Dr. Cox. Then there’s the other big players like Ken Jenkins as Dr. Kelso and Neil Flynn as The Janitor. We sadly lost Sam Lloyd who played Ted the lawyer back in 2020. All that is to say, “Scrubs” was reliant on its ensemble cast and bit characters to help create its charm and remarkable comedic sense. We’re hopeful to see as many of them back on board as possible but obviously getting Braff back is a big step in the right direction.
