Summary
With theScrubsshowrunner declaring his plans for the sitcom’s inevitable revival, it sounds as though he wants to recreate the same dynamic from the show’s final season before it was ultimately canceled as a result.Bill Lawrence’s promise that he is “Definitely going to” make more episodes ofScrubsstill has me cautiously excited. However, I’m very concerned that the blueprint he seems to have in mind has already failed the show once before. I’m sure it can be improved upon, but the memory of watching it crash and burn in 2010 still sticks in my mind.
Ofall nine seasons ofScrubs, the final run was my least favorite. Even the presence of familiar faces like Zach Braff’s John “JD” Dorian and Donald Faison’s Christopher Turk wasn’t enough to shake the feeling of the sitcom’s drastic transformation into what felt like an underwhelming spinoff. Certain elements did work, though, and others will unavoidably need to be revisited whenScrubsis revived. If he does stick to his declared route of bringing the show back,I hope Lawrence makes some much-needed changesto avoid the disaster ofScrubsseason 9 repeating itself.
The Scrubs Revival: Confirmation, Cast, Story & Everything We Know
A revival of Scrubs has been in high demand since the show went off the air in 2010, and now it’s moving forward.
Bill Lawrence’s Scrubs Season 10 Plan Sounds Worryingly Similar To The Med School Reboot
The Scrubs revival could just be season 9 all over again
Scrubsshowrunner Bill Lawrence spoke withLadBibleabout his desire to bring back the medical sitcom. What worries me most is that his comments sound like he is describingScrubs: Med School. As a formula, I would have thought Lawrence had learned that the show’s ninth season fell short of the success of the previous eight. Unfortunately,his plans sound like a recreation ofScrubsseason 9, rather thanScrubsseason 10returning to how the show used to be before theMed Schoolchanges.
“It would not only be fun to see where the characters I used to love are now, but also to see what a young doctor nowadays looks like, as far as the kids coming in behind them, you know.” - Bill Lawrence.
Granted, I would imagine what it means to be a doctor has transformed a great deal since the show ended in 2010. As such, there would be different challenges for newScrubscharacters to address during their young careers. However,I’ve always seenScrubsas an incredibly character-focused show, with all medical elements coming secondary to that. If the relationships between the characters aren’t the main priority in the revival, then I can’t see how it will replicate the feel of the original run.
Lawrence has mentioned making aScrubsreunion movie on theFake Doctors, Real Friendsrewatch podcast. However, he recently seems more interested in a full revival of the sitcom.
Too Much Focus On New Scrubs Characters Will Hurt The Revival
Scrubs season 10 must be built around the original cast
I welcome the arrival of newScrubscharacters whenever the sitcom returns. The fresh faces introduced inScrubsseasons 8 and 9 were genuinely great additions to the cast. The wayScrubsseason 8 handled the new arrivals showed great balance, whereastheMed Schoolrun focused too much on the newer characters. WhenScrubsseason 10 begins, it will likely have been over 15 years since I saw the original cast together, so they will be the figures I want to see the most. I’m sure I’m not alone in that desire, either.
Scrubs' comeback will be a huge nostalgia trip for much of the original fan base.
Scrubs' comeback will be a huge nostalgia trip for much of the original fan base. I’m sure it’ll also be assembled to be accessible for newer viewers too, but I’d be surprised if that were to be a huge consideration. The best way to instill a sense of nostalgia in the audience - which, let’s face it, will be one of the biggest selling points - is to make sure any newer characters remain secondary to JD, Turk, Elliot, and the other originalScrubscharacters.
Every Doctor In Scrubs, Ranked By Skill
The Doctors in Scrubs aren’t all equal, but their varying skill sets can place the characters in ranking order of how effective they are at their job.
I do agree with Lawrence as well thatit makes sense forScrubsto introduce new doctorsand tell their story, perhaps quietly comparing their respective challenges to those of the original cast, but it’s a fine line that will need to be maintained. IfScrubsseason 10 revolves too much around its newcomers, it’ll quickly become far too similar to theMed Schoolepisodes, making the revival worse as a result.
Scrubs Season 9 Was Missing Very Few Main Members Of The Original Cast
The coming Scrubs revival will only bring back 2 characters who weren’t in season 9
Because Zach Braff wasn’t in every episode ofScrubsseason 9, and also the fact that a couple of other cast members didn’t return at all, it’s easy to misremember theMed Schoolepisodes as being entirely about the new characters. However, it was only really Neil Flynn’s Janitor and Judy Reyes Carla Espinosa who didn’t reprise their roles - althoughFlynn did have an incredibly brief cameo to explain his absencefrom the soft reboot. So, the coming reunion won’t actually represent that big of a change betweenScrubsseasons 9 and 10.
It’s highly likelyScrubsseason 10 will be set at the same hospital shown during theMed Schoolrun.
TheScrubsrevival will only really be impactful if as many members of the original cast as possible can return. Unfortunately,Sam Lloyd’s passing in 2020 makes Ted’s comeback impossible. In addition,the original hospital that doubled as Sacred Heart has since been demolisheddue to the show being over. As such, it’s highly likelyScrubsseason 10 will be set at the same hospital shown during theMed Schoolrun. If so, the revival will feel even more likeScrubsseason 9.
Scrubs Season 10 Needs To Bring Back The “New” Season 9 Characters (Which Could Create Problems)
There may not be room for Lucy Bennett and the other Scrubs season 9 interns
DespiteScrubsseason 9 being a pale imitation of what had come before, I think it would make sense to bring back the interns from that run for the revival. Sacred Heart has long thrived on keeping the same medical staff for years at a time, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the new hospital to bear the name also upheld that particular value. That being said,problems could arise if Lawrence does bring back Lucyand the others forScrubsseason 10, and they relate to the traditional sitcom format.
There’s only so much screen time to go around in a sitcom, and I don’t think the stars brought in forScrubsseason 9 will be in particularly high demand.
There’s only so much screen time to go around in a sitcom, and I don’t think the stars brought in forScrubsseason 9 will be in particularly high demand. The obvious priority will be to catch up with the original cast, to see what they’ve been up to since the show ended and where they are now. After that, Lawrence’s prospective younger doctors would be next in line.The season 9 interns won’t be newcomers anymore, nor are most of them established members of the original run’s cast. Therefore, it leaves them in some sort of nether realm.
The Secret Scrubs Reunion In Apple TV+’s New Comedy Show Makes Me Want A Revival Even More
The Scrubs' showrunner’s Apple TV+ show brings one of the medical sitcom’s biggest stars into the fold for his new project, and it’s got me excited.
There isn’t really room for them in the revival, but I do think they deserve to come back in some form. The easiest way to accommodate their presence would be in cameo form. This way, the characters wouldn’t be ignored, but their contributions to the franchise could still be honored. It all depends on whether those cameos could be relevant or funny enough to justify taking place whenScrubscomes back.
Scrubs
Cast
Scrubs is a Sitcom and Medical Comedy/Drama created by Bill Lawrence that follows a group of medical students throughout their daily lives at the Sacred Heart Teaching Hospital. The series stars Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, and Donald Faison, as they work their way up from Medical Interns while juggling all sorts of hospital shenanigans.
