If you’re a fan of the hit television show Scrubs, we have good news. The show is getting a second life, or a reboot as they call it in television.
Scrubs will be returning for a tenth season, with the last season having been filmed all the way back in 2009. That’s 17 years ago.
Scrubs ran from 2001 to 2010, spent seven seasons on NBC and two on ABC, earned six Emmy nominations including one for Zach Braff for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2005. Tonight it comes back.
The revival, officially Season 10, premieres on ABC at 8 p.m. with two back-to-back episodes. New episodes drop weekly after that, with each available to stream on Hulu the following day. Nine episodes total.
Creator Bill Lawrence is back as executive producer. Lawrence has kept himself busy since the original run ended, creating Ted Lasso and Shrinking, both of which became critical hits.
He wrote the revival’s first episode himself and stayed involved throughout the rest of the season. The showrunner role went to Aseem Batra, though Tim Hobert, who was originally attached as co-showrunner, departed during production over creative differences.
The core three are all back as series regulars. Zach Braff returns as J.D. Dorian, now 50 years old, no longer the wide-eyed intern but the attending physician and mentor to a new class of doctors at Sacred Heart.
Donald Faison is back as Turk. Sarah Chalke returns as Elliot Reid.
The revival picks up with J.D. and Elliot married with two kids. Turk and Carla are also still married with four kids.
Lawrence: Season 9 Never Actually Happened
One thing Lawrence confirmed early: the revival operates as though the ninth season never happened. Season 9 was a de facto spinoff that replaced most of the original cast with new characters and was poorly received by fans from the start.
The new season treats the Season 8 finale as the true ending of the original run and picks up from there.
John C. McGinley is back as Dr. Cox, though in a recurring capacity rather than as a series regular. He appears in three episodes. The reason is scheduling. McGinley is a series regular on Lawrence’s upcoming HBO project Rooster and couldn’t commit to the full season.
Judy Reyes returns as Carla in four episodes, also as a recurring player, also due to scheduling conflicts stemming from her role on ABC’s High Potential. Both Reyes and McGinley have already gone on record saying they’d return for a second season without hesitation.
Neil Flynn, who played the Janitor across 170 episodes of the original series, was a question mark for months heading into the premiere.
Showrunner Batra confirmed he will appear in one episode. Christa Miller, who is married to Lawrence in real life, returns as Jordan Sullivan for one episode as well. Jordan and Cox will appear together, still a couple despite their on-screen legal divorce. Robert Maschio is back as Dr. Todd. Phill Lewis returns as Dr. Hooch.
Ken Jenkins, who played Dr. Bob Kelso across all nine original seasons, is not in the revival.
The new cast members include Joel Kim Booster as Dr. Eric Park, Ava Bunn as Sam Tosh, a medical intern who funded medical school through social media, Jacob Dudman as intern Asher Green, David Gridley as intern Blake, Layla Mohammadi as surgical intern Amara, and Amanda Morrow as surgical intern Dashana. Guest stars include Rachel Bilson, Andy Ridings, and Lisa Gilroy.
Early reviews are strong. The season holds a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews and a 72 on Metacritic.
The critics consensus calls it a show that revives its signature laughs and delivers another fan-favorite run of medical comedy and heartfelt drama.
