Key Takeaways
- Revival Announcement: The Scrubs revival is confirmed for the 2025-2026 season with key cast members returning.
- Returning Characters: John C. McGinley will reprise his role as Dr. Perry Cox alongside Zach Braff and others.
- Creator's Vision: Bill Lawrence emphasizes the evolution of characters and the medical world in the reboot.
- Original Series Impact: The show, which premiered in 2001, became a beloved classic for its humor and emotional depth.
The OG Scrubs cast continues to assemble for ABC’s upcoming revival series, as John C. McGinley is set to return as Dr. Perry Cox in what will be a recurring role.
The Scrubs revival has received a straight-to-series order at ABC for the 2025-2026 season. Zach Braff is already onboard to star as John “J.D.” Dorian, and he’ll be joined by Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke and Judy Reyes, who will return as Christopher Turk, Elliot Reid, and Carla Espinosa, respectively. It’s likely that Ken Jenkins and Neil Flynn will also return as Bob Kelso and the Janitor, but nothing official yet.
The official logline for the Scrubs reboot series states: “JD (Braff) & Turk (Faison) scrub in together for the first time in a long time- medicine has changed, interns have changed, but their bromance has stood the test of time. Characters new and old navigate the waters of Sacred Heart with laughter, heart and some surprises along the way.” Original series creator Bill Lawrence added, “‘Scrubs’ means so very much to me. So excited for the chance to get the band back together.“
Lawrence teased what the reboot could look like late last year. “With the creative side, the show’s not going to pick up a day later. It can’t. I’m interested in where these characters are, that many years later,” Lawrence said. “I always remember the finale of Scrubs, in Season 8, with J.D. saying he has a dream of how things would go and, ‘Tell me my fantasies won’t come true, just this once.’ I never said that’s what happened. I’m interested, not only creatively, in where they’d be now and who they are, but also under the umbrella of what’s happened to the medical world and how that looks now. And one step past that, I love stories where the students become the teachers, and that would be what has to happen in this type of world.“
Scrubs premiered on NBC in 2001, introducing viewers to a quirky group of medical interns navigating life and medicine at Sacred Heart Hospital. Known for its unique blend of slapstick humour, surreal fantasy sequences, and occasional emotional depth, the show quickly became a fan favourite. It ran for seven seasons on NBC before moving to ABC for its final two seasons, with the last season featuring a largely new cast. The series starred Zach Braff as the daydreaming John “J.D.” Dorian, Donald Faison as his best friend and surgical resident Christopher Turk, Sarah Chalke as the ambitious and neurotic Elliot Reid, John C. McGinley as the tough-love mentor Dr. Perry Cox, Ken Jenkins as the cynical Chief of Medicine Bob Kelso, Judy Reyes as the strong-willed nurse Carla Espinosa, and Neil Flynn as the hilariously mysterious Janitor.
