Although it hasn’t been officially greenlit by ABC just yet, the Scrubs reboot coming together nicely. After years of chatter about how it could potentially happen, it was announced last December that Bill Lawrence, who created the original series, had signed on to develop the reboot. Then last month, Zach Braff signed on to reprise John “JD” Dorian in what I’m calling for now Scrubs 2.0. Now Braff has shared how the reboot will explore his character treating patients as an older doctor, and it sounds like this will be one of the heavier aspects of the show..
Zach Braff opened up about what’s being planned for the Scrubs reboot while he and Bill Lawrence were at the ATX TV Festival (via TVLine). While it’s important for this revival to maintain the lighthearted elements that helped make its predecessor (which can be streamed with a Hulu subscription) so popular, it’s also important to acknowledge that being a doctor is much different compared to when JD first joined Sacred Heart. As Braff explained:
When Bill and I shoot the shit about it, [we ask ourselves] how do you still have the spirit of the [original] show — the humor and the heart of the show, and the fantasies and all the fun stuff that we all loved? The show was about a young doctor coming into this new world, so what is it like [to be] a doctor who is 50 and has been beaten down by the system? It’s very, very hard to be a doctor today.
Zach Braff’s statement echoes what Bill Lawrence said in October 2024, just a few months before he started developing the Scrubs reboot. Back then, he stated that Scrubs 2.0 couldn’t have characters like JD, Turk and Elliot be “super idealistic” like they were when we first met them, and that there would’t be the cliché of “rich doctors playing golf.” This time around, Lawrence acknowledged as Braff was speaking that “medicine has changed a lot,” though in “some very comedic ways” as well as “dark” ways. Braff then continued:
And what is [JD’s] life like now? Obviously, you can still have the bromance, and the love, and the friendship. But coming at it from the opposite angle, what is it like for a guy who has been through this system and dealing with all that stuff for so long?
It’s been 15 years since Scrubs’ ninth and final season ended, and if the reboot is greenlit, I don’t expect that it’ll be ready to air on ABC until the 2026-2027 TV season at the earliest. So we’re talking about reuniting with JD and the gang over a decade and a half later; that’s a lot of time for the medical field to look much different. Judging by what Zach Braff says, it sounds like there’s no intention to take away JD’s goofiness and affection for his loved ones, but perhaps his earnestness will be toned down a bit as a result of that “system” wearing away at him.
We’ll learn more about what Scrubs 2.0 has in store as more actors, both new and returning come aboard, and I’m crossing my fingers that ABC goes forward with the reboot. The original Scrubs is one of the best sitcoms of all time, and considering how the final season was disappointing to many fans, I’m hopeful that the new version can balance recapturing that original spirit, while also making necessary tweaks and adjustments to account for the passage of time.
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