While Scrubs, one of the best sitcoms of all time, was a great platform for Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, John C. McGinley, Judy Reyes, Ken Jenkins and Neil Flynn to show off their comedic chops, there were also many side characters who were instrumental to the show’s success. Sad sack Ted Buckley, played by the late Sam Lloyd, was one of them, which makes it all the sadder that we won’t see him in the Scrubs revival premiering next month on the 2026 TV schedule. However, Braff has shared the touching way that the show will honor his former scene-stealing co-star.
Sam Lloyd passed away in 2020 at the age of 56 after being diagnosed with both a brain tumor and metastatic lung cancer. While Scrubs fans like myself will surely feel Ted’s absence when the revival gets underway, Zach Braff informed Esquire that one of the show’s new locations has been named after Lloyd:
There’s a new bar that we all go to, and we named it Lloyd’s Tavern. That was the production designer’s idea, which I thought was beautiful. So there’s a nod to Sam. We love Sam; we miss him. It’s hard to do this show without him. He was such an iconic member of the squad. And our plan is to most definitely have an episode that is a tribute to him. Again, I’m still not sure if we’ll be able to do that in this first nine or if that would be in season 2.
This reminds me of how the bar frequented in the short-lived Frasier revival was named Mahoney’s after John Mahoney, who played the title character’s father in the original show and died in 2018. I’m glad that Sam Lloyd no longer being with us isn’t going unnoticed on Scrubs, though causal viewers likely won’t recognize the reference. I also hope that the revival is able to fit in a direct tribute episode to Lloyd/Ted, whether it be towards the end of this first season that’s still filming or sometime in Season 2, assuming that gets greenlit.
Sam Lloyd debuted as Ted Buckland in Scrubs’ very first episode, which aired on October 2, 2001, and he recurred as the hapless lawyer and frequent target of Dr. Kelso’s cruelness in 95 episodes across all nine seasons of its original run. Lloyd also appeared as Ted in three episodes of Cougar Town, which, like Scrubs, was created by Bill Lawrence. Though Lawrence is busy these days making Apple TV subscription-exclusive shows like Ted Lasso, Shrinking and Sugar, he is involved in the revival as an executive producer, though Aseem Batra is handling showrunning duties.
Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke comprise the Scrubs revival’s main cast, while John C. McGinley and Judy Reyes, as well as Robert Maschio and Phill Lewis (who played on the original show as Todd and Hooch, respectively, on the original show) are attached as recurring players. The lineup of newcomers includes Vanessa Bayer, Joel Kim Booster, Ava Bunn, Jacob Dudman, David Gridley, Layla Mohammadi and Amanda Morrow. Catch Scrubs’ return to ABC on Wednesday, February 25 with the two-episode premiere.
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