‘Scrubs’ Season 9 Already Explained the Janitor’s Absence From the Revival

At present, Neil Flynn isn’t officially confirmed to return as the Janitor in the Scrubs revival, but the reason for his absence actually makes perfect sense. Along with Ken Jenkins’ Bob Kelso, Flynn is just one of two available core cast members from the original run who haven’t been announced as returning. However, just as Dr. Kelso’s retirement serves as a built-in explanation for his absence from the Scrubs revival, the show has also already provided a convincing reason for why the Janitor wouldn’t be at Sacred Heart anymore in 2026.

The Janitor appeared in every season of Scrubs during the original run, although he was limited to just a brief cameo in the ninth and final season. Also known as Scrubs: Med School, Season 9 has now been retconned to be part of an alternate future. In other words, Med School is no longer necessary viewing. Instead, the revival will only acknowledge up to the end of Scrubs Season 8’s “My Finale” two-parter. Unfortunately, the Janitor’s Med School cameo explaining his departure is too convincing to change.

A Version of the Janitor’s ‘Scrubs: Med School’ Exit Almost Definitely Still Happened After Season 8

NBC

Getting rid of Med School from the main Scrubs timeline means several things have now been undone. For example, JD (Zach Braff) and Elliot (Sarah Chalke) aren’t together in the revival, whereas they were married with a baby on the way when Season 9 was canonically relevant. The original Sacred Heart was also never torn down now that Season 9 happened in an alternate universe. Almost every facet of what happened in Med School can similarly be explained away – but not the Janitor’s exit. Not really.

When JD asks Turk (Donald Faison) in the Med School pilot why the Janitor hadn’t stayed on at the new Sacred Heart, Turk explains that Flynn’s character left when he realized JD wouldn’t be coming back for him to torture. The comedically fractious dynamic between JD and the Janitor was one of the biggest running jokes in Scrubs Seasons 1-8, with the Janitor often dedicating hours of his day to pranking JD when he probably should have been keeping the hospital clean. It’s a relationship that was established in the 2001 pilot episode and came to be a defining feature of Scrubs.

The Med School explanation is largely included to account for Flynn’s decision to leave Scrubs to take a starring role in The Middle. That said, it is also incredibly faithful to the Janitor’s personality. It makes absolute sense that the Janitor disappeared after JD left Sacred Heart. Without his primary victim, he probably didn’t see the point in going to work every day. So, the writers got lucky that Flynn’s exit was so easy to account for within the Scrubs universe. Even though Med School essentially no longer happened, the Janitor’s reaction to JD’s departure is too faithful to Flynn’s character for it to be replaced. Therefore, it’s logical to assume that this is why Flynn hasn’t been announced as part of the Scrubs revival cast – he left Sacred Heart right after JD did.

It’s Safe to Assume That the Janitor Will Eventually Appear in the ‘Scrubs’ Revival

The Janitor and JD having a beer in Scrubs

Even though the Janitor doesn’t appear to be part of the Scrubs revival’s initial storyline, there have been certain clues to imply he will be brought back into the fold at some point. For example, when Zach Braff posted a Scrubs revival teaser to his Instagram account, the comments were filled with fans asking where the Janitor was and why he wasn’t in the footage. One of the most intriguing answers from Braff himself was: “Allow the story to unfold…” Although this doesn’t confirm that Flynn will return, there’s cause to be optimistic. Besides, it wouldn’t be the same show without him.

Braff answered the question about Flynn’s absence in a more direct setting during an interview with Esquire. When asked about whether the Janitor (and Dr. Kelso) would be returning, Braff gave a vaguely promising response: “Well, the true answer is, if we’re blessed to have a second season, absolutely. And the real answer for Season 1 is we’re not fully sure yet.” So, while it remains possible that the Janitor could still appear in Season 1 of the Scrubs revival, it sounds a little more likely that he’ll return for Season 2, if ABC orders more episodes.

Braff raised a great point in the same interview that the revival is currently only nine episodes long, and it won’t get any longer unless Season 2 happens. The show’s original run routinely had seasons that consisted of 20+ episodes, so there was plenty of time to explore the various arcs of the main cast and various guest stars. Because Scrubs‘ return has far less freedom in this respect, it makes sense that not everyone would return at once. Otherwise, there would be no time for anything more than a surface-level examination of what the characters have been up to in the last sixteen years. Thankfully, the way Scrubs Season 9 wrote the Janitor out of the story unintentionally bought the writers more time in this respect.