‘Scrubs’ Creator Bill Lawrence Says the Reboot Is a “No-Lose” Situation

Earlier this month it was announced that the beloved sitcom Scrubs was getting a reboot, and while reactions to the news have been mixed, creator Bill Lawrence says it’s a “no-lose” situation. Scrubs originally aired for eight seasons on NBC from 2001 to 2008, and when the network revealed they weren’t going to renew the series for a ninth outing, it was picked up by ABC for one last go, ending in 2010.

Now, ABC is looking to bring back everyone at Sacred Heart Hospital for another run, including Lawrence, who recently told the Los Angeles Times that if he “thought it was a bad idea, I wouldn’t do it.” Of course, the verdict is still out on whether the idea will be successful, but for him, he remains positive about things, calling it a “no-lose” situation because “shows that I care about have had reboots.”

“Someone was like, ‘I hope this doesn’t happen.’ That made me incredulous. Like, why the f— would you care if it happened? He’s like, ‘I just love the show so much, it would tarnish it.’ I don’t think that’s true. Shows that I care about have had reboots. This is my attitude: If it’s a show I love, I’m gonna watch it. If it’s great, I’m gonna be super happy. If it’s good, whatever, at least it didn’t offend me. And if it sucks, I’m gonna be super happy to badmouth how much it sucks to my friends. Not on the internet. But that’s how I watch TV. To me, that’s a no-lose. What’s the big deal?”

There’s no word yet on which cast members will return for the Scrubs reboot, but Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison and John C. McGinley have all been keen to redeem themselves from the series’ divisive final season. “The cast are all tight in real life and as a lot of us do, at this point in our lives, covet that experience,” Lawrence added. “So [there’s] the amount of friends that [say], ‘Man, it would be fun to have that experience again because we all really loved each other.'”

The ‘Scrubs’ Reboot Won’t Be a Direct Continuation

Details are scarce right now on the plot of the Scrubs reboot, so we’re not entirely sure which direction it will take. We can guess that it will probably follow Braff, Chalke, and Faison in a role reversal of sorts, with them being the ones to train new interns at Sacred Heart. That would probably make the most sense, considering it’s 15 years later and a lot of time has passed. One thing we do know – thanks to Lawrence – is that it won’t just pick right back up from where things left off, and that’s a good thing.

“Creatively, if somebody said, ‘Do you want to pick Scrubs up right back in the same hospital with the same people on a normal day, everything’s back to normal?’ No, that would be disingenuous to the story. Am I curious and can I think of a bunch of stories about where some of these characters are years later, not being kid interns anymore, and having new young people around them, with the way the medical world has changed — yeah, without a shadow of a doubt. That creative answer was easy.”

Seeing as how the Scrubs reboot is still in the early stages of development, there’s still no word on casting, or when the series might premiere. In the meantime, if you’re looking for a nice dose of nostalgia, you can stream all nine seasons of the original series on either Hulu or Peacock.

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Release Date

October 1, 2001

Cast

John C. McGinley
, Robert Maschio
, Donald Faison
, Christa Miller
, Neil Flynn
, Judy Reyes
, Aloma Wright
, Zach Braff
, Sarah Chalke
, Sam Lloyd
, Ken Jenkins

Seasons

9