The new ‘Scrubs’ hit me straight in the feels
The new ‘Scrubs’ hit me straight in the feels
Dusting off a millenial aphorism feels appropriate for the return of ‘Scrubs,’ which was one of the best-executed reboots I’ve seen.
It would be folly to deny my “Scrubs” fandom, but I was terribly nervous when I heard about a reboot of the show. For all my love of the series, its ninth season (an attempted reboot in its own right) was, at best, a poor imitation of what had come before, and left the series on a decided down note.
Hearing that “Scrubs” creator Bill Lawrence had reunited Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, and Judy Reyes for a new attempt at the series was encouraging, but I still had caution. After all, plenty of reboots and remakes have brought back original characters to try and woo fans, only to fail utterly by devolving into fan service with no new story to tell. But, after watching the first two episodes of the new “Scrubs,” I can say my fears have been put to rest. Fans of the original series will absolutely love the new show, and it was my favorite stream of the week by far.
“Scrubs” picks up in the modern day, more than two decades after the original series united young doctors J.D., Turk, and Elliot at Sacred Heart Hospital. Turk and Elliot still work there, but J.D. has moved on to a life of mundane house calls for wealthy patients. All of that changes when the chief of medicine, Perry Cox, asks J.D., in one of the most genuine moments the characters have ever shared, to take his job and allow him to retire knowing the hospital’s new interns are in good hands.
When the first episode of the new season began, it was immediately clear that each actor knew how to pick up their characters and keep on running, even after decades. Braff and Faison’s on- and off-screen bromance is a well-traveled joke for the series at this point, but instead of continuing to just rely on that nostalgia, the “Scrubs” reboot ups the stakes by showing viewers a very different Turk — one who hasn’t been able to fall back on his best friend as often, and is increasingly burnt out by his career.
J.D.’s initial tests as chief of medicine are another reminder that, while the characters of “Scrubs” have stood the test of time, the issues that they’ll face will be new. He faces not only the challenges of teaching his new interns how to navigate compassionate care in a for-profit healthcare system without crashing and burning, but also of balancing the needs of different departments of Sacred Heart without alienating the staff.
I think what makes the new “Scrubs” so successful is that it balances its narrative between the challenges of new doctors trying to make their way in the world of medicine, and the challenges of familiar characters who aren’t as young as they used to be as they try to evolve in a changing environment. It doesn’t risk the total alienation of fans if new characters fall flat, or accusations of using fan service to cover a weak story by trying to lean too far one way or the other.
Do all of these reflections come from a diehard fan of the original “Scrubs”? Yes. But I don’t think my admitted bias is the reason I adored the show’s reboot. “Scrubs” doesn’t shy from the real issues facing doctors in 2026, but it manages to explain them with so much humor that it’s hard not to come away feeling hopeful that, with smart and dedicated people working toward solutions, no problem is impossible to solve.
New episodes of “Scrubs” air on ABC on Wednesday evenings at 8 p.m. ET, and stream on-demand on Hulu the following day.
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