Reboots of beloved shows have a reputation — but it’s not always a good one.
As a long-time fan of Scrubs, I approached the revival with cautious optimism. After all, it had been 15 years since we’d said goodbye to the clinical halls of the Sacred Heart Hospital and doctor best buds John ‘JD’ Dorian (Zach Braff) and Christopher Turk (Donald Faison). Seeing where my old, fictional friends were at in life felt like a big warm hug with an old friend.
Thankfully, after one season of the Scrubs reboot, the US ABC network has confirmed that the series will be returning for season two. And while TV reboots don’t always have the best track record, Scrubs has managed to do something rare — win over both long time fans and a whole new generation.
The exciting news comes after the network reported that Scrubs was the most-watched comedy amongst adults during the last ratings season, with a total of 11.36 million views in its first five days across all streaming platforms.
Admittedly, this comes as a surprise. So often, reboots of beloved series disappoint. They lean too strongly on nostalgia, rather than looking forward to establish more character-driven story arcs. They often leave fans wondering why networks even spend the time and resources to fund a reboot, rather than invest in new, exciting content. And in 2026 this is an issue.
As an ardent fan of Scrubs, the first few episodes of the reboot had me nervous — even with so many original returning cast members. Pilots and episodes spent establishing new characters, plot points and situations can feel clunky and episodes one to three certainly were.
However, once the Scrubs reboot got into the swing of things, I was impressed. While there was plenty of fan service, it didn’t feel forced. The new gen-z characters didn’t feel like a caricatures of the new generation of doctors, they felt genuine. And our favourite trio? They might be well established doctors, but they’ve still got plenty of things to learn. And by the time the finale rolled around, I was craving more.
What is Scrubs about?
The original Scrubs was a medical sitcom which followed the lives of the doctors working at a teaching hospital called Sacred Heart Hospital, created by award-winning TV producer Bill Lawrence (Shrinking, Bad Monkey, Ted Lasso).
In the first season — which launched in 2001 — we see rookie doctors JD (Zach Braff) and Elliot (Sarah Chalke) aspiring surgeon Christopher Turk make the jump from their medical school training into the demanding world of the hospital. There, they meet Elliot (Sarah Chalke), a janitor they manage to piss off from the get-go (Neill Flynn), helpful nurse Carla (Judy Reyes) and their tyrant mentor Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley).
In the show’s nine seasons, we watch as the dynamic trio make their way up the medical ranks of the hospital, all the while living their lives as young 20-somethings navigating relationships and the bonkers situations life throws at them. While the series was a comedy, it became known for the way it seamlessly shifted between belly-laughs to heart wrenching, tear-jerking moments.
As a result, the series was a pretty instant hit which ended up running for nine seasons until 2010.
However, in July 2025, Scrubs fans around the world rejoiced when it was announced that a Scrubs revival was confirmed by the American ABC network.
Which cast members returned to the Scrubs reboot?
The best part about the Scrubs revival is that many of our favourite actors returned to play their iconic characters.
Of course, we’ve got the main characters: Zach Braff and John ‘JD’ Dorian, Donald Faison as Christopher Turk and Sarah Chalke as Elliot Reid.
Joining the main trio are Judy Reyes, who plays Turk’s wife and nurse Carla Espinosa and John C. McGinley who plays lovable hard-ass Dr. Cox.
The reboot also features a handful of new (and really good!) characters. There’s the interns; Blake (David Gridley), Tosh (Ava Bunn), Dashana (Amanda Morrow), Amara (Layla Mohammadi) and Asher (Jacob Dudman). The new head nurses, Nurse Dubois (Michael James Scott), sassy bisexual doctor Dr. Kevin Park(Joel Kim Booster) and Nurse Raymond (X Mayo) and there’s Sibby (Vanessa Bayer) the quirky HR rep.
Truthfully, it’s no surprise that the core cast have returned to the show. Since the series wrapped in 2010, the cast have been quite vocal about their love of the series and each other.
In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Donald and Zack launched their own podcast called Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald in which they re-watched the series. Each episode would also feature guest appearances from fellow actors or people who worked on the show.
What’s the Scrubs reboot about?
According to the official logline of the series, the new season of Scrubs will follow JD and Turk as they return to Sacred Heart after years of working separately.
As you might expect from a 15 year absence, the hospital has changed dramatically. There’s different people, different technology and a different pecking order. The one thing that remains unchanged? The glorious bromance between them.
Early on in the reboot, we discover that Elliot and J.D. are divorced and attempting to move on in peace.
In a chat with Deadline, Bill Lawrence said that he saw the new series as a hybrid between a revival and a reboot.
“I think the only real reason to do it is a combo,” Lawrence said.
“A: people wanting to see what the world of medicine was like for the people they love, which is part of any successful reboot. But B: I think that show always worked because you get to see young people dropped into the world of medicine, knowing young people that go there are super idealistic and are doing it because it’s a calling. There’s no cliché ‘rich doctors playing golf’ — that’s not what it is anymore. So I think that, no matter what it is, it would be a giant mistake not to do as a combo of those two things.”
When is the Scrubs reboot season 2 coming out?
So far, the ABC has only really confirmed that it has been greenlit for season two, not when it will be coming out. At the moment, it is slated for a 2026-2027 release.
In the meantime, you can watch seasons one to nine of the original Scrubs and season one of the reboot on Disney+ or Stan.
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