Scrubs (2026)

Scrubs first debuted in 2001 and had eight seasons before ending in early 2009. The original run was mainly followed Zach Braff's John "J.D." Dorian, Donald Faison's Christopher Turk, and Sarah Chalke's Elliot Reed as they rose from interns in season one to full attending physicians. It was also highlighted by standout secondary characters particularly the Dr. Cox played by the fantastic John C. McGinley. After the eighth season, the ninth season was brought back late in the same 2009 and had the original three main characters play more of a secondary role as teachers in the case of J.D. and Turk. The mini-reboot was canned after one season and the IP was dormant until 2026.

I was thrilled to find out that one of my favorite shows that spanned basically the entirety of my high school and college years was coming back. The information got better and better as it appeared just about everyone was back on board. Bill Lawrence the original series' creator confirmed that a revival was happening in 2024. The show is considered the tenth season of the series and picks up sixteen years after season eight.

Season ten's early episodes do work as a "Welcome back, here's what happened" for the audience. It highlights that Turk and J.D. still have their bromance even if they can't quite do the things they could when they were younger. It is also where we see that the show has elected to retcon all of season nine. That includes even for J.D., Turk, and Elliot who are once again the main focus of the show. That is a little discouraging as that season nine did include things like J.D. and Elliot having a baby together. In fact, in season ten we find out that they have actually divorced. It's one of the first things the new season brings up.

While the retconning of season nine and especially the divorce of J.D. and Elliot is disappointing, the show does immediately hit its stride introducing the new status quo including J.D. taking over as the new Chief of Medicine from the finally retiring Dr. Cox. From there, we learn of the new interns and see many of the original beats the main trio experienced, but now in the year 2026. That means new technology and a way of thinking medicinally. The laughs are still there as are the life lessons for everyone. These life lessons serve as the continued heart of the show as it shows that even as Chief of Medicine that J.D. still has lessons to learn. It's a great reminder that no one should ever stop trying to learn.

I do want to highlight John C. McGinley's Dr. Cox one more time. He is only in a handful of episodes, but does end up playing arguably the most important role in the show's closing plotline for the season. McGinley's Dr. Cox is just as gruff, but clearly caring as ever despite still being reluctant to show that. This plot does seem like it will be a major part of season eleven if the show gets renewed which it hasn't been at the time of this writing. However, it did have strong ratings and seems likely to get that eleventh season.