After months of speculation, ABC has made it official: the Scrubs revival is a go! CNN reports the medical comedy has been ordered and has added two more original stars. Donald Faison (Next Day Air, Uptown Girls) and Sarah Chalke (Roseanne, Firefly Lane) reunite with Zach Braff (Garden State, Chicken Little) to complete the original series’ trio.
According to CNN, Faison, Chalke, and Braff all shared the news on their Instagram pages, with ABC confirming their roles and their joining as EPs.
In the original series, Braff portrayed the optimistic physician J.D. Dorian, according to CNN. He was joined by his best friend, Faison’s Christopher Duncan Turk, and Chalke’s Elliot Reid, who was J.D.’s occasional love interest. The show ran for nine seasons; seven on NBC and the final two on ABC.
Creator Bill Lawrence (Shrinking, Ted Lasso) has been teasing a possible reunion at Sacred Heart Hospital since 2018.
“I would do anything to get to work with not only this group [but the entire crew]…it was the best time in my life,” Lawrence told The Hollywood Reporter. Six years ago, he wasn’t keen on a reunion, viewing many reboots at the time felt like a “money grab.”
“If we ever do it, we’ll do it as a short little movie or something else,” he continued via THR. “I think the problem from me is I would just want to see where everyone is. I would want to see where their marriages are [as opposed to a huge event].”
Talks became more serious last year, with news that ABC was developing the series’ return. Last month, the project received another boost as Braff announced his return to the star-making role.
It appears Lawrence will explore the characters at older ages and the changes in healthcare. According to CNN, the series synopsis has been described as the following: “JD and Turk scrub together for the first time in a long time. Medicine has changed, interns have changed, but their bromance has stood the test of time. Characters new and old navigate the waters of Sacred Heart with laughter, heart, and some surprises along the way.”
For a retrospective on the complete series, Scrubs is currently available to stream on Hulu.