For the first time in over 15 years, new Scrubs episodes are on the upcoming TV schedule thanks to a revival from ABC starring Zach Braff, Donald Faison and a ton of the original cast. However, there are two notable characters not part of the revival: Ken Jenkins’ Kelso and Neil Flynn’s Janitor. Ahead of the Scrubs’ premiere, Braff has shared if and how they might rejoin the show.
Scrubs is set to cater to original fans and newcomers to the medical sitcom when it premieres next month, but longtime followers of the comings and goings of Sacred Heart Hospital are going to inevitably miss Jenkins and Flynn’s characters. Here’s what Braff had to say on the subject:
Well, the true answer is if we’re blessed to have a second season, absolutely. And the real answer for Season 1 is we’re not fully sure yet. Episodes 8 and 9 of the nine-episode order are still being written. They both are interested in doing it.
During a new interview with Esquire, Zach Braff suggested that the return of Kelso and the janitor is possible, but hasn’t been written into the series thus far. (It’s also entirely possible that Braff wants to keep their planned or future appearances a secret to surprise fans.)
Additionally, from what we know about the new Scrubs show, it’s already bringing back a bunch of original characters alongside some new cast members as interns at Sacred Heart. It sounds like it might not quite make sense storywise to throw too many characters at audiences at once. As Braff also said:
But do we have the bandwidth in the first nine to get to it all and service a story that would be worthy of Ken and Neil? That might come true. At this point, I can’t tell you the answer, but most definitely, if we are lucky enough to get a Season 2, that’s something we want to do.
The upcoming season of Scrubs, which is effectively Season 10, has Zach Braff’s J.D., Donald Faison’s Turk and Sarah Chalke’s Elliot listed as main characters and the likes of John C. McGinley’s Dr. Perry Cox, Judy Reyes’ Carla, Robert Maschio’s Dr. Todd Quinlan and Phill Lewis’ Dr. Hooch back on the roster as recurring and/or guest stars.
Then there’s the new cast, which consists of SNL’s Vanessa Bayer as a wellness guru named Sibby and Joel Kim Booster as an attending physician named Dr. Eric Park. The new intern class will be played by Jacob Dudman, David Gridley, Ava Bunn, Layla Mohammadi and Amanda Morrow. It’ll be fun to see what the new dynamic will be at Sacred Heart, and it’s great to know that Jenkins and Flynn could return to the show at some point.
The series was revived by original creator Bill Lawrence, who has recently gone on to do Ted Lasso and Shrinking for Apple TV. We’ll be able to see the two-episode premiere of Scrubs on February 25 on ABC, and you can stream it the next day with a Hulu subscription.
