New episodes of 'Scrubs' air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC
Credit: Disney/Sergei Bachlakov
NEED TO KNOW
- Scrubs is back! In new interviews, the cast opens up about returning to their roles for the revival
- Sarah Chalke and Zach Braff, who play Elliot Reid and J.D., explain why they support their characters’ divorce, which is revealed in the premiere
- Donald Faison and Judy Reyes also react to how their on-screen relationship landed in the new season
The Scrubs OGs are back, and their lives are looking a little different.
The medical comedy’s revival debuted on Wednesday, Feb. 25, and it revealed what John “J.D.” Dorian (Zach Braff), Christopher Turk (Donald Faison), Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke), Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes) and Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley) have been up to 16 years since the original series concluded.
The cast recently spoke with PEOPLE about stepping back into their beloved roles and shared how they felt when they learned where their characters find themselves today.
“As we talked about coming back and what this show would be, I wondered where Liza Esquibias Bill [Lawrence] would decide that we start off,” says Chalke, 49, whose storyline included one of the more shocking updates when it is revealed that Elliot and J.D. have divorced.
Credit: Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
While the split might be upsetting to some, Chalke admits that she actually supports it.
“I think having them be divorced was such a great way in, because if they're happy and they're just fine, there's not a lot of room for comedy and drama in that,” she says. “There's much more room to play when they're figuring out how to be around each other, who they're going to be to each other, how to co-parent, how to work together and be in the same work environment again. So I thought that was such a great way to choose to go.”
Braff, 50, agrees, noting that it made more sense for Turk and Carla to remain together than J.D. and Elliot.
“It's good to show one that really works better than ever and one that didn't, and I think a lot of people can relate,” he says, “That's what happens in the real world.”
“I think a lot of people would be upset if it were the other way around, if Turk and Carla were divorced and J.D. and Elliot were still married,” Faison, 51, adds. “I think they got it right. If we're going to go back to the way Scrubs was before, this is a very important dynamic to have them be competitors, as well as friends and lovers.”
On the other hand, Faison says he’s glad he and Reyes, 58, (who points out their “incredible chemistry” on-screen) can also portray a healthy couple.
“I love that Turk is still married and still in love with his wife. I mean, that's how I am,” he notes. (Faison has been married to his wife CaCee Cobb since 2012.) “I think it's important to show love on television. I think it's important for people to see successful relationships and successful marriages.”
While brainstorming the new season, Lawrence explains that part of what made Scrubs so special in its initial run from 2001 until 2010 was its ability to make people feel so many different emotions in one episode. The choice to ultimately break J.D. and Elliot up contributed to that sense of bringing reality back to the show.
“If you're going to jump ahead almost 20 years, as somebody that his life has jumped ahead 20 years, your dreams don't all come true,” Lawrence says. “We were like, if you look at Carla and Turk's relationship, they probably stood the test of time. And if you look at J.D. and Elliot's relationship — spoiler — they never went more than an episode and a half without being incredibly contentious. They weren't a great couple."
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Scrubs airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, with episodes available to stream on Hulu the next day.
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