‘Scrubs’: Zach Braff to Reprise Role in Reboot!!

J.D. is back in the building for the Scrubs reboot. After years of discussing a way to resuscitate the medical sitcom with creator Bill Lawrence, original series star Zach Braff has signed on to reprise his role as the iconic physician and self-described sensitive guy, bringing the show’s return one step closer to reality. Development on the reboot officially got underway back in December, and optimism about a comeback at ABC has only grown since then, with Disney TV chief Eric Schrier highlighting the “creative desire“ of all involved as a big motivator. With Braff officially back in the fold, it may open the door for more original cast members to get their scrubs back on and join in the fun.

That Braff is reuniting with Lawrence isn’t necessarily surprising. Braff has been vocal over the years about where he imagines J.D.’s story would go after the series concluded in 2010. Premiering in 2001, Scrubs largely followed the young physician’s journey from an imaginative intern to a seasoned medical professional, delivering plenty of laughs along the way as he rose through the ranks at Sacred Heart and eventually left for bigger and better things. Back in 2024, he told ScreenRant that, while his imagination and comedic daydreams would remain, he envisioned a reboot putting him in more of a leadership role. “But I think he’s more in the Dr. Cox position these days,” he said. “He’s the senior doctor to the hospital.”

Braff played the lead in eight out of Scrubs‘s nine seasons, only appearing in a recurring role in Season 9, which was branded as Scrubs: Med School. Only John C. McGinley and Donald Faison stayed on as series regulars throughout the entire run. It’s hard to imagine a reboot living carrying on without either of them — especially Faison, given the famous duo Chris Turk formed with J.D. — but thus far, nobody else has been attached to the new series. The original cast also featured Judy Reyes, Sarah Chalke, Ken Jenkins, and Neil Flynn. Finer details of what Lawrence has planned for J.D. and Sacred Heart Hospital are unknown, but he loves the idea of revisiting where the original characters are now and how they become leaders in a world of new medical advancements. He told Variety earlier this year:

“With the creative side, the show’s not going to pick up a day later. It can’t. I’m interested in where these characters are, that many years later. I always remember the finale of Scrubs, in Season 8, with J.D. saying he has a dream of how things would go and, ‘Tell me my fantasies won’t come true, just this once.’ I never said that’s what happened. I’m interested, not only creatively, in where they’d be now and who they are, but also under the umbrella of what’s happened to the medical world and how that looks now. And one step past that, I love stories where the students become the teachers, and that would be what has to happen in this type of world.”

Braff and Lawrence Are Still Working Together Beyond ‘Scrubs’

Long past the end of Scrubs, Lawrence and Braff have remained partners on a number of projects of late. Most recently, the Garden State star returned behind the camera as a director for two pivotal episodes from Season 2 of Lawrence‘s hit Apple TV+ dramedy, Shrinking. With Season 3 confirmed for the Jason Segel and Harrison Ford series, complete with some big new names in Michael J. Fox and Jeff Daniels, there’s always the possibility he could pick up those duties yet again. He also appeared in a smaller role in the Ted Lasso creator’s newest series, Bad Monkey, starring Vince Vaughn.