The staff of Sacred Heart has officially scrubbed in for the reboot of Scrubs at ABC. A new image was just released that sees the returning stars gathered for a table-read for the long-awaited continuation of Bill Lawrence‘s beloved workplace comedy, a full 15 years after they bade farewell to the hospital. Included alongside Lawrence were the iconic duo of Zach Braff and Donald Faison, reprising their roles as J.D. and Turk, with Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes, and John C. McGinley huddled with them and ready to get back to work. It’s a big step forward for the reboot as it eyes a return to television at midseason in 2026.
Excitement continues to build around the return of Scrubs after ABC finally, officially, ordered the reboot to series back in July. The reunion of the original medical staff and their award-winning creator has been years in the making, with countless rumors and work behind the scenes leading up to the eventual decision to reopen Sacred Heart’s doors and see how these characters have changed. When viewers last saw the team, J.D. and Turk had started families with Elliot (Chalke) and Carla (Reyes) and began working as teachers at Winston University alongside Perry Cox (McGinley) in the med-school-set final season, while Elliot continued work at Sacred Heart and Carla became a stay-at-home mom. They’ll now scrub in amid an era where medicine has changed in complicated ways and new interns have entered the field, but their bonds remain intact.
The return of Scrubs promises similar humor and heart, with the spotlight firmly on J.D. and Turk. However, while there’s a lot of friendship and joy to go around between the cast, Braff has also teased how the return allows everyone to explore these characters from a new angle. The original series introduced J.D. as a young doctor, but now, he’s a seasoned veteran who’s risen through the ranks and proven himself as a capable professional. It will reflect how the modern medical industry can wear down someone after years of service, questioning what the reality is for “a doctor who is 50 and has been beaten down by the system,” Braff shared. Whatever stories the show will tell, it’ll have steady hands at the wheel, with Scrubs alums Tim Hobert and Aseem Batra serving as showrunners and Lawrence, coming off hits Bad Monkey and Shrinking Season 2, creating once again.
Will Other Original ‘Scrubs’ Cast Members Rejoin the Team?
While much of the original Sacred Heart team is back together with Lawrence, the group photo still has some notable absences. Ken Jenkins and Neil Flynn have yet to be announced to return as Dr. Bob Kelso or the janitor. So far, there haven’t been any rumblings about them coming back, but there’s still time before cameras start rolling for that to change, even if they’re only around in a guest-starring or recurring capacity, like Reyes. In the same conversation about J.D.’s future, Braff emphasized the very real bond that exists between the old Scrubs cast and how excited he was about getting to share the set with everyone again.
“We’re all still friends. People think this is a lie we tell you, but we all really hang out. Bill and I go over to Johnny C. [McGinley’s] house in Malibu and sit in his sauna, Donald and I are legitimately best friends… As we speak, he’s staying in my apartment in New York City…. We’re all very close. And so when this came up — that ABC and Disney wanted to do it — it just felt like the right time. The idea of going and laughing all day long with this group of people again, that I love so much, sounded like a really good time.”
Scrubs returns to ABC at midseason in 2026.
via Collider