Why Scrubs Creator Bill Lawrence Used To Be Against The Idea Of A Revival

J.D. (Zach Braff) and the gang return to Sacred Heart Hospital in the 2026 "Scrubs" revival on ABC, but creator Bill Lawrence originally wasn't sold on the idea of bringing back the sitcom. He feared a revival wouldn't be able to recapture the magic of the original show.

"It was the best time in my life, so much so that I often find myself now trying to grab a gold ring that I've already been lucky enough to have grabbed before," he told Vulture at a reunion panel in 2018. "You can never equal that experience."

At the time, Lawrence said he would "do anything" to work with the actors and writers behind the show again. But he worried that getting the band back together for the sake of it would cause "Scrubs" to fall into a trend of ill-considered TV reboots and revivals.

Considering "Scrubs" originally ran for nine seasons and delivered some of the best sitcom episodes of all time, a revival always had the potential to be lucrative.

"Sometimes reboots, not all the time, sometimes they feel like a money grab," said Bill Lawrence. "If this group [at the reunion panel] came to me destitute and unemployed and said, 'Oh my God, we need to do 'Scrubs' again,' or the crew did, or the writing staff did, we would do it."

Short of those unlikely circumstances, the Lawrence of 2018 did not sound like he was earnestly considering going back to the "Scrubs" well.

"The only reason to do it would be to do something for [the show's audience] and enjoy the time together," he said. "If we ever do it, we'll do it as a short little movie or something like that."

He apparently found a way to move past his worries, and the show's return was met with widespread praise. ABC renewed the "Scrubs" revival for Season 2.