8 Ways The Scrubs Revival Will Be Different From The Original Show, More Than 15 Years After Med School

With Rub showrunner Bill Lawrence has officially signed on to make more episodes of the medical sitcom, speculation may begin in earnest about what the show's return will be like. THE Rub The revival has been rumored for some time now, and its confirmation is very exciting news for the show's devoted followers. While Rub Season 10 will certainly have its challenges given the failure of his brief Faculty of Medicine era that led to its cancellation in 2010, there's still plenty to look forward to. Solid details are scarce, but certain facets of the Rub revival can be gently assumed.

Not all nine seasons of Rub followed the same formula. While Rub seasons 1 to 8 had a characteristic way of telling stories, Rub season 9 made some pretty notable changes about how the show was made. Everything from the sitcom's cast, location, and even its appearance have all transformed. For example, not all doctors in Rub seasons 1-8 considered in the Faculty of Medicine plans. Although it was a noble attempt to maintain Rub going, the disappointing changes present problems for the show when it returns.

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Scrubs Season 10 is unlikely to be as long as previous seasons

Streaming sitcoms are generally much shorter than their network TV counterparts

Rub was a network TV show during its original run. As such, most of its seasons have consisted of more than 20 episodes, with a few exceptions. For example, Rub Season 7 was impacted by the 2007–2008 writers' strike and as a result only had 13 episodes. Similarly, Rub season 9 also only had 13 episodes, but this time it was intentional. With the sitcom now owned by Disney, it is likely that Rub season 10 will premiere on Hulu rather than the traditional way, and streaming shows usually only feature about 10 episodes per season.

Zach Braff and Donald Faison discussed the Rub production schedule from their time on the show while chatting on the official rewatch podcast, Fake doctors, real friends. Oftentimes, the cast and crew would perform the show up to 16 hours a day, 5 days a week. This could explain why many shows have gotten shorter in recent times, as that schedule seems incredibly grueling. As additional proof, Frasier season 11 ended with 24 episodes in 2004, while the show's 2023 revival brought with it a season of just 10 episodes.

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The Scrubs revival cannot be set in the old sacred heart

Scrubs Season 10 Will Need to Live With Med School's Big Location Change

When the thought of Rub 10 comes to mind, it's easy to imagine Zach Braff's Dr. John “JD” Dorian and company running through the halls of the original Sacred Heart Hospital. However, although the first eight seasons were filmed in a real disused hospital, the famous Rub set was demolished in 2011. Rub season 9 was made while the building was still standingbut Bill Lawrence had already decided to go ahead and do Faculty of Medicine on a traditional soundstage.

Even within the world RubJD confirms Faculty of Medicine pilot that the old hospital was demolished and a new one with the same name was built in its place. Then, Rub season 10 will also likely be set in the new Sacred Heartand this possibility already makes the return of the program worrying. THE Faculty of Medicine The character set was missing a lot from what was expected, so it won't be a small obstacle to overcome.

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The original Scrubs cast and crew will be much more experienced in Season 10

Scrubs revival will have more acting veterans than ever before

Although Rub cast some veteran actors in major roles the first time around, the show was a groundbreaking project for many of the younger stars. As such, they grew up with the sitcom and could be seen becoming more comfortable on screen and more confident playing their characters. They worked on other projects while starring Rubbut their respective workloads haven't diminished since the sitcom ended. All this experience will benefit Rub season 10 when they return to reprise their roles.

Showrunner Bill Lawrence has also been incredibly busy in his post-Rub career, launching several shows that were wildly successful – particularly with Apple TV+. In addition to serving as Ted Lasso showrunner, Lawrence also had a significant input into Bad Monkey and Shrinking. Some of his most recent projects have included meetings with members of Rub cast and crew, as evidenced by Zach Braff Bad Monkey cameo. Then, Rub'The return was foreshadowed some time ago in different contexts.

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Turk and JD's immaturity will need to be toned down in Scrubs Season 10

Scrubs' best friendship needs to adapt (just a little)

Braff and Faison played relatively young men in Rub seasons 1-9and as such, they sometimes behaved with a certain lack of self-awareness when it came to their crazy exploits. Although this continued throughout the show, and even into Faculty of Medicinethey were gradually becoming less cartoonish in their displays of affection and friendship. Everything was still there, but it also seemed much more suited to experienced doctors without losing any of its charm. Given that it has been around 15 years since then, it only makes sense that this change has continued.

Turk and JD's wholesome and unabashed celebration of their platonic male friendship was one of Rub'biggest brandsand it wasn't really something done so blatantly in other comedies of the time. So it should definitely still be a big part of the Rub revival. That said, with both men now parents to at least two children each, it would be understandable if their reckless adventures had now been toned down a bit.

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It's unlikely that Scrubs Season 10 will try to separate itself from the original cast like Med School did

The Phased Exit of the Original Scrubs Cast in Season 9 Didn't Work

Part of why Rub season 9 crashed and burned so spectacularly that it was clearly trying to move away from established characters. Although certain figures like John C. McGinley's Dr. Cox remained part of the Faculty of Medicine cast, he didn't appear as prominently, nor did he have any kind of meaningful dynamic with any of the younger doctors. Similarly, Braff's gradual exit meant the torch was passed to Kerry Bishé as Lucy Bennett to be the show's main storyteller. The more well-known characters moved away, the less appeal it became.

Lawrence has already confirmed that he wants to present new Rub characters again alongside the old ones when the sitcom returns. The biggest difference this time is that the sitcom has been dormant for 15 years, and the original cast seems very excited about returning. So, presumably, there won't be the same desire from writers to slowly move away from Turk, JD, Elliot, and the others. Instead, they will likely coexist with younger doctors, as they did in Rub season 8.

Bill Lawrence bringing back Scrubs means finding a new fan base while pleasing the old one

Rub was never as popular as some of its contemporariesas Friends. While certain 2000s comedies often find new audiences decades after their finale, Rub didn't experience it at nearly the same level. So, it's mostly the original fanbase that regularly discusses the show and keeps it in the zeitgeist. A success Rub the revival could change all that, as it's unlikely that Lawrence will be able to make the series' return accessible only to those already familiar with the characters.

In other words, Rub season 10 will likely be a continuation of the original sitcom while also serving as a good starting point, as well as Rub season 9 was trying to be. This way, new, younger audiences will be able to start watching without having to watch 182 episodes of a sitcom they previously didn't care about. Plus, with many of the original series' main characters set to be parents of teenagers, this means Rub will become generational in more ways than one.

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Certain Scrubs characters from the original version will be missing

Sam Lloyd's Ted Buckland will be a glaring absence from Scrubs season 10

In an ideal world, Rub Season 10 would bring back all of the beloved characters from the original series. Unfortunately, this is simply not possible. Firstly, Sam Lloyd's death in 2020 sadly means that Ted the Lawyer cannot be part of the Rub revival. There's a possibility Lawrence could tell him a story off-screen to accommodate his absence, but that's pretty much the only way he can respectfully be part of the revival. Ted may not be the only absencehowever.

Johnny Kastl's retirement from acting and transition to a career in law means that Dr. Doug Murphy probably won't appear, and if he does, it might just be a small cameo. Likewise, the return of Dr. Bob Kelso is less likely due to the fact that the actor Ken Jenkins has not acted since 2019and it could be argued that it was gently retired. Fortunately, he may be tempted to return, even if only for a brief time. Although Judy Reyes' commitment to appearing as part of High potential cast questions Carla's return, Deadline reports that it is still possible.

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Scrubs Could Do More on Streaming Than a Network TV Show

Bill Lawrence could make it to Scrubs season 10 with fewer restrictions

Rub it often pushed the boundaries regarding what was considered acceptable on a network TV sitcom. There were some unusually raunchy moments, and certain stories sometimes got very dark. Although right Rub trends had to adapt to survive when Disney bought the show – like Todd's banana hammock scenes – he managed to weather the storm and stay true to himself in the face of network TV restrictions.

Although Rub The rumored release of Season 10 on Hulu won't free the show from all narrative constraints, it will still be able to explore many more facets than it was allowed to do the first time around. Things like profanity and sexual content are a little more allowed on streaming services, even on Disney-owned platforms like Hulu. So it will be very interesting to see what Rub it's as if there are fewer broadcast regulations – including episode lengths.

Source: Deadline