Scrubs has been in danger of cancellation ever since it premiered in 2001. However, on October 25 at 9:30pm it returns again for the premiere of its seventh and final season. The wacky comedy’s star, Zach Braff, and Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence participated in a conference call today to discuss the show’s upcoming final year.
The one thing that’s clear from participating in the conference call is this: both Lawrence and Braff love television and their fans. For an hour and a half, they fielded questions and were just as entertaining and funny as their show. They talked about how the series will end, what guest stars will return, what kind of special episode they’ll have, and what other shows they enjoy watching. Warning, some mild spoilers about the upcoming season of Scrubs lie below.
The J.D.-Elliot relationship will be resolved earlier than most fans would expect, because the show is more about all the relationships. They have no intentions of doing a Friends finale with a Ross and Rachel on the airplane moment. Bill Lawrence also has no intention of doing a Sopranos finale, though he has a lot of respect for what David Chase did, since it was an impossible situation. Zach Braff joked that Bill Lawrence reads everything about the show people write on the Internet, and that those fans have more influence on what happens that some of the NBC network executives. In fact, Bill and Zach are such huge fans of the minutia of the show, so they’re more than happy to talk about those little details many hardcore fans obsess over.
The Scrubs team will try to bring back as many guest stars and minor characters to return in the 18 episodes of season 7. Tom Cavanagh will definitely return as J.D.’s brother, and they’re also trying to bring back Scott Foley as Elliot’s former boyfriend. They’ll also bring back a lot of popular background characters like Hooch or Dr. Zeltzer. Recent seasons have all seen one special stylistic episode, particularly with last year’s musical episode. In the final season, Scrubs will feature a fairy tale episode inspired by The Princess Bride. Some of the roles include the Janitor as a giant, and the Todd as, in Lawrence’s words, “the Fairy Todd-Something.”
Last season, they killed off Laverne (Aloma Wright) because Bill thought it was the final season and he thought it would be an interesting arc. Then when he learned there would be another season, he felt obliged to bring her back because she’s a part of the Scrubs family. So despite rumors swirling that Wright was returning as the twin sister of Laverne, Lawrence said she’ll simply be playing a character named Shirley, and the joke is that J.D. is the only character who thinks she resembles Laverne.
After the show is done, Braff wants to direct another film, though he’s still not sure what it will be. They’re also talking about producing another TV series. Lawrence is contractually obligated to create shows for four more years for ABC. Jokingly, he suggested Cavewomen, at which point Braff suggested they come up with an idea for a show based on a Cialis commercial. Braff also expressed an interest in creating a show with Donald Faison as the star.
When listing their favorite episodes, Braff is fond of the ones he’s directed, particularly “My Way Home.” Lawrence prefers the dark, more dramatic episodes, such as the first season’s “My Old Lady,” in which they killed off three characters, and “My Screw Up,” when they killed off Brendan Fraser’s character. As far as their favorite shows, Braff enjoys Lost, Countdown with Keith Olbermann and Project Runway, while Lawrence said the Scrubs writers’ room is currently obsessed with Dexter.
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
