5 Fun Facts We Learned From the ‘Scrubs’ Reunion Panel at the ATX Television Festival

The ATX Television Festival delivered one of its most anticipated reunion panels on June 5th, 2022, when the cast of Scrubs reunited to talk about their memories of the series, the love they share for one another, and how the Scrubs podcast has got them through dark times.

This particular panel has been a long-time coming for ATX Television Festival, seeing as how it was supposed to happen in 2020. But, as with many things that year, it had to be pushed back until it was safe enough to be held.

The panelists included Bill Lawrence (Creator/Showrunner/EP/Director), Zach Braff (Dr. Dorian), Donald Faison (Dr. Turk), John C. McGinley (Dr. Cox), Sarah Chalke (Dr. Reid), Judy Reyes (Nurse Espinosa), and Neil Flynn (Janitor). Michael Schneider, a Variety Editor, moderated the panel.

Here are five fun facts we learned from the Scrubs reunion panel, including some behind-the-looks at the inspiration for characters in the series and the possibility of a Scrubs movie.

1. There Were More Sound Effects in the Beginning Episodes

Every comedy series has its own arsenal of hilarious sounds they use at their leisure to enhance the dramatic effect. For Scrubs, one of the most memorable is the effect of Todd’s high-fives.

Throughout the series, that’s one of the most recognizable. We don’t remember hearing an abundance of excessive sound effects, thanks to Bill Lawrence. However, to get the series on the air, he had to fill the first few episodes with enough sound effects to make the network happy.

“The people at the network at the time said there are no single-camera comedies. They thought they were flat and unfunny, and you know they want the loud, raucous audience laughter, and so, trying to get the show picked up, we put nine thousand side effects in.”

“‘Do you remember when you would turn your head, and it’d be like *whoosh*?’ Lawrence asked Braff. Every time I see those episodes, I hate myself, and I die inside. It stopped pretty quickly after three or four episodes,” Lawrence continued.

2. There is Interest in a Scrubs Movie

When asked by the moderator who is pushing the hardest for a reunion special, there was an uproar in the crowd. It’s easily sensed among the masses that many people are awaiting another venture to New Sacred Heart Hospital.

“I think we all would love to work together again. It’s just that it’s tough. It can’t be a full season of a show — it would have to be like a movie or something where you can only get a couple of months to do it because everybody else is busy. [Gesturing to Lawrence] this dude is never going to be free,” Faison said.

“I can’t speak for all of us, but we can’t possibly do anything else without the wonder kid here [Lawrence], and he’s a little bit busy, but when he finds time, I will definitely be counted good,” Braff added.

Since Scrubs, Bill Lawrence has gone on to work on other popular series such as Cougar Town, Whiskey Cavalier, Rush Hour, and Ted Lasso. And with Ted Lasso currently in production on its third season, Lawrence has virtually no time. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t considered re-entering the Scrubs universe.

“We will, we’re going to do it because we’re lucky enough that people care enough from top to bottom, and we enjoy spending time together. If you ever have an excuse to work with people that you would want to spend time with anyways, run to it. I mean, it’s the greatest thing about this game,” Lawrence said.

3. John Dorian is Based on One of Bill Lawrence’s Friends

For Bill Lawrence, one of his college best friends gave him the idea for Scrubs. Lawrence watched his friend struggle as an intern but still make an impact simultaneously, and it inspired him.

“The show is based on my best friend from college; he’s still a cardiologist surgeon in LA. His name’s John Doris, not John Dorian. And we call him — Sarah, you nicknamed him, I believe, didn’t you?” Lawrence said.

“I don’t think I nicknamed him, but because it’s the real JD, his nickname is Real. And so, we all somehow, I have no idea, got his cellphone number, which is terrible. Anytime something goes wrong, which is very frequently, I call him up, and I’m like, ‘Real? Great, here’s the deal,'” Chalke added.

Lawrence took note and incorporated as much as he could from Doris’s actual experiences. He wanted an accurate portrayal of an intern just trying to make it, and through his observations of his friend, he achieved what he sought to do.

“He [John] was taking care of people living or dying when he was still a kid. I think we were really trying to capture that, especially with these three, a little with Judy, but she was always intentionally grown up in the show already. You know what I mean? And so, I think that came through, that they were just kids way over their heads,” Lawrence continued.

4. Bill Lawrence on the Exact Moment He Knew the Cast Was Phenomenal

In the beginning, Lawrence knew that the cast excelled at comedy and could handle it with no questions. But, around the fourth episode is when he realized the depth of their abilities doesn’t just fit in the comedy category.

“One of the coolest things about the show is the freedom of having such a talented cast and being able to do comedy and drama. We all thought we were going to be canceled after one year, but I’ll tell you, then we decided to show people a different show. The third or fourth episode of the series is called “My Old Lady,” and three patients died,” Lawrence said.

“My Old Lady” plays a pivotal role in Scrubs being on air for so long because it’s the first time Lawrence intertwined the comedy and drama aspects of the series, bringing that much more emotional depth.

“I always thought the way it was acted by everybody and directed by Martin Hawkins kind of set up the whole show. So, that’s when we started knowing that we could use people to switch from comedy to drama really quickly,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence spent most of the time praising the series’ stars, but they couldn’t let him give all the credit away.

“You get a script, and you go from the wildest, most ridiculous surreal fantasies in the beginning. And then we come out of it and go to ‘oh my god, the patient died.’ And you think, ‘how the hell is Bill going to make this hairpin turn?’ and to his credit, he always pulled it off,” Braff interjected.

“Bill, that’s a talent! Not a lot of people can take a half-hour comedy and then flip it on its assets again, and you do it masterfully,” Faison added.

5. The Scrubs Podcast Helped Zach and Donald Through the Pandemic

“Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald” is the podcast in question. Zach and Donald created the podcast in March of 2020, and from there, its only continued to grow in popularity.

“We actually started day one of the LA Covid lockdowns — that was the first day we were supposed to record. We thought, ‘Oh, that’s too bad. We can’t do it now.’ But we said no, don’t worry, and we figured it out. We found we can put mics in our house and do it over Zoom.”

“And it became like, for us and a lot of the fans who listened, something to make each other laugh during COVID, and we were both so grateful to have it. And a lot of fans have listened to and love the show. And then we started having Bill [Lawrence] on, and people would be like, ‘When’s Bill coming back to the podcast?’ And ‘this one wasn’t as good because interrupting Bill wasn’t there,'” Braff continued.

Judy Reyes also revealed during the panel that Braff and Faison’s podcast is the reason why her kids started watching the series. But much to Reyes’ dismay, like typical children, her allure on television was not the exciting factor.

“No, actually, and they would go like, I love that time when JD’s having the fantasy, and the janitor is so cool. Never ever anything about me,” Reyes said in a joking manner.

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Check out all of our coverage of the ATX Television Festival right here. There is still more to come!

Scrubs is currently available to stream on Hulu.

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