Scrubs Cast Today: Drama, Romance, and Court Battles

Beloved sitcom Scrubs is finally making an epic return after 16 years, with two episodes premiering today (February 25) on ABC and streaming Thursday on Hulu.

The medical sitcom was created by Bill Lawrence and aired from October 2001 to March 2010 as it followed the lives of employees at the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital which is a teaching hospital. 

The original trio of , 50, Donald Faison, 51, and Sarah Chalke, 49, will reprise their roles as doctors John 'J.D.' Dorian, Christopher Turk, and Elliot Reid. 

In July 2025, it was revealed that the popular medical sitcom would be coming back to television with its original cast.

Scrubs had a nine-season run and told the story of J.D., a young doctor working at the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital.

His best friend from college, Turk, and his on–off love interest Elliot, were also his fellow doctors at the hospital. 

In the reboot 'J.D. and Turk scrub together for the first time in a long time,' according to the synopsis shared with CNN.

'Medicine has changed, interns have changed, but their bromance has stood the test of time. Characters new and old navigate the waters of Sacred Heart with laughter, heart, and some surprises along the way.'

While some stars from the original cast look freakishly similar, others have had a remarkable transformation. 

From a tragic death to a controversial 21–year age gap romance and $1million court battle, a lot has happened in the time that the show has been off air...

Zach Braff - J.D.

Since the finale of Scrubs, Zach has moved into a very successful career in the world of directing.

The 50–year–old has directed the likes of Garden State, Wish I Was Here and 2017's Going in Style.

Zach worked as a director on an episode of Ted Lasso, which earned him Emmy and Director's Guild of America nominations. 

He also had a guest spot on Scrubs' original creator and showrunner Bill Lawrence's Courteney Cox–starring comedy Cougar Town.

More recently, he returned to direct episodes in the last two seasons of the Jason Segel and Harrison Ford–starring Shrinking on Apple TV+.

Zach also appeared in a multi–episode arc with star Vince Vaughn on Bad Monkey, and he's set to direct on Bill's HBO series with Steve Carell.

His most recent feature as director and writer was 2023's A Good Person, which starred his then-girlfriend Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman.

Zach and Florence, now 30, were first introduced while on the set of a short film he was making, but it wasn't until April of 2019 that they were linked when they were spotted holding hands.

However, the couple stayed silent and didn't confirm the relationship until December of that year.

A Good Person was filmed in 2021, when the couple were still together, and they were apparently together at least until April of 2022 when she wished him a happy 47th birthday.

The pair split in 2022 after three years of dating.

Throughout their short-lived romance, the former couple faced controversy over their 21-year age gap.

In an interview on the Louis Theroux podcast, the actress reflected on how 'hurt' she was by the torrent of abuse she received on social media over her relationship.

Speaking about her past romance, the actress said she has no regrets defending it after she told trolls they had 'no right to educate' her on her private life.

Florence told Louis: 'It was an insane amount of abuse being hurled at my relationship just because there was an age gap.

'I stood up for it, and I stood up for him and I stood up for me just being allowed to do whatever the f**k I wanted to do, and that kind of did actually change a few people's minds.

'I'll always defend people that I love, I will always stand up for them.

'I'll always make sure that if there needs to be a reset and there needs to be a bit of a smack on the wrist, I will do that because it's not fair that so much of your life gets to have jabs.'

She continued: 'With relationships and with romance in this world, it doesn't matter how much you speak on it or how little you speak on it, people don't care.

'They want a story; they want a reality show. It doesn't really matter how much you say you love someone or how much they make you happy. If they don't like them and it doesn't fit that image that they want of you, they don't care. And I think that hurt me.'

In 2024, Zach was linked to young musician Frances Whitney as they were

Donald Faison - Chris Turk

Donald, now 51, prides himself on being a father to his six children and husband to his wife CaCee Cobb, whom he married in 2012.

The actor was a hit with fans for his starring role in Scrubs as J.D.'s best friend Christopher Turk.

As well as Scrubs, Donald has appeared in the likes of Clueless, Remember The Titans and Pitch Perfect.

But Donald's life hasn't always been full of daisies and roses.

The star's first wife - and mother to his eldest three children Dade, Kobe and Kaya - tragically died suddenly in 2017.

Sharing tribute at the time, he wrote on social media: 'She and I never really saw eye to eye but one thing we did share was our love for our children.

'RIP Lisa. You raised three beautiful children into fine adults and I am forever grateful for that. May god bless your soul with light and love.'

After marrying his current wife CaCee, the pair went onto welcome two children - Rocco and Wilder. 

Donald also has son Shawn, with ex-girlfriend Audrey Ince.

The Scrubs star has also endured several legal issues over the years, including the time he was sued.

Back in 2013, Donald's agents who bartered a near $1million contract for his final series on Scrubs sued him.

While the legal battle has now been settled, at the time they demanded $73,000 (£54,000) in damages after claiming Donald, who was paid $75,356 (£55,850) per episode, had stopped paying their ten per cent commission.

More recently, Donald considered legal action after it emerged video game Fortnite copied a dance performed by his character in Scrubs.

He fumed: 'I don't get no money. That's what y'all are thinking, right? Somebody got paid? No, no, I did not. Somebody stole that s***, and it's not mine any more.'

His comments emerged at the 2018 Scrubs reunion and when asked to perform the famous dance, he said: 'If you wanna see it, you can play Fortnite, because they jacked that s***.'

Show creator Bill later revealed that the company behind the online game had enquired about the 'legality of it' which was 'fine because it's just a character dancing'.

Sarah Chalke - Elliot Reid

After her hit role as Elliot Reid in Scrubs, Sarah earned critical acclaim for her lead role in Netflix's Firefly Lane.

Sarah, now 49, went back to her medical drama roots when she starred in How I Met Your Mother as dermatologist and Ted Mosby's love interest Stella Zinman.

The actress also voiced Beth Smith in science-fiction series Rick And Morty for 12 years and starred in Cougar Town for three series.

Back in 2022, Sarah split from her fiancé Jamie Afifi.

The pair continue to co-parent amicably for their two children Charlie, 16, and Frances, ten. 

Their representatives at the time confirmed that they broke off their 2006 engagement 'some time ago'. 

'They remain committed to being devoted co-parents and good friends,' the reps add of the actress and the entertainment lawyer told the site. 

Their son Charlie was diagnosed at the age of two with Kawasaki disease which is an autoimmune disease where blood vessels become inflamed.

Sarah opened up about her painful experience with Wet Paint and how she dealt with her son's illness and finding treatment to cure him.

'It was a very difficult time because Charlie was misdiagnosed a lot, and we fought really hard to get him seen by a specialist,' she revealed.

'Thank god he's okay,' she added. 'Every Kawasaki experience is different, but one common thing for KD parents is that they go through a lot of misdiagnosis.'

Judy Reyes - Carla Espinosa

Now 58, Judy is set to join her Scrubs co-stars for the beloved show's epic revival.

Following her role as quick-witted Carla Espinosa, Judy went on to land a lead role in Lifetime's Devious Maids.

She has also appeared in Jane The Virgin, Fresh Off The Boat, Smile and TV series Claws.

Judy was once married to Edwin M. Figueroa for 11 years before the pair divorced in 2008.

She is now in a happy relationship with her director partner George Valencia.

The couple share a daughter, Leila Rey Valencia.

Neil Flynn - The Janitor

American actor Neil, 65, is renowned for his role in Scrubs as the prank-loving Janitor.

Prior to landing a part in the beloved series, Neil appeared in shows including Rookie Of The Year.

He is also renowned for his role in Mean Girls as the father of Lindsay Lohan's character Cady Heron.

As well as his appearance in Mean Girls, Neil filmed Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull around his Scrubs filming schedule.

After the finale, he landed a part in The Middle, which ran for nine years until 2018.

John C McGinley - Dr. Perry Cox

John, now 66, had an impressive career before he starred as sarcastic Dr Perry Cox in Scrubs.

With roles in Point Break, Office Space and Wall Street, John has a string of acting jobs up his sleeve.

Since hanging up his scrubs, the legendary actor has appeared in Burn Notice and TV shows Chicago PD and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. 

The actor shares a son Max with his first wife Lauren Lambert, whom he divorced from in 2001. 

Aside his glittering acting achievements, John works tirelessly to raise awareness for his son, who has Down's syndrome.

John serves for the board of Global Down Syndrome Foundation and acts as a celebrity ambassador for the National Down Syndrome Society.

He marred yoga instructor Nichole Kessler in 2007 and welcomed two daughters, Billie and Kate. 

Christa Miller - Jordan Sullivan

Christa, 61, starred on the show as Jordan - the wife of the formidable Dr Perry Cox. 

She is married to Scrubs creator and producer Bill Lawrence, 56.

The actress often shares her lavish lifestyle and snaps of her family on her Instagram profile, which boasts 319,000 followers. 

Before her role in her husband's sitcom, Christa starred in Seinfeld and The Drew Carey Show.

She has also appeared in two of her husband's creations - Cougar Tower and more recently Shrinking alongside Harrison Ford.

Christa is also very close with her co-star Zach and recently shared a tribute to their friendship.

Alongside a picture with him, she wrote: 'This weeks episode of #Shrinking was one of my favorites to shoot and it was directed by someone I met when, I'd like to think we were both kids.

'Now he's family and not only do we get to work on this incredible show together, which explores navigating loss, looking for connection and embracing imperfection, but we also get to put our Scrubs back on again and play doctor and laugh. 

'The scenes with @Zachbraff, Johnny C and me crackled. Our chemistry is crazy and it was delicious to slip into Jordan again. She's my favorite lunatic.'

Ken Jenkins - Dr. Bob Kelso

Ken, now 85, won fans over with his supporting role as the chief of medicine Dr Bob Kelso in Scrubs. 

He has also had role sin Psycho, The Sum Of Fears and Last Man Standing.

As well as many of his Scrubs co-stars, Ken appeared in Cougar Town playing Courtney Cox's father.

Ken is happily married to his second wife Katharine Houghton, 77, who is the niece of Katharine Hepburn.

His last acting job saw him star in the movie Girls Weekend in 2019. 

Robert Maschio - Dr. Todd 

Robert, now 59, is best known for his role as Dr Todd Quinlan, aka The Todd.

While he may have had one of the smallest roles in the cast, Robert won the heart's of fans with his witty sense of humour.

Like his co-stars, Robert too landed a spot on Cougar Town and also appeared in TV series Bones. 

Nowadays, Robert has ditched his acting career entirely and has become an estate agent in California. 

Sam Lloyd - Ted Buckland

Known for playing lawyer Ted Buckland in 95 episodes of the show, Sam died age 56 in 2020.

Sam - who was the nephew of Back To The Future star Christopher Lloyd - had been battling an inoperable brain tumor since 2019.

Scrubs creator Bill confirmed the news via Twitter, saying: 'Thinking a lot about Sam Lloyd today. (Ted). Truly such a kind, sweet guy. He will be missed by so many.' 

Sam was diagnosed with inoperable cancer in January 2019, only weeks after he and his wife Vanessa had welcomed their first child, Weston.

The actor had begun to have headaches which he first put down to caring for his newborn. 

But after losing 10lbs and with the headaches persisting, he decided to go to a doctor and get a CT scan. 

The scan revealed a mass on his brain and within a day was taken in to have brain surgery.

Unfortunately the tumor was too intertwined so the surgeons couldn't remove it. Sam and his wife were then informed that the cancer in his brain had metastasized from his lungs. Further scans showed the cancer was also in his liver, spine, and jaw.

Aside from acting, Sam was an accomplished singer with the acappella group The Blanks.

He crossed paths a few times with his famous uncle, actor Christopher Lloyd, both guesting on Malcolm In The Middle and The West Wing.  

Sam also enjoyed parts on Cougar Town, Desperate Housewives, and the character Ricky on Seinfeld. 

He is survived by his wife Vanessa and their son Weston. 

Eliza Coupe - Denise 'Jo' Mahoney

Scrubs star Eliza Coupe looks unrecognisable nearly 15 years after the highly-popular sitcom went off air. 

Eliza looked much different at Netflix's The Residence premiere last year than her days starring as Denise 'Jo' Mahoney on the last two seasons of Scrubs - eight and nine - which aired in 2009 and 2010.

Her character was an intern at Sacred Heart Hospital in season eight. She is outspoken and brutally honest, and struggles with patient-doctor communications because of this. 

In season nine, she was a resident at the new Sacred Heart Hospital, as well as a student adviser and teacher's assistant at Winston University. She is romantically involved with medical student Drew Suffin. 

Eliza has found a lot of success in sitcoms as she is also known for starring as Jane Kerkovich-Williams in the ABC comedy series Happy Endings.

Meanwhile her latest project The Residence is a mystery drama series created by Paul William Davies.

She portrays a character named Margery Bay Bix in the series which centers around the inside of the White House staff residence and the lives that the workers share with the First Family.

Aside from acting, Eliza has embraced her spiritual side and regularly posts from Joshua Tree, California while promoting her latest self-help book.

Last year, she discussed taking ayahuasca to cleanse herself of toxic energy after her divorce from Darin Olien. 

She wed the author and superfood advocate in 2014 and he filed for divorce in 2018.

Eliza has previously spoken about her battle with 'food issues and body image' in a candid chat with Bon Appetit in 2017.

She adopted a vegan lifestyle and completely cut out sugar after struggling with food intolerances her whole life.

She said: 'I'm trying to heal that part of myself and also handle my physical issues naturally by putting the best things into my body.'