Given that Scrubs has always revolved around the never-ending struggle between hope and cynicism, feeling conflicted about the show’s reboot seems appropriate. It’s a nostalgia grab, no doubt, at a time when pop culture is in desperate need of new ideas. It also marks the return of one of the most unfailingly heartfelt comedies of the 21st century, at a time when warmth and optimism are precious commodities.
If there’s a best-case scenario for rebooting Scrubs, it’s to see if new showrunner Aseem Batra has something to say about the state of American healthcare in 2026 that’s worth seeing through the lens of the show’s particular gang of weirdos. She does, and the series doesn’t flinch when addressing how much messier things have gotten over the last 16 years.
Viewers are brought back into the series the same way that Zach Braff’s JD finds his way back to Sacred Heart Hospital: as a brief check-in with friends that turns into a long-term residency. They’re still the people we’ve come to love, even if Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) is forced to tone down his tough-love monologues for the new generation. The arbiter of political correctness at Sacred Heart is Vanessa Bayer’s new chief of medicine, and Bayer hilariously sells her character’s normcore oddities.
Even if there are new kids on the block, though, it doesn’t take more than a few minutes for Sacred Heart to feel like home again. When Scrubs moved from NBC to ABC in 2009, the series introduced a fresh batch of interns who weren’t nearly as endearing as the original characters. The new season, at least in the first four episodes made available for review, suffers from a similar problem but to a much lesser degree.
Aside from Joel Kim Booster’s razor-sharp new doc serving as a capable verbal sparring partner for JD, none of the current batch of interns rise above affable side-character status. But they represent a generational shift, dealing with being in the midst of sickness and death every day in a way wholly separate from the likes of JD, Turk (Donald Faison), and Elliot (Sarah Chalke).
More crucially (and comfortingly), the show’s tone hasn’t changed. Scrubs is still a mélange of wild line deliveries, acerbic tear-downs, slapstick, and unwieldy flights of fancy. It’s an amiable visit to an old hangout surrounded by folks who’ve aged right along with us.
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