Why Scrubs got Scrubbed

By Jordie Papa

Image courtesy of YouTube

Anyone who wears scrubs is familiar with the zany medical dramedy called Scrubs created by Bill Lawrence.   The series that aired from 2001 to 2010, followed the trials and tribulations of the staff at Sacred Heart Hospital.  While anyone who works in a hospital has seen their fair share of oddball behavior that can occur when residents work long hard shifts and patients enter the ER under the influence of alcohol or illicit pharmaceuticals, nothing comes close to some of the scripts that the cast of Scrubs acted out during the 9-year run of the series.  (I mean how many times during a shift have you seen a  high-fiving surgeon or Alzheimer's patients go on a tackling spree?)    For those of you for whom reruns of the series is a way to let off steam after a grueling shift, I thought I’d take the time to point out 10 facts you may not have known about the show.

      1.      Sacred Heart Hospital is real

The series was filmed in what was once the North Hollywood Medical Center. While the hospital itself was closed long before filming began, that didn’t keep the occasional patient from wandering in off the street for treatment.  How crazy would it be to walk into an ER, only to find that the doctors and nurses inside are being trailed by crew carrying cameras, lights and a microphone on a pole.  Speaking of crazy, even the show’s writing staff was housed in what had formerly been the NHMC’s psychiatric ward.  Maybe that explains the such the show’s numerous fantasy sequences or the episodes that featured ostriches and ravens.

2. The only real doctors associated with the show were script consultants.

While the story line was a work of fiction, the producers of the series wanted to make sure the scripts were medically sound.  So, they hired plastic surgeon Jon Turk and Cardiologist Jonathan Doris as script consultants.   (Is it a coincidence that Zach Braff’s character John Dorian is called J.D. in the series?)  However, even they didn’t catch the glitch in the opening credits that had the x-ray sign displayed backward for the first six seasons.

3.  This medical series was cutting edge.

Image courtesy of YouTube

Pioneering this single-camera, no laugh track situation comedy left the series on critical care more than once.  This meant viewers had to deal with a show that moved from time slot to time slot and even from NBC to ABC.  The producers also had to hold their breath whenever the networks said the show was going to be shelved, bumped or held in reserve, only to be given a green light at the last moment.  This anxiety culminated when the writers killed off Nurse Laverne Roberts, thinking that the show was going to be cancelled, only to bring actress Aloma Wright back the following season as Laverne’s twin sister Shirley.

4. Who keeps changing the channel?

Other than having to deal with squirrely time slots, the writers decided the best way to keep the series alive was to do everything they could to retain their audience, rather than always trying to find a new one.  This is the reason that many episodes feature inside jokes that only appeal to dyed-in-the-wool fans.   Even the show’s location at Sacred Heart Hospital was changed to a teaching hospital in the ninth season.

5. Quirky characters kept viewers pulses pounding.

Just as it’s difficult dealing with trauma in real hospitals, Scrubs kept the pressure on by creating a mix of quirky characters that anyone who wears scrubs could relate to.  No chief of medicine at a real hospital could be as mean spirited and venal as Bob Kelso, just as no intern could be as blunt and opiniated as Jo Mahoney.  And who could forget the King of Janitoria.  (Did you know that the janitor was originally going to be a figment of J.D.’s imagination, or that actor Neil Flynn adlibbed most of his lines?)

6. Not just another song and dance.

While cast members would break into song and dance from time to time, you may not know that shortly before Turk and Carly tangoed across the ward in My Musical, Judy Reyes was recovering from a fractured pelvis.  (It gives a whole new meaning to the traditional acting sendoff of, “Break a leg.”)

7. Ted’s acapella band was real.  (But they can’t force you stay in the elevator to listen to them sing.)

Known on the show as The Worthless Peons, the band is really named The Blanks.  Check out a compilation video of the songs they performed on the show: https://youtu.be/yMo_boi1Yw0

8. The K-9 kidnapper.

Image courtesy of YouTube

If you ever wonder what happened to Rowdy the stuffed dog, a fired member of the crew stashed him in a drop ceiling on the set.  That’s when creator Bill Lawrence found out how difficult it was to obtain a replacement. But eventually Steven the dog joined the cast.  (see the Best of Rowdy video at https://youtu.be/hWCoZtI3xBo )

9. Who dat?

Just like Alfred Hitchcock and Quentin Tarantino, creator Bill Lawrence made a handful of cameo appearances on his show.    (Check out this YouTube video so you’ll recognize him the next time you watch a Scrubs rerun - https://youtu.be/w14s5j2Vuvg

10. Was the last season of Scrubs the eighth or the ninth?

I know it sounds like a trick question, but it’s not.  According to Bill Lawrence, the final episode of season eight was supposed to be the end of the show.  In essence it still was, since the ninth season was shot with a number of new cast members, as well as being set in Winston University Medical School.  More importantly, the production shifted from the original set at North Hollywood Medical Center to a new set at Culver Studios.

Jordie Papa is owner of Uniform Destination with four locations in North Florida.