ABC has officially picked up the Scrubs reboot for development, with series creator/executive producer Bill Lawrence on board.
As reported by Deadline, the revival will come from Disney’s 20th Television and ABC after working out a deal with Warner Bros. TV, where Lawrence has an exclusive deal and executive produces series including Ted Lasso and Shrinking. Lawrence will not be serving in a showrunner role.
Now that Lawrence has signed on, 20th TV is moving to secure the original cast, including Zach Braff (John “J.D.” Dorian), Donald Faison (Christopher Turk), Sarah Chalke (Elliot Reid), and John C. McGinley (Perry Cox).
The potential involvement of Judy Reyes as Carla Espinosa is reportedly up in the air, since she is a series regular on the ABC drama High Potential.
Lawrence has laid out his vision for the series in interviews, saying he wants to straddle the line between a revival and a full-on reboot.
“I think the only real reason to do it is a combo,” he said. “A: people wanting to see what the world of medicine was like for the people they love, which is part of any successful reboot. But B: I think that show always worked because you get to see young people dropped into the world of medicine, knowing young people that go there are super idealistic and are doing it because it’s a calling.”
The original Scrubs ran for nine seasons on NBC from 2001 to 2010. Be sure to check out our breakdown of the show’s iconic music moments and pick up a copy of the complete series if you’d like.
The return of Braff and Faison would be a culmination of their Scrubs recap podcast Fake Doctors, Real Friends, and an on-screen reunion in T-Mobile ads.