Why Scrubs (2026) Had To Rethink Its Approach To Medical Students For The Revival

Oh they did it perfectly. Elliot becoming more cynical like Dr. Cox and JD calling her out on it was great. I also liked how they discussed that Cox’s mentoring style made Elliot and JD great doctors but also hindered them in other ways, like undermining Elliot’s confidence for years. Also Turk being burnt out was a great little arc. I feel Faison especially is doing a great acting job this season. What was your favorite aspect of the returning characters?

I really liked Best Medicine. It fills an odd niche. It's an hour long dramady, that sometimes has a House medical mystery tied to a romantic comedy plotiline. It's soapy but not in a schlocky way, it has a great heart and makes you want to live in the cute community they have in the show. Hope there is a season 2. Edit: Quick stop by Wikipedia shows there is a season 2 coming!

You forgot the unintentional comedy on Fox called Doc, where I think they got ChatGPT drunk and used it instead of a medical consultant. It feels like the writers have never been in a hospital. It's a fun soap opera with love triangles, amnesia, estranged couples forced to work together, dark secrets - all the tried and true tropes. But as a 'medical' show, it is laughable and frustrating. It also suffers from workplace show syndrome. That's where you have a huge workplace for a large company or enterprise, and seemingly 6 to 10 people do EVERYTHING.

I'd throw Shrinking on there for some mental health but agree that the new Scrubs and The Pitt are excellent. I'm not really a fan of medical procedurals but they break the mold.

They should bring back Children’s Hospital

> Are we in peak medical television right now? Why does this sublistnook always have to be so hyperbolic? Why does everything have to be either the “best ever” or the “worst ever”? But to take your question at face value, no, this isn’t the “peak” of medical television. The early 2000s had original *Scrubs*, original *Pitt* (ER), and my fav medical show ever, *House*, all airing at the same time. Not to mention *Grey’s Anatomy*, which wasn’t my bag, but an undeniable ratings powerhouse.

I believe they're interns. Not yet residents but beyond the level of students.

Scrubs is my favorite show, ever. I’m so happy with how they approached this revival. It does everything right (imo), with the humor, then hits you right in the feels. To your point, I think you’re exactly right how they’re portraying different life styles. Good perspective!

Peak medical television was whenever Childrens Hospital was airing.

Is Best Medicine good? I watched the pilot and it just didn’t grab me.

Man, I can’t get into The Pitt

> Best Medicine First time I've heard of this show. Trailer looks good. Adding it to my watchlist, thanks.

Technically, residents are still in postgraduate training. Think of the difference between an apprentice and a journeyman when considering “residents” and “attending” respectively

>Are we in peak medical television right now? lol no and it’s not close

I would say peak TV was in the 2000s. Same with medical TV. Hard to beat E.R., House, early Grey’s, and Scrubs.

I love Scrubs and The Pitt! I need to catch up on St. Denis Medical.

Doc is really good too

You forget The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy

That’s crazy, I can’t believe how accurate the exterior entry area looks if that’s a replica. I thought they were filming at the same location.

I liked the old interns as well. The way theyve done it this time to slowly phase them in, while being background characters to the maincast, is the way it should be done i think.

I liked them fine but I don't think it's a coincidence that the show immediately and drastically improved when the old cast came back. I'm not sure what the status of the actor is but if we could get kelso back for even just an episode it would be amazing.

It was nice to watch the Pitt and then wind down with an episode of Scrubs.

network comedies get full renewals sometimes - Abbott Elementary got 22, St. Denis Medical got 18, Ghosts 22

Even 13 episode renewal would be decent. I just can't do 9 haha. And definitely don't want to see it not get renewed.

I actually really like the new interns. They're definitely trying to make them multidimensional and not just "shy, influencer, British, tough outer shell but troubled"

I dont want it to go full Grey's Anatomy, but I do hope the show gets enough seasons to see the new characters get to be attendings, or at least in their own specialties

I like the new interns, but I’m not sure I *love* them yet. I’ve watched the original all the way through many times, so obviously I’m biased to the original cast, but I feel like by this time in the original, I had more affection towards the cast? Hopefully I can reread this comment in 2 more seasons and think about how wrong I am and that the new cast is amazing.

I really like how they made the Todd still work in 2026. With consent five!

Stumble also needs to be renewed (fingers crossed).

JD and Elliott actually discussed this in one of the new episodes after Elliott was mean to an intern that had a f*** up like Dr. Cox. Elliott says his tough mentoring made her a great doctor, but JD also reminds her how Cox’s constant teardowns and nicknames really hurt her confidence and motivation. In general I like that they made Elliot the most like Dr. Cox out of the original main characters.

Workplace abuse is still exceedingly common, particularly in surgical and procedural specialties. And the whole 80 hour cap still gets broken all the time depending on program and specialty.

I like that you are such an optimist. Unfortunately, my husband is a pgy-3 right now and it hasn't changed much. You COULD document and complain to HR but then what? They don't have resources to find other attendings quickly enough to fill the spot (depending on the hospital, but it is always difficult to recruit doctors). It is likely they will also shut down or suspend the entire department, which means that you will screw over not just the other attendings, residents, NPs, PAs and other related professionals, but also the patients as well. On top of which, as a resident, you don't want to have a suspended program on your resume. I conceed that it is a *bit* better than 2001. But the healthcare system is at it's worse right now which means that hospital workers are underpaid and overworked. This becomes a toxic environment where people are angry and tired. On top of which, malpractice lawyers have become increasingly predatory so people rather kick the can (in this case, the patients) down the road than take any risks. The hospital system and its treatment of residents is still very antiquated and rooted in the old "boys-club" and "I suffered so you have to suffer as well" mentality.

So nobody is gonna point out the fact this comment is AI generated? As are all the comments on this person’s profile?

I just finished residency a couple years ago and would say things are only mildly better in real life than the original series. I had attendings with dozens of complaints of racism and sexism face zero consequences. If you have a big research grant or bring in a lot of clinical revenue especially you can basically do whatever you want.

And it’s good!

In pog form!!

Yes! The entire new season is already out, and it’s great. Now we hope for a renewal. It got great ratings and reviews so everyone is optimistic. They managed to get literally the entire cast back except Ted who’s actor Sam Lloyd sadly passed away, and Kelso who’s actor is 85 and retired.

malcolm in the middle also. TBH I enjoyed both. I'd say Scrubs was better but MitM was solid and I enjoyed seeing the characters again and where they're at--I just wish they had a few more episodes.

we are so back

Since this is a network show, it might take a few months. It can be faster, but you also see a network renewing a bunch of stuff at once. So dont be surprised if we don't hear anything until july or later.

Scrubs is the most realistic from a doctor/nurse aspect. The one attending never really even steps foot into the rooms- just lets the nurses and residents do it. You don’t have doctors doing MRIs and IVs like they do in other medical shows.

This is what the many doctors in my family have said. They cite The Pitt as medically accurate in many ways, but kinda like Veep and DC, Scrubs seemed to be very realistic a in a day to day way than other medical shows. 

I’m sure they >!won’t kill him off!< but Scrubs is not known for pulling their punches