The medical comedys cast and creator reflect on its legacy of zaniness and warmth.
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How did that happen?
What gave you the confidence to say, Yeah, were going to have a fantasy scene where J.D.
and Turk plant one of Turks testicles and he grows into …Lawrence: He grew another Turk.
Donald Faison: [MakesPlant-Turk sound.]
Lawrence: My favorite thing was that when he grew another Turk, he couldnt talk.
I was able to do that with a really talented writing staff, but also with actors and actresses.
And I know one of [theScrubsactors] made it up on their feet.
And you know what I say?
I just go, Thank you.
Like that, because Im modest.
What were your favorite fantasy sequences?
Were there ever any where you were like, Nope, too weird, cant do it.
What?Braff: Right, that was not the fantasy world.
Why were you building a sandcastle?Lawrence: Hey, look, its a slippery slope.
You guys were all around for some of our mistakes.
I wrote and directed an episode that I believe that Turk used to smuggle J.D.
into movie theaters in his backpack.
Faison: In his backpack.
Braff: Yes, we did this shot where I was literally in a backpack.
I mean, I put my head through a table.
Braff: And there was like a fake leg going up.
I look back and its like, no, that wasnt a fantasy.
I was in the bag.
Lawrence: [Scrubswriter] Neil Goldman might have been the one that did it the most.
I dont think ever.
And I got to make out with the hot ladies, Judy Reyes, Mandy Moore.
But there was one fantasy where Bill was like, Its too far.
It was the first fantasy I did.
Im like, Its a corn flake.
Its supposed to be a cold sore.
Hes like, No.
Lose the corn flake.
Lawrence: You shouldnt have to say lose the cold sore to somebody.
They make that decision on their own.
But it would say …
Lawrence: Say that last part.
Flynn: Over the radio station.
Lawrence: Yes, over the radio station, and you pulled over to the side of the road.
Flynn: Took our shirts off.
And that is one of the many moments that people come and say that was so funny.
Im like, Thank you.
Miller: No, my favorite is when you explain to Zach how your wife knitted the shorts.
Flynn: That was written, though.
I did not make that up.
Braff: Im a doctor, I cant wear short shorts to work!
If you look at the gag reel, the bloopers, I think thats the hardest Ive ever laughed.
And my line was, Look, Im a doctor.
I cant wear short shorts to work.
And I didnt have a very big part in the show.
So I got to have this extra fun, which was wonderful.
Or I would goof around in rehearsal, and hed say, Good, say that.
Was it the cage?
Flynn: I dont remember that.
I remember saying that my first pillow was a pile of handguns.
Miller: What did I say?
I think I saw a manatee.
And you said, Was his name Julian?
And I said, I dont know, we didnt exchange pleasantries.
And you said, Thats Julian.
Flynn: Thats Julian.
I believe that was scripted, though, that was not improvised.
People will sometimes say to me, Is it true that you made up all your lines?
Of course thats not true, that would be chaos.
Theres another person in the scene with a scripted line!
So sometimes I was allowed to ad-lib.
Often times with Zach, we would change the dialogue a little bit.
But most of it was written.
Why Dont I Have Any Jokes?
Judy, I feel like your job often was to …Judy Reyes: Have the gravitas.
Yeah.Reyes: Thats what Bill would tell me when I would go to him at least yearly.
Lawrence: She would go, Im funny, too.
Im funny as shit.
Reyes: Im funny!
John McGinley: I said shes one of the best fucking actresses on the planet.
Ken Jenkins: Here, here.
Reyes: I know, but I can act funny!
I just need jokes, I need fantasies.
Chalke: But you just bust mad tears so well.
Reyes: I got really, really upset.
Shes such a good actress, it was one of the main things that made the show work.
Reyes: Well, thank you.
I really enjoyed the end when we made them friends.
You guys remember that part?
Jenkins: Yeah, vaguely.
I really liked beating him up with balloons.
Braff: It is, once you sing a love song into another mans eyes.
About his hands being inside of you.
Faison: It was surgery.
Faison: I have never seen that, but now Im going to!
Braff: Im going to.
I see the GIFs a lot.
So I often use them,ScrubsGIFs.
Which ones do you use?Braff: Theyre often like me and Donald rubbing our heads together.
Im like, I miss you.
And then itsme and Donald rubbing our heads together.
Faison: Thats the best …
I think that might be my favorite GIF Ive ever seen in my life.
But it usually did.
Its the third episode of our show, and each one of our interns gets a patient.
Youre told that one out of three of these people will die.
And it was a trick, it was a manipulative trick.
Im like, Well, yeah.
Well, couldnt one of them die or just get very, very sick?
And Im like, No, theyre all going to die.
And I said, No, theyre going to be people you like and theyre still going to die.
Jenkins: Yes, and good for the web link for doing it.
A little bit, Oh, yeah, I was there.
And I love it, its a wonderful feeling, but I remember one of those turns.
I just thought of it and my favorite one of those turns was in an episode with Brendan Fraser.
Boy, did it …
It just felt like hed been there right from the beginning constantly.
And Zach says, Who do you think youre talking to?
You turned on a dime, just on an instantaneous dime.
Thats a great trick.
Youre not supposed to give line readings.
[Mimics tone of a line reading, but with nonsense syllables rather than words].
Which is a line reading, just with noises.
Braff: By the way, you said when you started your career.
You did that to us all the time.
Lawrence: All right.
Braff: Just be likebuh-buh-buh, da-duh-duh-duh!
He thought if he made noises and didnt say the words, it didnt count.
And I used to come to Ken nervously when we started having you do really acerbic jokes.
Hes like, Bill, Im old, just tell me how to say it.
Jenkins: It took me three seasons to get him to give me a line reading.
Its all I wanted.
Braff: And I didnt want it.
Miller: And then we all did that.
Bill, just say how you want us to say it.
Oh, thats hilarious.
You did it like this.
And he would say how he wanted you to say it.
Miller: A lie.
Braff: And then it was a total lie.
Miller: Its a lie.
Braff: And the actor would be like, That is good.
Thats how I did it?
And hes like, Yeah, thats exactly how you did it!
And its fucking genius and Ive stolen that.
Braff: I just love that he preyed on the actors egos.
They were like, I was that good, wasnt I?
I was killing it at the table read, wasnt I?
Lawrence: It wasnt on this show but on another show, I actually did that.
The actress, Courtney Cox, said, We didnt have a table read.
Youre all hilariously funny.
Who is the worst at keeping a straight face?Faison: Sarah Chalke is.
Braff: Sarah Chalke.
Braff: It was this noise.
Wed go like this.Hmmmm.
Faison: [Mimicking Chalke asking them not to make the sound.]
Help me to help you.
Its like, Sarah!
Everyone wants to go home!
Get your fucking shit together Chalke!
Braff: Yeah, so Sarah had a pep talk for herself to make her stop laughing.
She would berate herself about the families of the crew.
Shed be like, These fucking people want to go home and take care of their kids.
Braff: And right after her pep talk, Donald and I would be like,hmmmm.
So I guess we just …
Miller: Or as Sarah would say, One moresies?
Lawrence: Sarah One Moresies, you guys remember?
Miller: Sarah One Moresies.
Usually, the secondary characters job is to come in and go, Where ya going?
What time is it?
Where do you work?
We decided to kind of fill our world with all these odd ducks.
Does anybody have a reference to who their favorite is?
Is there a hand anywhere?
Robert Maschio[appears from the audience, runs onto stage]: I got a question.
You guys are doing aScrubsreunion without the Todd?
I miss you [high] five.
I miss you five.
And whats under here?
[Begins to remove his clothing.]
Faison: Take it off!
Maschio: Let me just say this,Scrubsfans, dont forget this.
Youre just a little bit better than everybody else.Scrubsreunion [high] five for people streaming at home!
Braff: Rob, who told you where we were?
Thank you, good night!
[Leaves stage.]
Braff: Oh my God, unbelievable.
before Maschio eventually waves and leaves the stage again.]
Really?Braff: Yeah.
Lawrence: Thats true.
Braff: Thats true.
When I was directing, I had to frame above his penis.
Braff: Robs banana hammock is not Disney-approved.
Its a loss for humanity, really.Lawrence: It is.
Braff: It was a medicinal marijuana thing.
That many years ago, they were like medicinal marijuana, get the hell outta here.
Braff: Bill, theres people watching.
Lawrence: Donald Trump.
Braff: The lights go down.
And theyre like, Oh, thats fine.
Chalke: But no pot.
Lawrence: I mean the kids on Disney can see us getting a prostitute, just not medicinal marijuana.
You actually shot it and you couldnt use it?Lawrence: We shot a couple scenes.
Faison: There was one where these two [John McGinley and Christa Miller] had a story line.
Am I wrong for that?
Lawrence: Oh yeah, youre right.
Miller: Oh, wow.
Faison: Thank you very much.
Chalke: My most embarrassing moment, actually, was something that almost got [cut].
What happened was I had never gotten in trouble from Bill except for this one time.
Braff: Thats not true, but go ahead.
Faison: Because we can talk about the tan.
Because what had happened was I …
Lawrence: Somebody told Sarah that self-tanning is cool.
Chalke: No, wait, whenScrubshad gotten nominated for an Emmy, everyone was super-excited.
I didnt have anything to wear.
Everyones like, Youve gotta hire a stylist.
I had never done that before.
She said, it’s crucial that you be tanned.
I said, Im not going to do that.
Im not going in the sun.
She said, Go to one of those booths.
And it was like the episode ofFriendswhere Ross ends up like a nine.
Anyways, I get toScrubsand the tan increases over time.
Braff: Youve never seen anything like it.
Lawrence: By the way, not to bring it back, she looked like Donald Trump.
She was orange, she was literally a Cheeto.
Theres something different about you.
Have your eyes always been that blue?
Chalke: Thank you.
It was so embarrassing.
Faison: And you were like, No, its a spray tan.
Miller: You know, I think Bill called me from work.
Chalke: Oh shit.
Miller: Hes like, What do you do?
Chalke: I didnt know that.
Miller: I said, I dont know what you do.
Lawrence: Dont do that stuff.
It smells like rotten meat, too.
Chalke: It does.
Lawrence: Its gross.
The Battle Behind Dr. Coxs Epic Monologues
That sounds terrible.
Lawrence: I have an apology to make because … it was my fault.
We always gave these guys material late.
Lawrence: But I used to hand John C. McGinley two-page monologues, handwritten.
And then I would run.
Hes a very scary human being, so I would scurry away as quickly as I could.
How did you do that?
McGinley: Im just filled with self-loathing.
So order to hate myself less, I had to do it.
That sounds very healthy.
McGinley: I was so competitive with Billy, I was like, Fuck you.
Ill learn this motherfucker.
I could push it up right up against lunch.
He goes, Oh, oh, sorry.
Yeah, heres what happens.
And so wed like shoot a scene out of total context.
Miller: Well, Bill threatened Zach.
I guess they had an argument over something.
Braff: He goes, You know, a new intern can always walk in.
Braff: And I was like, Oh shit … hes right.
It was the season you brought on the actor from Kids in the Hall, Foley.
Chalke: Dave Foley.
Youre going to see a cathartic moment between the two of us because we battled.
Lawrence: You guys dont understand.
When it went into editing cause the crew was just happy to be done.
And Im looking, and its literally John C. McGinley giving a speech, going like this.
You guys [completely incoherent babble].
I thought I had a stroke.
I thought I wasnt hearing correctly.
Lawrence: Heres a good piece of trivia.
When you see this part of his jaw just start to twitch.
Can you do it now?
Can you flex that thing now?
McGinley: Im not angry.
you’re free to never equal that experience.
That said, sometimes reboots, not all the time, sometimes they feel like a money grab.
If we ever do it, well do it as a short little movie or something like that.
By the way, on that topic, you guys know everyone here is just crushing it.
And I said Well, have you seenScrubsyet?
And John, do you remember what he said?
McGinley: I watched an episode or two.
I would want to see where their marriage is.
I would want to see if theyre still friends.
Flynn: The janitors back working for the CIA.
Braff: Thatd be great.
Faison: Thats … speaking of favorite episodes, hold on.
Reyes: Oh yeah.
His names Glen Matthews.
Braff: Or is it?
Did you secretly pick a name for yourself?Braff: Your backstory, Neil.
Flynn: No, I would have been fine never having a name.
And at the end when it said Glen Matthews, that could easily be a lie.
In fact, the very next day, someone says, Hey Joe.
Im like, Hi, how ya doing?
Lawrence: Do you know when we decided on the name Glen?
Flynn: Because ofClone High?
Lawrence: InClone High, he played a janitor named Glen, we decided it was his actual name.
Jenkins: I liked it when he was Jan Itor.
Judy where do you imagine Carla would be now?Reyes: Definitely with a couple of kids.
And we talked early inScrubsabout her aspiring to be a doctor, and I didnt think …
I liked her running the show as a nurse.
Lawrence: Judy and all the actors and actresses were so protective of their characters.
Reyes: Im protective, Im like defensive.
Its like, I think she wants to be a doctor.
Im like, Why?
Shes an amazing nurse.
And then Id feel bad.
I was like, I think I was a little bitchy.
Braff: Oh yeah.
Miller: Are you going to do it?
Faison: No, theres no way Im doing, no, absolutely not.
Chalke: Do it, do it.
Faison: Absolutely not, absolutely not.
Braff: Dance, dance.
If you want to see it, you’re free to playFortnitebecause they jacked that shit.
Reyes: Yeah, they did.
Look, my kid is here and shes a huge fan and she [plays] that, yeah.
Braff: Did they?
Lawrence: They did, and its fine because its just a character dancing.
Faison: I didnt get no money.
No, I didnt get no money.
I know, thats what yall are thinking, right?
No, no, I did not.
Somebody stole that shit.
Thats not mine no more.
Faison: No, hold on.
God damn it, no.
Miller: That was good money for us.
Faison: Will [meaning Bill Lawrence], you owe me some money, man.
That private school that youre going to right now?
[Gestures to Lawrence and Millers son sitting in the audience.]Fortnite.
And they were like, Were spending our DonaldFortnitemoney.
Faison: Now thats some bullshit.
Thats not true, its not, its not true.
Nobody got no money.
Nobody got money for it.
Lawrence: Seen side by side, by the way, its awesome.
Faison: Yeah, its the exact same dance.
How long did it take you to learn the dance?
Braff: He made it up.
Faison: I made it up on the spot.
Lawrence: He made it up that second.
Lawrence: I dont think you had even read the scene when you got there.
Braff: No, he hadnt.
Sometimes Donald …
Faison: Shut up.
Braff: Let me just say this one part.
Faison: Shut up.
Shut the fuck up.
Shut the fuck up.
Shut up, shut up.
Braff: Donald didnt know his scripts.
Faison: That day I was late.
Hold on lets be clear …
Lawrence: What am I doing, an air band?
Faison: Right, yeah.
And me being like, All right, all right.
I go, Did you work on this shit, because its supposed to be good.
Hes like, Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hes like, Oh, Poison, I get that.
Faison: I know this one.
Chalke: And Im the opposite.
Im so jot down A, Bills like, Will you do an I told you so dance?
Im in my dressing room trying to plan every single move, and such a dork.
Audience question:I am doctor myself, because of you guys.
Lawrence: Before these guys talk Im gonna say two things.
It means so much to me, so thank you so much for saying that, for doing it.
I think its really cool.
My best friend, the real J.D., Doctor John Doris, is a cardiologist, a heart surgeon.
He was my best friend from age 18 on.
We went to college together and were roommates.
Id be like, Ive seen you so drunk.
But it created a feeling for me that doctors and nurses are like any of us.
They laugh, they joke, they do what they can to get through stuff.
And I think everybody here had moments with him.
Lawrence: They called him Real J.D.
So his nickname was Real.
And then this was still in the time of pagers I think, right?
Well doctors have pagers and hed be like [pauses to look at a pager], …
I got to go.
The real finale of the show is when Zach …
Braff: Season nine.
And that guy is the real J.D., and hes the one the whole show is based on.
Lawrence: By the way, the Bahamas part, I feel I was amazing in it.
I feel I was amazing.
They feel I was horrible.
Braff: Its a good thing youre such a great writer.
Faison: No, I thought you was amazing Bill.
Braff: You were great.
The population is about 600.
We took the whole island over to shoot it.
And thats where they live.
Jenkins: And hes a terrific actor.
He was really putting away those Bahama Mamas.
Chalke: How did we get that episode shot?
And Donald Faison answered.
Faison: I remember dude!
How have you been?
Audience member: My boy.
Faison: How you been?
I recognize that voice.
I recognize that voice.
Audience member: Close Sam.
Faison: I knew it.
Dude, I fucking miss you, man.
Lawrence: Can I tell you the funniest part to this, and then youll do your question.
Every person up here took turns answering it.
And the girl on the phone goes, Oh, my God, is that Jordan?
I go, It is, but I have to go.
Sorry, your question man.
Look, I believe and the staff …
Reyes: Just say thank you.
Lawrence: All right, yes, thank you.
We live in a world that if youre passionate about it, market it yourself.
Its part of the fun, you know?
It is a gift that anybody would still care about something that we did this long after the fact.
Im touched, Im grateful.
This show would not exist were it not for the fans and for people still keeping it alive.
I just wanted to take this opportunity for me and for the whole cast to say thank you.
