The fifth season of the American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television series ''

Scrubs Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," ...

'' premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on January 3, 2006 and concluded on May 16, 2006 and consists of 24 episodes. For the first twelve episodes, two new episodes were broadcast back-to-back every Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. ET. Then NBC returned to broadcasting one new episode every week (at 9:00 p.m. ET), followed by a rerun. For the first three weeks of this, the rerun episode was a cast favorite episode, with available audio commentary tracks on NBC's website to accompany the episodes. Guest stars in the fifth included

Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox / Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama s ...

and

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her 1999 debut single "Candy (Mandy Moore song), Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot ...

, as well the introduction of new recurring characters played by

Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Irene Banks (; February 10, 1974) is an American actress, director, and producer. She is known for playing chaperone Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and an ICCA commentator in the ''Pitch Perfect'' ...

and

Travis Schuldt Travis Schuldt (born September 18, 1974)"Catching up with....Travis Schuldt." ''Soap Opera Digest''. August 12, 2013. p. 63. is an American actor. He originated the role of Ethan Winthrop on ''Passions'', and played the recurring roles of Keith D ...

. This season was nominated for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

. Season 5 begins with J.D. living in a hotel. He has become an

attending physician In the United States and Canada, an attending physician (also known as a staff physician or supervising physician) is a physician (usually an M.D., or D.O. in the United States) who has completed residency and practices medicine in a clinic ...

now on the same level as Dr. Cox. In the season premiere, Elliot has taken a new fellowship in another hospital, only to be fired in the next episode. Elliot then returns to Sacred Heart and becomes an attending. Turk and Carla are trying to have a baby, despite Turk still having doubts. Finally, some new interns have arrived at Sacred Heart, chief among them being Keith Dudemeister. Season 5 also focuses on the relationship between J.D. and Dr. Cox, who now find themselves equals.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff (born April 6, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He portrayed J.D. (Scrubs), John Michael "J.D." Dorian on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Scrubs (TV series), Scrubs'' (2001–2010), for ...

as Dr. John "J.D." Dorian *

Sarah Chalke Sarah Louise Christine Chalke (; born August 27, 1976) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her starring roles as the second Becky Conner in the ABC sitcom ''Roseanne'' (1993–1997), Elliot Reid in the NBC/ABC medical comedy series '' Sc ...

as Dr. Elliot Reid *

Donald Faison Donald Adeosun Faison (; born June 22, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his leading role as Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC/ NBC comedy-drama '' Scrubs'' (2001–2010), and a supporting role as Murray in both the film '' Cluel ...

as Dr. Chris Turk *

Neil Flynn Neil Richard Flynn (born November 13, 1960) is an American actor and comedian. After performing with numerous comedy troupes in the Chicago area during the 1980s, he made his film debut in ''Major League (film), Major League'' (1989). During the ...

as The Janitor *

Ken Jenkins Ken Jenkins (born August 28, 1940) is an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Bob Kelso, the chief of medicine on the American comedy series '' Scrubs'' (2001–2009). He has also had notable appearances in many popular TV shows. Ea ...

as Dr. Bob Kelso *

John C. McGinley John Christopher McGinley (born August 3, 1959) is an American actor. His best known roles include Perry Cox in '' Scrubs'', Bob Slydell in ''Office Space'', Captain Hendrix in '' The Rock'', Sergeant Red O'Neill in Oliver Stone's ''Platoon,'' ...

as Dr. Perry Cox *

Judy Reyes Judy Reyes (born November 5, 1967) is an American actress, model, and producer, best known for her roles as Carla Espinosa on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC medical comedy series ''Scrubs (TV series), Scrubs'' (2001–2009), as Zoila ...

as Nurse Carla Espinosa

Recurring roles

Keith Dudemeister The following is a list of characters from the NBC/ABC American comedy-drama '' Scrubs''. Character appearance summary ;Legend : = Main cast (credited) : = Recurring cast (4+) : = Guest cast (1–3) Main characters John Michael Dorian ( ...

Robert Maschio Robert Maschio (born August 25, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for playing Dr. Todd 'The Todd' Quinlan in the American comedy drama '' Scrubs''. Early life He graduated from Columbia University in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in Americ ...

as Dr. Todd Quinlan *

Christa Miller Christa Miller-Lawrence (née Miller; born May 28, 1964) is an American actress known for her roles in television comedies. Her foremost roles include Kate O'Brien in the ABC sitcom ''The Drew Carey Show'', Jordan Sullivan in the NBC/ ABC com ...

Jordan Sullivan The following is a list of characters from the NBC/ABC American comedy-drama '' Scrubs''. Character appearance summary ;Legend : = Main cast (credited) : = Recurring cast (4+) : = Guest cast (1–3) Main characters John Michael Dorian ( ...

Sam Lloyd Sam Lloyd (November 12, 1963 – April 30, 2020) was an American actor and singer who played lawyer Ted Buckland on the comedy-drama series '' Scrubs'' and the sitcom '' Cougar Town''. Early life Lloyd was born in Springfield, Vermont, ...

as Ted Buckland *

Aloma Wright Aloma Wright (born 10 March 1950) is an American actress. Her television roles include Laverne Roberts on the NBC/ ABC comedy series '' Scrubs'' (2001–2009), Maxine Landis on the NBC daytime drama series ''Days of Our Lives'' (2008– ...

as Nurse Laverne Roberts *

Johnny Kastl Johnny Kastl is an American lawyer and former actor, perhaps best known for his role as List of characters on Scrubs#Doug Murphy, Dr. Doug Murphy on the medical comedy ''Scrubs (TV series), Scrubs''. He made cameo appearances in several Hollywoo ...

as Dr. Doug Murphy *

Michael Learned Michael Learned (born April 9, 1939) is an American actress, known for her role as Olivia Walton in the long-running CBS drama series ''The Waltons'' (1972–1981). She has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama ...

as Patricia Wilk

Guest stars

as Dr. Kim Briggs *

Jay Kenneth Johnson Jay Kenneth Johnson (born February 24, 1977) is an American actor from Springfield, Missouri. He began his career in 1999 when he was cast as Philip Kiriakis on the NBC soap opera ''Days of Our Lives''. Early life Johnson was born to parent ...

as Dr. Matthews *

as Julie Quinn *

Paul Adelstein Paul Adelstein (born April 29, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for the role of Agent Paul Kellerman in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television series ''Prison Break'' and his role as pediatrician Cooper Freedman in the American Broad ...

as Dr. Stone *

as Mr. Sutton *

Tom Cavanagh Thomas Cavanagh (born October 26, 1963) is a Canadian actor. He is known for a variety of roles on American television, including starring roles in ''Ed (TV series), Ed'' (2000–2004), ''Love Monkey'' (2006) and ''Trust Me (American TV series) ...

as Dan Dorian *

Alexander Chaplin Alexander Chaplin (né Gaberman; born March 20, 1971) is an American actor. Chaplin's most prominent role was that of speechwriter James Hobert on the sitcom ''Spin City''. As with the rest of the ''Spin City'' main cast, Chaplin has featured ...

as Sam Thompson *

Dave Foley David Foley (born January 4, 1963) is a Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director, producer, and writer. He is known as a co-founder of the comedy group The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of television, stage and fil ...

as Dr. Lester Hedrick *

Cheryl Hines Cheryl Ruth Hines (born September 21, 1965) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her role as Cheryl David on HBO's ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' (2000–2024), earning two Emmy Awards, Primetime Emmy Award nominations. She also ...

as Paige Cox *

Josh Randall Joshua Reeve Randall (born January 27, 1972) is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as Dr. Mike Burton on the NBC comedy-drama series '' Ed'' (2000–2004) and Sean Beckett on the ABC drama series '' Station 19'' (202 ...

as Jake *

Nicole Sullivan Nicole Sullivan (born April 21, 1970) is an American actress best known for being a cast member on the sketch comedy series '' MADtv'' for six seasons (1995–2001). She also played Holly Shumpert in five seasons (2001–2005, 2007) of the CBS ...

as Jill Tracy *

The Blanks The Blanks are an American a cappella group. They were recurring guests on the TV series '' Scrubs'' under various names such as Ted's Band and The Worthless Peons. They have released two albums: '' Riding the Wave'' and ''Worth The Weight.'' ...

as the Worthless Peons

Production

Both Gabrielle Allan and Matt Tarses, two writers since the first season, left at the end of season 4.

Eric Weinberg Eric Weinberg (born 1959/1960) is an American television producer and screenwriter best known for his work on the television series '' Scrubs''. Biography Weinberg is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. After ...

left in the middle of season 5 to work on a pilot. Tim Hobert and Tad Quill were promoted to executive producers mid-season. The staff writer of season 4 did not return for season 5. Kevin Biegel and Aseem Batra were hired as staff writers for this season.

Writing staff

* Bill Lawrence – executive producer/head writer *Tim Hobert – co-executive producer (episodes 1–12) / executive producer/assistant head writer (episodes 13–24) *Tad Quill – co-executive producer (episodes 1–12) / executive producer/assistant head writer (episodes 13–24) *

Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan are a television writing team who have worked on television comedies ''Family Guy'', ''Scrubs (TV series), Scrubs'', and ''Community (TV series), Community''. Another project was the television pilot ''Nobody's Wa ...

– co-executive producers * Bill Callahan – co-executive producer *

– co-executive producer (episodes 1–12) * Mike Schwartz – supervising producer *

Debra Fordham Debra Fordham is an American television producer and writer. She is best known for her work on the sitcom '' Scrubs''. Early life Fordham is a graduate of Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia, where she studied theatre under the directi ...

– producer *Mark Stegemann – producer *

Janae Bakken Janae Bakken is an American television producer and screenwriter best known for her work on the television series '' Scrubs''. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-born Bakken has worked on '' Scrubs'' since 2001, as a writer, and in 2002 served as a stor ...

– producer *

Angela Nissel Angela R. Nissel (born December 5, 1978) is an American author and television writer best known for her first book ''The Broke Diaries: The Completely True and Hilarious Misadventures of a Good Girl Gone Broke''. She was a writer and executive ...

– consulting producer * Kevin Biegel – staff writer *Aseem Batra – staff writer

Production staff

*Bill Lawrence – executive producer/showrunner * Randall Winston – producer *Liz Newman – co-producer (episodes 1–12) / producer (episodes 13–24) *Danny Rose – associate producer (episodes 1–12) / co-producer (episodes 13–24)

Directors

''Includes directors who directed 2 or more episodes, or directors who are part of the cast and crew'' * Bill Lawrence (4 episodes) *

Michael Spiller Michael Alan Spiller (born August 1, 1961) is an American cinematographer and television director.Linda Mendoza Linda Mendoza Kahle is an American film and television director and stand-up comedian. Mendoza's directorial career began in 1992, directing promotional segments for Fox and MTV. She then went on to direct/produce segments for ''Kidsongs'' and ...

(2 episodes) *John Inwood (2 episodes) *

Victor Nelli, Jr. Victor Nelli Jr. is an American television director and producer. He began his professional career at Viacom, Inc. working as a cinematographer on the MTV and Comedy Central series '' The Real World'', '' House of Style'', '' Mr. Show with Bo ...

(2 episodes) *

(1 episode) * Randall Winston (producer) (1 episode) *Rick Blue (editor) (1 episode) *John Michel (editor) (1 episode) *Richard Alexander Wells (assistant director) (1 episode)