The eighth 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

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

on January 6, 2009 and concluded on May 6, 2009 and consists of 19 episodes. The eighth season was the first to be shown on ABC after

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 ...

dropped the series, ending its seven-year run on the network. ABC's pick-up of the show was followed by it commissioning nineteen episodes, which included an hour-long finale. For all of the season's run, it was expected that the eighth season would be the last, especially after the show's creator Bill Lawrence announced it. After rumors surfaced of a ninth season, it was understood that the eighth would be the last to star

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 ...

and much of the main cast. However, the show was later re-commissioned for another season, in which Braff and other cast members appeared for multiple episodes. The eighth season was the first to air in

high definition High definition or HD may refer to: Visual technologies *Blu-ray Disc, the universal optical High Definition disc format *HD Photo, former name for the JPEG XR image file format *HDV, format for recording high-definition video onto magnetic tap ...

. Needing to cut costs for the eighth season, Bill Lawrence stated that he divided the writing staff up into two groups, half for the first seven episodes and half for the last eleven episodes. Additionally, each main cast member was absent for three episodes during the season (except Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke who are absent for two). An accompanying

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

that aired on ABC's website called '' Scrubs: Interns'' was also created to coincide with the season, starring the new interns with guest appearances by the main cast.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Another way ABC cut costs is to have the main cast absent in a few episodes. Series star

is absent for an episode for the first time in the series, and only lends his voice to another episode. *

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

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 *

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 *

Eliza Coupe Eliza Coupe () is an American actress, comedian and model, known for playing Jane Kerkovich-Williams in the ABC comedy series '' Happy Endings'', Denise "Jo" Mahoney in the final two seasons of the medical comedy-drama '' Scrubs'', her starring ...

as Dr. Denise Mahoney *

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 ( ...

Betsy Beutler Betsy Beutler is an American actress. She is known for her role as Katie Collins on the NBC/ABC series ''Scrubs_(season_8), Scrubs'' (2009), the related webisode series ''Scrubs: Interns'' (2009), and her roles in ''The Black Donnellys'' (2007), ...

as Dr. Katie Collins * Sonal Shah as Dr. Sonja "Sunny" Dey *Todd Bosley as Dr. Howard "Howie" Gelder *

Kit Pongetti Kit Pongetti is an American actress, musician, writer and director, known for several acting roles, including playing Lady, the wife of the Janitor, in the show '' Scrubs'' and also for her role as Marta Trundel in ''iCarly''. Early life Ponget ...

as Ladinia "Lady" Williams *

Taran Killam Taran Hourie Killam (born April 1, 1982) is an American actor and comedian. He first garnered attention for his brief stint on the Fox comedy series ''MADtv'' during its seventh season between 2001 and 2002, followed by his wider success as a ca ...

as Jimmy "The Overly Touchy Orderly" *

Aziz Ansari Aziz Ismail Ansari ( ; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He played Tom Haverford on the NBC series '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and created and starred in the Netflix series ''Master of None'' (2 ...

as Dr. Ed Dhandapani

Guest stars

Courteney Cox Courteney Bass Cox (born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and producer. She rose to international prominence by playing Monica Geller in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004) and Gale Weathers in the horror film franchise '' Scream'' ...

as Dr. Taylor Maddox *

Kate Micucci Kate Micucci ( ; born March 31, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, and musician who is half of the musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates with Riki Lindhome. Some of her roles include Stephanie Gooch in '' Scrubs'', Ally in '' 'Til Death' ...

as Stephanie Gooch *

Lee Thompson Young Lee Thompson Young (February 1, 1984 – August 19, 2013) was an American actor who began his career as a teenager, playing the titular character on the Disney Channel television series ''The Famous Jett Jackson'' (1998–2001). As an adult, ma ...

as Dr. Derek Hill *

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'' ...

as Dr. Kim Briggs *

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 *

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 ...

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 ( ...

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 *

Scott Foley Scott Kellerman Foley (born July 15, 1972) is an American actor, director and producer, who is known for roles on shows such as ''The Unit'', '' Scrubs'', '' Felicity'', and ''Scandal''. In film, he's most known as Roman Bridger in ''Scream 3'' ...

as Sean Kelly *

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 *

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

After a rumor-induced build-up to season eight, and it being believed that season seven was the last, ABC picked up ''Scrubs'' and announced it as a midseason replacement. The first episode aired January 6, 2009. The season's timeslot shifted from ''Scrubs'' being shown on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm and 9:30 pm to Wednesdays at 8:00 pm beginning with episode 11, " My Nah Nah Nah." The show performed most successfully on Wednesdays, with average viewing figures of 5.36 million an episode. To cut costs the writing staff was split into two groups, with the exception of Bill Lawrence,

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 ...

, and Bill Callahan: one group for the first seven episodes, and the second for the rest of the season. Since Goldman & Donovan, Callahan and Lawrence wrote an episode in the second half, the term was longer. Mike Schwartz and Mark Stegemann, two writers who had been on since season one, did not return to the writing staff, although Stegemann did return to direct one episode. For the episode "My Nah Nah Nah," writers who did not work in season 8 were credited, since the episode was partially written/filmed in season 7.

Writing staff

* Bill Lawrence – executive producer/head writer *

– executive producers/assistant head writers * Bill Callahan – executive producer/assistant head writer Episodes 1–7 *

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 ...

– co-executive 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 ...

– co-executive producer *Aseem Batra – co-producer *Clarence Livingston – co-producer *Dave Tennant – executive story editor *Taii K. Austin – staff writer Episodes 8–19 *

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 ...

– co-executive producer *Tad Quill – consulting producer * Kevin Biegel – co-producer *Andy Schwartz – executive story editor *Devin Mahoney & Rego Marquiis – staff writers

Production staff

*Bill Lawrence – executive producer/showrunner * Randall Winston – producer *Liz Newman – producer *Danny Rose – co-producer *Abraham Park – associate producer

Directors

''Includes directors who directed 2 or more episodes, or directors who are part of the cast and crew'' * Bill Lawrence (6 episodes) *

Michael Spiller Michael Alan Spiller (born August 1, 1961) is an American cinematographer and television director.John Putch John Putch (born July 27, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his recurring role as Bob Morton on the 1970s sitcom ''One Day at a Time (1975 TV series), One Day at a Time'' and as Sean Brody in the film ''Jaws 3-D''. ...

(2 episodes) *

(1 episode) * Michael McDonald (1 episode) *John Michel (editor) (1 episode) *Mark Stegemann (writer) (1 episode)

''Scrubs: Interns''

To coincide with ''Scrubs'' being shown on television, a web series was produced called '' Scrubs: Interns''. It consisted of twelve webisodes following the adventures of the interns at Sacred Heart Hospital. The episodes featured cameos from several regular cast members, and included an episode with J.D. The webisodes' theme tune was performed by