Almost 15 years since the final season of “Scrubs” premiered, a reboot of the popular comedy is officially in the pipeline.
“Deadline” has reported that the project is now officially in development at ABC from 20th Television after an agreement was secured with the series’ creator Bill Lawrence, who is also an executive producer.
With him on board, the network is now working to secure the original “Scrubs” cast.
The show, which aired for nine seasons from 2001 to 2010, starred Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke as young doctors at Sacred Heart Hospital
Judy Reyes and John C McGinley also featured in the cast, joined by Neil Flynn and Ken Jenkins.
Meanwhile, Braff and Faison hosted a recap podcast about the series called “Fake Doctors, Real Friends.”
“Scrubs”, which has become a pop culture phenomenon, followed medical interns J.D. (Braff), Elliot (Chalke) and Turk (Faison) as well as other personnel who started their careers in a hospital crammed with unpredictable staffers and patients.
Meanwhile, the publication added that while there is an expectation that the core cast could reprise their role, there have been question marks around original cast member Reyes, who left the medical comedy ahead of its final season.
According to sources, her no-nonsense character, nurse Carla Espinosa, is factored into early plans for the reboot.
Reyes, a regular on the drama series “High Potential”, could appear in both shows.
“Big chunks of the creative team behind the camera, and most of it from in front of the camera, are all super invested and excited,” Lawrence told “Deadline” in October.
He added that he envisions a reboot of the show to be a hybrid between a revival, revisiting original characters a decade and a half after the original series ended its run, and a reboot, revamping the original concept with new characters as the series is set to introduce new interns.
“We’ve been talking about a lot and 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 publication also noted that while getting Lawrence, the original series’ creator, executive producer and showrunner on board was key for the “Scrubs” reboot, he is not expected to serve as a daily showrunner.
They explained that this could interfere with his work on the other four series he is part of.
This includes the Apple TV+ series such as “Shrinking”, which is currently airing its second season, and “Bad Monkey”.
He is also part of the team which is working on the upcoming Steve Carell comedy series at HBO as well as the global hit show “Ted Lasso”, which has been gearing up for a fourth season.