Why Scrubs Can Survive Without Zach Braff

Remember a few seasons ago when the writers brought in a new crop of interns (headed up by pretty-boy Keith) and everyone bemoaned the fact that it seemed they were grooming a new crop of main characters to replace JD/Turk/Elliot? Obviously, that never happened and most of those interns have slowly disappeared since, including our “new-JD”, Keith. This season, initially reported to be Scrubs’ final outing, brought with it a batch of new characters who are trying to worm their way into our hearts. But this time, it’s working.

First some background.

While this season was indeed supposed to be the end, ABC’s dire ratings situation is forcing them to reconsider holding on to this more-or-less strongly performing comedy. Zach Braff and Judy Reyes (JD and Carla) have both said they’re done after this season, and Donald Faison (Turk) is expected to leave either by choice or because he’s getting rather expensive to bring back. However, showrunner Bill Lawrence has been saying for a while that the show could continue without its main characters, though perhaps under a different name entirely (although I think “Scrubs” is a generic enough name to serve any incarnation of the series involving a hospital. After all, they’re “nothing more than a large pair of scrubs to me”). This season’s newbie’s make this prospect a little less frightening.

You have the overly cheerful Sunny, the neurotic Elliot-clone Katie, the hilariously bitchy Denise, and… that red-haired dude. Ok, so they’re not all memorable, but if anything this show has taught us that any bit character can grow to be a fan favorite given the right time and attention (see: Janitor, Doug, Ted). What’s great about these new characters is that, not only are they well-written, but they are getting EXACTLY the right about of screen time to make us care about them without resenting them for butting in on our seven seasons of memories. The incredibly fucked up and dark Denise especially has become something of a fan favorite, though she couldn’t necessarily carry the show as THE new JD.

Which is honestly the only problem I have with all of this. There isn’t really a character on the show who could effectively take over as the main set of eyes and voiceovers through which we view Sacred Heart. All of the current characters work well as an ensemble cast, but shouldn’t be alone in the spotlight for too long. And bringing someone else in now would feel too much like they were being forced on us. So for the show to survive, the focus will have to shift dramatically into being a truly ensemble show (ER-style, fittingly enough) where some characters have may have more importance, but there’s never just one major character.

If you’re going to emulate ER, though, lets learn from their mistakes and end the show sometime before it completely overstays its welcome. I don’t want to be writing about “the new Denise” in ten years.