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The following is a complete episode list for the television show Scrubs, which began being broadcast on October 2, 2001 on NBC. NBC had originally announced that Scrubs would end after its seventh season, containing a reduced 18 episodes.^[1] However, the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike ended up cutting the show's episodes down to 11, and Scrubs ended its run on NBC with a total of 150 episodes, and little resolution of the storyline and the series' characters.

The cast thus returned to film an additional 18 episodes, which were aired as Season 8 by ABC, with much of the story coming to a close, and definitive though somewhat flexible endings for the characters. The one-hour season finale, "My Finale", which was originally planned to also be the series finale, ranked third in the ratings and was watched by 5.1 million viewers, 2.1 adults 18-49 rating.^[2] The episode garnered mostly positive response from the viewers as well as critics.

With speculation mounting over a possible ninth season that would focus on new characters and perhaps a new setting, ABC announced on May 15, 2009 that it renewed Scrubs for a ninth season. The ninth season premiered on December 1, 2009. Donald Faison and John C. McGinley are the only original cast members returning as regular characters, while Zach Braff has appeared in six episodes. Sarah Chalke, Neil Flynn and Ken Jenkins returned as guest stars, while Judy Reyes did not appear at all.^[3]

In addition to the regular episodes, a special called "My Charlie Brown Christmas" was created by Daniel Russ and Ryan Levin for the Scrubs 2003 Christmas party, which is a re-cut and re-dub of A Charlie Brown Christmas, starring the cast of Scrubs.^[4]

As a general rule, all series episode titles begin with the word "My", unless the bulk of the episode is narrated by someone other than J.D., in which case they are named "His Story", "Her Story", or "Their Story", with Roman numerals denoting subsequent episodes by the same name. During Season 9, episode titles started with the word "Our" instead of "My".

A total of 180 episodes, including one double-length episode, of Scrubs have been broadcast. The first eight seasons are available on DVD in Regions 1 and 4.

Season 1: 2001-02

The first season follows J.D. (Zach Braff) and his best friend Turk (Donald Faison) in their first year out of medical school as interns at Sacred Heart Hospital. J.D. quickly meets his reluctant mentor, Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley); an attractive young woman (and fellow intern) named Elliot (Sarah Chalke), on whom he has a crush; the hospital's janitor (Neil Flynn), who goes out of his way to make J.D.'s life miserable; the Chief of Medicine, Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins), who is more concerned about the budget than the patients; and Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes), the head nurse and Turk's new girlfriend, who puts Turk through the trials and tribulations of being in a serious relationship. The characters face romances and relationship issues, family obligations, overwhelming paperwork, and a tremendous number of patients. The first season also introduces minor characters such as "The Todd" (Robert Maschio), a surgeon and sexual deviant; Ted (Sam Lloyd), the hospital's sad-sack lawyer; Laverne (Aloma Wright), a nurse and Carla's good friend; Jordan Sullivan (Christa Miller), an administrative official and Dr. Cox's ex-wife and Doug Murphy (Johnny Kastl), a nervous young doctor who often accidentally kills patients.

Season 2: 2002-03

The second season focuses on Dr. John Dorian's second year practicing medicine at Sacred Heart, where he is now a resident. In the season opener, everyone is still in shock from the secrets Jordan just revealed ("My Last Day"). As the season develops, J.D.'s older brother Dan (Tom Cavanagh) comes to visit, money issues affect J.D., Elliot, and Turk, Turk proposes to Carla, and Elliot finds a new boyfriend, a nurse named Paul Flowers (Rick Schroder). Dr. Cox resumes a sexual relationship with his ex-wife Jordan, with quite unexpected results.

Season 3: 2003-04

It is J.D.'s, Elliot's, and Turk's third year at Sacred Heart and second year as residents. As the season opens, Elliot decides to change her image, with some help from the Janitor. J.D.'s undeniable crush on Elliot emerges again, but J.D. instead begins a relationship with Jordan's sister Danni (Tara Reid), who is also dealing with feelings for her ex. Turk and Carla are engaged and planning their wedding. Turk, along with the Todd and the other surgical residents, deal with the new attending surgeon, Dr. Grace Miller (Bellamy Young), who dislikes Turk and considers him sexist. Dr. Cox and Jordan are doing well with their relationship and their son Jack, although Dr. Cox develops a schoolboy crush on Dr. Miller. He also struggles with the death of his best friend. Elliot gets into a serious relationship with Sean Kelly (Scott Foley) and tries to work out their long distance relationship while he's in New Zealand for six months.

Season 4: 2004-05

In Season 4, J.D. finishes his residency and becomes a full-blown colleague of Dr. Cox, although their dynamic does not change much. As the season opens, Turk arrives from his honeymoon with Carla but they soon have issues when Carla tries to change many things about her new husband. Their marriage and Turk's friendship with J.D. are also endangered when J.D. and Carla share a drunken kiss. Dr. Cox and Jordan learn that their divorce was not final, but this seemingly good news causes friction. Elliot is still angry with J.D. for breaking her heart, and the situation becomes more uncomfortable still when she dates J.D.'s brother. J.D. has a new love interest of his own when a new and very attractive psychiatrist, Dr. Molly Clock (Heather Graham), arrives at Sacred Heart. Molly also serves as Elliot's mentor during her time at the hospital.

Season 5: 2006

Though a full season of 24 episodes was produced for the fifth season, NBC decided against broadcasting them during the 2005–2006 fall schedule. On December 1, 2005, NBC announced the return of Scrubs for mid-season. At first, two new episodes were broadcast back-to-back every Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. ET. The first twelve episodes of the season were broadcast in this fashion, then NBC returned to broadcasting one new episode every week (still at 9:00 p.m. ET), followed by a Scrubs rerun. For the first three weeks of this, the old episode was a cast favorite episode, with available audio commentary tracks on NBC's website to accompany the episodes. After this, with the premiere of Teachers in the 9:30 p.m. time slot, new Scrubs episodes continued to be broadcast at 9:00 p.m., with previous season five episodes being broadcast in the 8:30 p.m. time slot before.Season 5 begins with J.D. living in a hotel. He has become an attending now on the same level as Dr. Cox. Elliot has taken a new fellowship in another hospital. Turk and Carla are trying to have a baby, despite Turk still having doubts. Finally, some new interns have arrived to 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 as equals.

Season 6: 2006-07

On May 15, 2006, NBC announced that Scrubs had been renewed for a full season, although it would be a mid-season replacement rather than appearing on NBC's fall 2006 schedule (as was the case for the show's fifth season). On October 25, NBC announced that, on November 30, Scrubs would move to Thursdays at 9:00pm, as part of two full hours of comedy (My Name Is Earl, The Office, Scrubs, and 30 Rock). Over the course of the season, J.D. and the other characters must mature to fill the different roles required of them. J.D., for instance, is cast in the role of expecting father since his girlfriend, Dr. Kim Briggs (Elizabeth Banks), is pregnant with his child. Turk and Carla become parents when Carla gives birth to their daughter, Isabella Turk. Elliot plans her wedding to Keith, although she and J.D. still harbor feelings for each other. Dr. Cox, as father of two children with Jordan, struggles to prevent his foul disposition from affecting his parenting. Important issues are touched upon, such as the importance of leadership, whether everything happens for a reason, and even death.

Season 7: 2007-08

Scrubs returned for its seventh season on October 25, 2007, as part of NBC's fall schedule, broadcast on Thursdays as part of NBC's two-hour comedy block. According to Zach Braff's blog, he and Bill Lawrence would direct a bulk of the episodes, and the show would see the return of many previous characters, including appearances by Aloma Wright, formerly nurse Laverne Roberts, as a new character, Nurse Shirley. Also, Lawrence hinted that the Janitor's name would be revealed in the final episode; but it did not occur as the seventh season was not its last.

Season 7 was confirmed to have a reduced number of 18 episodes, but only 11 episodes were finished and 6 aired before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. During the strike, several sources — including Braff's blog — announced that the series would end with the remaining 5 episodes already produced, starting on April 10, 2008, with the seventh episode "My Bad Too", and that the last 6 planned episodes of the final season would not be produced. Another episode, titled "My Commitment" was partially completed before the WGA strike, but was never completed or aired. Some material shot for "My Commitment" was later used in the season 8 episode, "My Nah Nah Nah".

Season 8: 2009

The eighth season of the American comedy-drama television series Scrubs premiered January 6, 2009, on ABC in the United States. The season ended on May 6, 2009 with an hour-long finale episode. The eighth season was the first to be shown on ABC after NBC dropped the series, ending its seven-year run on the network. ABC's pick-up of the show was followed by it commissioning eighteen 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 of Scrubs, 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 and much of the main cast. However, the show was later re-commissioned for another season, in which Braff and other cast members will appear for six episodes.^[6] The eighth season was the first to be filmed in high definition.

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 nine episodes and half for the second nine episodes.^[7] Additionally, each main cast member was absent for three episodes during the season (except J.D and Elliot who are absent for two). An accompanying web series called "Scrubs: Interns" was also created to coincide with the season, starring the new interns with guest appearances by the main cast. The webisodes can be viewed on ABC's website.

Season 9: 2009-10

The ninth season of the American comedy-drama television series Scrubs, also known as Scrubs: Med School premiered December 1, 2009, on ABC in the United States and will consist of 13 episodes. This season marks a major change in the series; it takes place at a different location^[9] and only two of the seven main characters from the first eight seasons remained as regular main characters. The rest of the cast is made up of new recruits, including Lucy, played by Kerry Bishé, who is also the show's new narrator. Former star Zach Braff returned for six episodes of the season. The new season focuses on students at a med school at the fictional Winston University, rather than interns at a hospital. Doctors Perry Cox and Christopher Turk, played by John C. McGinley and Donald Faison respectively, will return as teachers. The show's filming location moved from the North Hollywood Medical Center to sets at Culver Studios. The series takes place at the new Sacred Heart Hospital, located on the Winston University campus.

Notes

• ^† denotes a "supersized" episode, running an extended length of 25–28 minutes.
• ^‡ denotes an hour-long episode.

References

External links

• The Scrubs Wikia