REVIEW: ‘Scrubs’ (2026) Episodes 1-4 Reclaims Pieces of Old Sitcom Magic

The breadth of success of the original tenure of Scrubs depends on who you ask. Some will argue that, despite some ups and downs, it, for the most part, remained sturdy throughout all eight original seasons. All fans will agree that the less we talk about the pseudo-spinoff ninth season, the better. Some think it peaked early and only stayed marginally consistent.

The right answer? It delivered four incredible seasons with knockout episodes, some genuine, formative humor, and unexpected heartache. Everything else was fine, able to coast on the actors’ residual charm. 

Now, the series returns for what is technically a tenth season, but is being labeled the first, with a polished, familiar feel. And, for the most part, it works. But, as is the case with any revival of a once-popular series, the question is more about whether it should have been revived in the first place.

Or, more to the point, are there any more stories the series can tell that feel fresh and new but not too fresh or new as to feel like a different series altogether? There’s a lot of charm in the first four episodes and echoes of what made the original series one of a kind. But I also keep holding my breath, ready for it not to work. 

John Dorian, J.D. (Zach Braff), is no longer the ungainly medical intern. Instead, he’s a concierge doctor working in the suburbs for rich patients and writing scripts. Turk (Donald Faison) is still working at Sacred Heart, but is staring at the embers of burnout, while Elliot (Sarah Chalke) – also at Sacred Heart – is navigating working with new medical interns and finding the patience she wished she’d received herself. 

Scrubs (2026) quickly sets the tone for the series’ objectives.

Episode 1 of Scrubs (2026) makes quick, kind of sloppy work of reintroducing these characters, where they’re at in life, and how they find their way to all be working under the same roof again. At the same time, introducing a new class of medical interns, with varying results.

The new surgical interns, Amara (Layla Mohammadi) and Dashana (Amanda Morrow), are more fully realized, and the two bounce off of Faison’s energy well. The medical interns, Asher (Jacob Dudman), Serena (Ava Bunn), and Blake (David Gridley), are less effective. 

It’s through the interns, however, that the story takes shape and defines what it wants to be in this new era of Scrubs (2026). When J.D. returns to Sacred Heart to visit a patient, he speaks with his former mentor, Dr. Cox (John C.  McGinley – still brilliant in the role), who admits to a disconnect in how he’s able to teach them, unable to rely on the tough love brand of teaching/bullying he’s accustomed to. 

J.D. returns with some clever writing, giving the character a chance to help and guide these new interns. It helps set the tone for the new series, bring the characters back together, and introduce the new challenges J.D., Turk, and Elliot will face.

They’re no longer the bright-eyed newbies. They’re seasoned professionals with 25 years of experience and now guide the new generation. J.D.’s inner monologues, which once offered an unfiltered look at a young man’s desperate desire to be wanted or praised, now highlight a middle-aged man seeking a new purpose. He’s more confident and assured in his role, but he’s still in constant need of approval. 

Executive Producer Bill Lawrence knows how to curate the perfect “dramedy.”

Created by Tim Hobert and Aseem Batra, with original creator Bill Lawrence still on as Executive Producer, Scrubs (2026) achieves the tonal balance that made the series so formidable at its arrival. In many ways, Lawrence quietly pioneered the surging popularity of the “dramedy.” Lawrence may still be the best when you look at series such as Shrinking and Ted Lasso.

Scrubs operated on its own surrealist platform where an episode involving the death of a beloved patient could pivot into a musical sequence. J.D.’s many dream sequences offered flights of fancy and absurdism, turning the figurative into the literal. J.D. and Turk’s bromance (in the most sincere use of the term) allows for hilarity and sweetness, while the rest of the staff delivers biting barbs and cutting remarks to bring the new interns down a peg.

There was the episode where a charismatic Brendan Fraser departed the series in a way that punched us straight in the gut. Scrubs has always known that a workplace comedy set in a hospital needs to reckon, in whatever capacity, with the death that surrounds them. 

So it’s refreshing to see that the series return isn’t angling to be what The Pitt is (though there’s a playful early nod to the successful show). It’s not trying to be too feel-good or too serious. It wants to be what it always was – a barrage of tone shifts, playfulness, and a cast built on strong chemistry. The ridiculous moments are followed by sincerity. 

Zach Braff, Donald Faison, and Sarah Chalke all return gracefully to their career-defining characters.

Learning moments for the interns offer learning moments for their new teachers. The series isn’t trying to date itself, and it’s not trying to keep up with the times in a way that feels disingenuous (aside from some old people shaking first at the evils of TikTok moments). 

And yet….And yet something hard to articulate feels just off enough to resist calling this a complete triumph. The silliness is effective, and Braff, Faison, and Chalke slip back into their roles with ease. Carla (Judy Reyes) is missed despite some appearances, and McGinley disappears quickly from the series after Episode 1.

But the emotional moments – specifically with the new cast – are harder won. The learning moments aren’t quite as earned. It’s the only time where there’s a palpable strain in trying to recapture the magic of the original run. 

It’s all a testament to how confident the original series was. The clash of genres and how it built a medical-based comedy around very real drama and damaged individuals was lightning in a bottle. Scrubs (2026) is very funny – both on its own and because of the nostalgia-based call-backs. And there are some genuine, moving moments, such as Turk processing his own burnout and Elliot reconciling her preconceptions about another intern. Joel Kim Booster is a fun addition to the cast (though newcomer Vanessa Bayer doesn’t fit quite as well) 

Scrubs (2026) even somewhat avoids the modern era of bad, Netflixification lighting and commercial brand of flatness that plagues so many new streaming series and films. Sacred Heart doesn’t look like a sitcom hospital but a real one with dingy lighting, crowded rooms, and staff pooling into any and all open crevices. 

The Scrubs reboot makes clever use of the changing times. 

The series also smartly reflects the changing times, both in how characters are allowed to speak to one another in the workplace and in medicine. And it feels organic, down to how J.D., now in the opening credits, swipes the image of the x-ray onto the screen. The details build out the world and welcome in something that feels of the times. The series premiered in 2001, and now, 25 years later, it’s finding a rhythm that makes sense for the characters at this point in their lives. 

But again, it all feels a little too curated. A little too made for the millennials, whose brand of humor was built on the zany, off-kilter cadence of the series. It’s made for people like me who still have the DVDs of the original seasons (well, two of the first four).

This new Scrubs is promising, but despite everything technically working, despite the laughs and the relief that this reboot isn’t as bad a way to shake off the mess of the ill-advised ninth season, there’s still the question of whether this really needed to exist. 

Scrubs (2026) makes a hopeful return with its first four episodes. Despite the changing times and the 25 years since the original premiere, the series acclimates itself to a new era of television while building off the platform of silly sincerity it created for itself. It’s effective, and it’s charming. But it will take the remaining five episodes of the season to truly see just how necessary – and triumphant – the series reboot was. 

Scrubs (2026) premieres February 25, 2026, on ABC.