Scrubs fans delight as Zach Braff finally signs on for reboot after tense negotiations over his deal
Scrubs made its biggest stride yet toward returning after its most identifiable star signed on.
The rebooted series, which is set to air on ABC, has signed on original star Zach Braff to return as John J.D. Dorian, sources told Deadline on Wednesday.
The move helps put in place the most important member of the original main cast, after the show also enlisted original creator and showrunner Bill Lawrence.
Representatives for ABC and 20th Television, which is producing the show, haven't commented on the reported development.
The return of Braff, 50, signals the series is more likely than ever to make it to air, as his participation make make it easier to lock in other members of the original lead cast.
From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop.
According to the publication, the negotiations to talk Braff into returning had some major hiccups along the way.
One sticking point was the actor and filmmaker's wish not to shoot the reboot in Vancouver, Canada, as was being proposed, presumably as a cost-cutting measure.
However, Braff reportedly insisted on keeping the series in Los Angeles.
Scrubs' first eight seasons were primarily filmed in a decommissioned hospital located in Los Angeles' North Hollywood neighborhood, while the show's ninth and final season moved to neighboring Culver City.
Braff also reportedly clashed with producers over money issues, and sources claimed that the dual issues created an impasse big enough that it could have scuttled the entire project.
However, the parties eventually found a compromise that was agreeable enough for everyone, though it hasn't yet been announced if Braff was successful in moving production back to Hollywood.
His desire to keep the show filming in LA comes in the context of fears of disastrous tariffs after President Donald Trump announced a plan to institute 100 percent tariffs on films made outside the US, though it's unclear if he intended television shows to suffer the same fate.
Southern California's iconic industry capital has struggled in recent years as productions have been lured to other states and international destinations to shoot films and TV shows by lucrative tax credits and cheaper operating costs.
Other complications for the Scrubs reboot have been tied to the show's creator.
In August, Braff revealed that negotiations were taking so long on the reboot because of Bill Lawrence's exclusive overall deal with Warner Bros TV, which would forbid him from making a show with 20th Television and ABC under normal circumstances.
Lawrence, who was also showrunner on the original series, has created the ongoing Apple TV+ shows Shrinking, Bad Monkey and Ted Lasso — which is set to return for a fourth season — as well as an upcoming comedy starring Steve Carell for HBO as part of his current deal.
Even after negotiations with Warners allowed Lawrence to develop the scrubs reboot on the side for Disney-owned 20th TV and ABC, he'll still have to sit out writing or showrunning duties due to his extreme time commitments on his other shows.
Scrubs originally aired on NBC for its first eight seasons, before moving to ABC for its ninth and final season.
Although there were bumps along the road to getting Lawrence and Braff back on the show, the two have continued to display a strong professional relationship in recent years.
Now that Braff's participation is secured, the production is in a stronger position to get the original main cast members to return. Those include Donald Faison, who played J.D.'s best friend Christopher Turk, as well as Sarah Chalke (Elliot Reid), Judy Reyes (Carla Espinosa) and John C. McGinley (Perry Cox).
Lawrence previously said he envisions the returning series as a hybrid of reboots and revivals, with the cast comprised of a mix of actors from the original series, along with new characters.
It's unclear if his plans for the show still involve all of the original cast members returning, and even if they do their roles may be necessarily diminished in order to give screen time to Scrubs' newer generation.
Braff — who has directed multiple films, including Garden State — worked as a director on an episode of Ted Lasso, which earned him Emmy and Director's Guild of America nominations.
He also had a guest spot on Lawrence's Courteney Cox–starring comedy Cougar Town, and more recently, he returned to direct episodes in the last two seasons of the Jason Segel and Harrison Ford–starring Shrinking on Apple TV+.
Braff also appeared in a multi-episode arc with star Vince Vaughn on Bad Monkey, and he's set to direct on Lawrence's HBO series with Steve Carell.
His most recent feature as director — and writer — was 2023's A Good Person, which starred his then-girlfriend Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Disney slashes hundreds of jobs as the House of Mouse refocuses on key sector Americans love
Hundreds of Disney employees found themselves out of a job on Monday as the House of Mouse seeks to refocus its business on its growing streaming platforms. The layoffs affect multiple teams around the world, including film and television marketing, television publicity and casting and development. No teams were completely eliminated, and an insider told the Los Angles Times that ABC News and ESPN largely escaped the job cuts. The news channel is still boasting a healthy audience for its newscasts even though the ABC television network and Disney-owned entertainment channels have seen dramatic viewer defections as consumers increasingly switch to streaming. ABC's primetime schedule has particularly suffered, with only three shows making the Nielsen's top 20 - Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football and High Potential, according to the LA Times. ESPN, meanwhile, was spared the ax as it prepares for the launch of its own streaming service. The exact number of Disney employees who were laid off on Monday remains unclear. But it represents the fourth and largest round of layoffs at the storied entertainment company in just the last 10 months, Deadline reports. CEO Bob Iger set the pace upon his return as the head of the company in 2023, when he established a goal of at least $7.5 billion in cost reductions with at least 7,000 jobs eliminated. Those cuts continued in early March of this year, when about 200 employees were laid off - representing about six percent of the workforce at ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks. The company has also consolidated some of its roles, shutting down ABC Signature last year and rolling its operations into 20th Century. ABC News shows 20/20 and Nightline were also consolidated into one unit earlier this year, and the ABC and Hulu Originals scripted drama and comedy teams were also merged into one operation. That resulted in about 30 Disney Entertainment Television layoffs, after other staff cuts last year saw roughly 140 people in the division- or about two percent of the company's total workforce - lose their jobs. Those cuts largely affected employees at National Geographic, according to Deadline. Yet Monday's layoffs comes just weeks after Disney reported better-than-expected second quarter earnings. Iger announced last month that the company earned $23.6 billion in revenue for the three months that ended March 29, a seven percent increase compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Earnings before taxes totaled $3.1 billion, up $2.4 billion from last year. Much of the revenue increases came from streaming services, with Disney's direct-to-consumer operating profit increasing from $289 million to $336 million. Disney also received an unexpected boost from its experiences, including its theme parks and cruises. Iger now wants to create new jobs in the Disney experiences field, he said at an annual shareholder meeting earlier this year. He also told shareholders last month that he remains 'optimistic' about Disney's current fiscal year guidance, projecting earnings per share to be up 16 percent when compared to last year, Variety reports. By the end of the fiscal year, Iger said he also expects to see double-digit increases in operating income for tis entertainment and sports segments, as well as a six to eight percent increase in operating revenue from its theme park and consumer products business.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Angels set Fenway Park record, hang on vs. Red Sox
June 3 - The Los Angeles Angels became the first visiting team to hit three home runs in the first inning of a game at Fenway Park and held on for a 7-6 win over the Boston Red Sox in the opener of a three-game series on Monday night. Jo Adell had a two-homer game, while Mike Trout highlighted a 3-for-4 night with a three-run shot, the Angels' second of three in the opening frame against Boston starter Richard Fitts (0-3). Leadoff hitter Zach Neto opened the six-run inning with a homer. Trout's 1,675 career hits are second in Angels history. Garret Anderson is first with 2,368. Ryan Zeferjahn (3-1) tossed a perfect seventh, while former Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 12th save in as many chances. From the top of Boston's lineup, Jarren Duran went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs. The Angels scored five of their six first-inning runs before Fitts recorded his first out on his 33rd pitch, taking a 1-0 lead on Neto's drive that sailed over the Green Monster in left field and out of the ballpark. After Nolan Schanuel walked and reached third on Taylor Ward's single to right, Jorge Soler drove in a run while reaching on Red Sox third baseman Abraham Toro's fielding error. Trout's three-run homer to deep center -- 454 feet away -- made it a 5-0 Los Angeles lead. The next batter, Logan O'Hoppe, lined the first out against Fitts to first base, but Adell added to the visitors' lead with a solo shot to left-center. After Red Sox reliever Hunter Dobbins worked through the second and third innings by facing the minimum with the help of a double play ball, the hosts got on the board on back-to-back doubles by Duran and Rafael Devers with one out in the third. Devers lined his two-bagger past the dive of Ward in the left-center gap. Los Angeles starter Tyler Anderson started the fifth with his fifth and final strikeout, but did not complete the frame after the next four Red Sox reached base. He finished 4 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks. Rob Refsnyder's wall-ball single and a Carlos Narvaez line double to left plated runs, then with Hunter Strickland in for relief, Romy Gonzalez knocked a two-run double inside the first-base line to bring Boston within one. Adell wasted no time getting the run back for the Angels, crushing the first pitch of the sixth inning out to left-center. --Field Level Media
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
WTF with Marc Maron is ending. Here are five of the podcast's best interviews
It's the end of an era: Marc Maron has announced that he's ending his popular and influential podcast WTF with Marc Maron after nearly 16 years and more than 1,600 episodes. The final episode will be released later this year. 'Sixteen years we've been doing this, and we've decided that we had a great run,' Maron says on Monday's episode. 'Basically, it's time, folks. It's time. WTF is coming to an end. It's our decision. We'll have our final episode sometime in the fall.' Maron says he and his producer, Brendan McDonald, are 'tired' and 'burnt out' but 'utterly satisfied with the work we've done'. When he began WTF in 2009, Maron was a veteran standup comic whose radio show on Air America had just been cancelled: he used his keycard to sneak into Air America's studios to record the first episodes of WTF without them knowing, before setting up a studio his garage. In its earliest days, WTF was a space in which Maron aired his insecurities about his career, his divorce and worked out his feelings with fellow comedians who he felt had essentially left him behind. But as Maron opened up more about himself – his upbringing, his struggles with drug addiction and his romantic relationships – the show became less about his cranky resentments and more about how creative people find personal fulfilment. Actors, directors and musicians began coming on more and Maron's deceptively simple, slightly rambling interviewing style encouraged even the most famous guests to tell stories they'd not shared before. If you have a bit of time to kill, there are more than 1,600 WTF episodes out there waiting for you (though the older ones are behind a paywall). The best ones are usually with (male) comedians (Conan O'Brien, Mel Brooks and Norm Macdonald all almost made the list); the worst ones include Courtney Love and Ben Kingsley. But here are five of the best: 1. Barack Obama (episode 613, 2015) It had to be here. This episode arguably redefined podcasting, turning it into a serious medium that was powerful enough to lure a sitting US president to a Los Angeles garage to discuss fatherhood, racism and gun control. Just as good is the following episode, titled The President Was Here, in which Maron and McDonald unload about the strange experience of having the secret service sweep in. 2. Robin Williams (episode 67, 2010) This emotional 2010 interview with Williams, in which he talks about his struggles with depression, alcoholism and suicidal thoughts, was rereleased on the day of Williams' death in 2014 with a new introduction by Maron. The episode earned a place in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress. 3. Louis CK (episodes 111 and 112, 2010) Over two hours in 2010, Maron and his fellow comedian, Louis CK, famously recorded what was essentially a therapy session in which the two former friends unpicked why they had drifted apart. CK felt Maron had abandoned him during some tough times; Maron admitted his professional envy over CK's stratospheric rise. (This was seven years before CK admitted to masturbating in front of women without their consent.) 'You're letting me down as a friend, by being jealous,' CK tells him. 'I could've used you. I got divorced. I got a show cancelled … but you shut me out because you were having a hard time.' Slate called it the best podcast episode of all time; Maron himself said he didn't think it was a great interview but said: 'It helped me a lot as a person.' 4. Lynn Shelton (episode 627, 2015) This episode marked the first time Maron met Shelton, a indie film-maker. She was married at the time and he was dating someone else but you can hear them clicking in real time in this episode; Maron is audibly charmed by her vivacity. They fell in love and stayed together until her sudden death in 2020 from a previously unidentified blood disorder, aged 54. A couple of days after her death, Maron rereleased the interview – which WTF always does when a previous guest dies. This stood out for his deeply emotional introduction in which he talked about why he loved her. 'I don't even know if I should be out in public talking,' he says, 'but this is what I do.' 5. David Spade (episode 669, 2016) Most people will know Spade as either Joe Dirt or the horny guy in Just Shoot Me but the episode is a true all-timer – partly for revealing how funny Spade is when he's just being himself, but also for the astonishing story he tells about the time he was attacked by his personal assistant in his own home, having to bar himself in the bathroom with a shotgun. 'I had him down to two days a week after that,' Spade says.
