What happened to Scrubs cast as show reboots after 16 years

Home> Entertainment> TV

What happened to Scrubs cast as show reboots after 16 years

The Scrubs cast have gone on to find major professional success, become embroiled in scandal, but one of the main cast sadly died in 2020

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

Scrubs has become the latest beloved TV show to bring back its original cast for a nostalgia-filled second go at things.

Where many have failed in the past though Scrubs appears to have cracked the code, receiving a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes the tenth season revival.

The Guardian specifically praised the cast, with Rhik Samadder saying that their chemistry is ‘still so sparky it totally carries this zinger-packed comeback’.

The cast has always been one of the most highly praised parts of the TV show, so the reboot series gives many a welcome excuse to catch up on what they’ve been up to in the 16 years since the show’s controversial ninth season.

Zach Braff

Scrubs star Zach Braff is returning for the reboot (Frank Micelotta/Disney, Inc. via Getty Images / NBC)
Scrubs star Zach Braff is returning for the reboot (Frank Micelotta/Disney, Inc. via Getty Images / NBC)

Star Zach Braff has predominantly moved into directing in the years since starring in Scrubs. Braff struck up a close working relationship with Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence and has since worked as a director on his shows Ted Lasso, Shrinking, and is set to be a director on the upcoming Steve Carrell led show Rooster.

Braff’s most high-profile story in the 16 years however was probably his 21-year age gap relationship with Florence Pugh. The pair met on a short-film, dating for three years, with Pugh saying in an Instagram video posted after they received hate following a picture of the two: “It makes me upset that during this time when we need to be together, the world is aching and the world is dying, and a few of you decided to bully for no reason.”

Donald Faison

Donald Faison and Zach Braff started a listen-back podcast about Scrubs (Julian Hamilton/FilmMagic / NBC)
Donald Faison and Zach Braff started a listen-back podcast about Scrubs (Julian Hamilton/FilmMagic / NBC)

Faison and Braff match their characters from Scrubs and have been best friends in real-life for almost 25 years now. The pair started the watch-back podcast Fake Doctors, Real Friends in 2020, and Faison has also starred in Kick-Ass 2, the Clone High reboot, and The Exes.

Faison has been married twice, to Lisa Askey and CaCee Cobb, his current wife. Askey died in 2017, leading their three children to move in with Cobb and the actor. The actor posted an emotional tribute on Instagram, saying: “She and I never really saw eye to eye but one thing we did share was our love for our children. RIP Lisa. You raised three beautiful children into fine adults and I am forever grateful for that. May god bless your soul with light and love.”

Sarah Chalke

Sarah Chalke later appeared in How I Met Your Mother (Savion Washington/WireImage / NBC)
Sarah Chalke later appeared in How I Met Your Mother (Savion Washington/WireImage / NBC)

Sarah Chalke returned to the Scrubs reboot, with her and Braff now playing Elliot and JD as parents raising two children alongside being doctors.

Chalke has had a pretty successful acting career after Scrubs, most notably appearing as a major love interest Stella in How I Met Your Mother. In addition to this she voices Beth in Rick and Morty and recently received a great deal of praise for her performance in the Netflix TV show Firefly Lane.

She was married to lawyer Jamie Afifi for almost 20 years, with the pair sharing two children together.

John C McGinley

McGinley has campagined for the rights of people with Down Syndrome (Julian Hamilton/FilmMagic / NBC)
McGinley has campagined for the rights of people with Down Syndrome (Julian Hamilton/FilmMagic / NBC)

McGinley is best known as the gruff but lovable mentor to JD, Dr Cox, but has gone on to do some outstanding activism work in the years since. His son, Max, has Down Syndrome and McGinley has long been a member of the board of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation. In addition to this he spearheaded a campaign to call for the end of common use of the R slur.

The actor has since also opened up about his personal link to 9/11, with his brother having worked on the 62nd floor of the South Tower. In the talkback episode of Fake Doctors, Real Friends for episode seven of season one he revealed they were filming when it happened. His brother thankfully survived, having run down 20 floors before the building was hit. He received a concussion from the incident, causing him to walk through New York aimlessly, leaving his whereabouts unknown to his family for 12 hours.

Sam Lloyd

Sam Lloyd passed away in 2020 (GoFundMe / NBC)
Sam Lloyd passed away in 2020 (GoFundMe / NBC)

Lloyd played the lovable, if sad, lawyer Ted in the show, and is the only main cast member to have died in the 16 years since the show ended. He appeared in roughly half of the show’s 182 episode run and announced his cancer diagnosis publicly in 2019. He died shortly afterwards, passing away in April of 2020.

Lloyd had appeared in multiple other major shows and movies, including The West Wing, American Housewives, Modern Family, and The Middle.

Zach Braff paid tribute to the actor on Twitter with an emotional message, saying: “Sam Lloyd made me crack up and break character every single time we did a scene together. He could not have been a kinder man. I will forever cherish the time I had with you, Sammy.”

Featured Image Credit: NBC

Topics: Zach Braff, TV and Film, TV, Celebrity