Laughter still the best medicine for television

This means ‘Scrubs’ will outlive everyone you know

“I don’t know if you guys know this: You can’t kill this show. It’s going to be on forever.”

“Scrubs” creator Bill Lawrence is being facetious, but only a teensy bit. His little hospital comedy had perpetually been on the cancellation bubble throughout its seven season run on NBC. Next season, the heartfelt sitcom moves to ABC (though it aired on the Peacock network, the series has always been produced by ABC Studios), with a new lease on life. While last season had been widely publicized as the series’ last, Lawrence, along with President of ABC Entertainment Stephen McPherson, announced Wednesday at the Television Critics press tour that he views the show as the “ER” of comedy, capable of withstanding major cast changes while remaining relevant and entertaining.

But first, the bad news: J.D., the center of the series, portrayed by Zach Braff, may be on his way out of Sacred Heart Hospital. “I think it’s Zach’s last year on the show, but the reason we won’t say either way isn’t because we know one way or the other,” Lawrence admits. “It’s just one of those never-say-never-type situations. We’re making the shows now, [and] we’re certainly going to film the last one [of season 7] like it’s young Zach Braff’s exit and make a big deal out of it.”

Cancellation rumors aside, with or without their leading man, “Scrubs” isn’t about to skimp on showing the funny side of human drama.

“We found ourselves reinvigorated this year, creatively,” Lawrence says, pointing to plot payoffs for long-time fans, such as the Janitor getting married  and the introduction of new interns at Sacred Heart Hospital, including the addition of comedian Aziz Ansari to the cast this year. “I think [the episode is] as good as anything we’ve done.”