After 16 Years Away, 'Scrubs' Returns With Record-Shattering Ratings on ABC

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Published Mar 3, 2026, 10:57 PM EST

A cinematic obsessive with the filmic palate of a starving raccoon, Rob London will watch pretty much anything once. With a mind like a steel trap, he's an endless fount of movie and TV trivia, borne from a misspent youth of watching monster movies on TV, perusing the sun-faded goods at the local video rental shop, and staining his fingers with ink from the Video Movie Guide. Areas of interest include science fiction, film noir, horror flicks, '70s disaster pictures, Bond movies, '90s action, giant robots, dinosaurs, super heroes, and the exuberantly schlocky output of Cannon Films. He also enjoys both Star Trek and Star Wars when they're good, and maybe even more when they're bad. As a Canadian, he also has a vested interest in Canadian movies and TV shows, especially the cheesier ones dubbed "Canuxploitation."

An expert on Marvel Comics, he has also written for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, and is a member of the Marvel Research Team. He can frequently be found pontificating on comic-book continuity or bemoaning the misfortunes of the Toronto Maple Leafs on his Twitter account.

Some sitcom revivals have been hits (King of the Hill, The Conners), while others have been misses (Murphy Brown, Frasier). Thus, ABC's decision to violate the DNR order on medical sitcom Scrubs may have seemed like a risky move. However, one week after the show returned with a two-episode premiere, it's clear that there was instant Guy Love between the revived show and ABC's viewers.

According to reports, Scrubs debuted to ABC's best comedy streaming ratings in over a year, with 11.36 million viewers tuning in on ABC, Disney+, and Hulu. The last premiere to hit those heights was Shifting Gears; while not a revival, that series marked the return of onetime Home Improvement star Tim Allen to the ABC fold. It's a sign that there was an appetite for more of the long-running medical sitcom, which premiered on NBC in 2001 and ran for seven seasons there before migrating to ABC for its final two seasons. Can it maintain such lofty results? We'll find out soon when Scrubs airs its next new episode this Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.

What's Changed at Sacred Heart Hospital?

While Sacred Heart Hospital may look the same (even though it's not; North Hollywood Medical Center, the former home of the series, was demolished in 2011, and the new show is filmed on a recreated set in Vancouver), a lot has changed since J.D. (Zach Braff) last walked the halls. He's become a concierge doctor, and happens to drop into Sacred Heart while checking up on an elderly patient's grandson. He ultimately decides to stay, and ends up becoming the hospital's new Chief of Medicine, replacing his old mentor Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley). Plus, in a shocking reveal from the premiere, he and Elliot (Sarah Chalke), who were married at the original series' end, have now divorced, and are co-parenting their two children. Turk (Donald Faison) and Carla (Judy Reyes), a little older and grayer, are still married, and busy parenting a brood of four children in addition to their duties at the hospital. Plus, there's a new crop of interns to mentor, and a new head of HR (Vanessa Bayer) who isn't going to let the old gang get up to their old shenanigans.

Scrubs was created by Bill Lawrence (Ted Lasso). He executive produces with Jeff Ingold and Liza Katzer for Doozer Productions. Aseem Batra serves as executive producer and showrunner; Randall Winston also executive produces, as do stars Braff, Faison, and Chalke.

New episodes of Scrubs premiere weekly on Wednesdays on ABC, and stream on Hulu the next day. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.