Fans hoping to see Sacred Heart’s most curmudgeonly alumni return for the “Scrubs” revival may want to temper expectations — at least in Season 1.
In a new interview with Esquire, series star Zach Braff suggests that while there is every intention to eventually bring back Ken Jenkins’ Dr. Bob Kelso and Neil Flynn’s The Janitor, there are currently no firm plans for either character to appear during the medical comedy’s inaugural nine-episode order, which represents its 10th season overall.
“The true answer is, if we’re blessed to have a second season, absolutely,” Braff says. “The real answer for Season 1 is that we’re not fully sure yet. Episodes 8 and 9 of the nine-episode order are still being written.”
Braff goes on to stress that the creative team wants to ensure they have storylines worthy of both characters. “They’re both interested in doing it,” he notes. “But do we have the bandwidth in the first nine episodes to get to it all and service a story that would be worthy of Ken and Neil? That might come true.
“At this point, I can’t tell you the answer,” Braff reiterates, “but most definitely, if we’re lucky enough to get a Season 2, that’s something we want to do.”
What Bill Lawrence told TVLine about The Janitor and Kelso
Premiering Wednesday, February 25 (ABC, 8/7c) with back-to-back episodes, the “Scrubs” revival reunites J.D. and Turk “scrubbing in together for the first time in a long time,” per the official logline. “Medicine has changed, interns have changed, but their bromance has stood the test of time.”
Zach Braff, Donald Faison, and Sarah Chalke return as series regulars, with Judy Reyes and John C. McGinley set to recur. (Braff has also revealed how the revival plans to honor the late Sam Lloyd.)
Previously, series creator and executive producer Bill Lawrence told TVLine that his hope is to “establish where everybody from [the original show] is, whether they’re still with us at the hospital or not.” That includes Ken Jenkins’ Dr. Bob Kelso — who retired as chief of medicine in Season 7 — and Neil Flynn’s The Janitor, who quit Sacred Heart early in Season 9 after learning that J.D. wouldn’t be returning, though it remains unclear how much of that season is still considered canon.
This story originally appeared on TVLine
