Last week, “Scrubs” returned to ABC for the first time in 16 years, and it looks like many of its old viewers are coming back as well. The reboot’s first episode drew 11.4 million viewers in its first five days.
This total combines Nielsen measurements of viewers who watched ABC’s first and encore broadcasts with Disney’s own data on streaming on Hulu and other digital platforms. “Scrubs” became ABC’s most-streamed comedy episode and most-streamed series premiere in more than a year, according to Disney. The previous record holder was the series “Shifting Gears,” starring Tim Allen and Kat Dennings, which premiered on January 8, 2025.
On the air, “Scrubs” was the most-watched comedy among adults 18-49 since the debut of “Shifting Gears” and the crossover episode of “Abbott Elementary” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” which aired on the same night, excluding broadcast television, which benefited from lead-ins from NFL games.
Created by Bill Lawrence, “Scrubs” originally premiered on NBC in 2001 and ran for seven seasons before airing seasons eight and nine on ABC. The official description for the medical sitcom reboot reads, “JD (Zach Braff) and Turk (Donald Faison) scrub together for the first time in a while. Medicine has changed, and so have the interns. But their bromance has stood the test of time.” Characters old and new sail the waters of Sacred Heart with laughter, heart, and a few surprises along the way. ” Braff and Faison will be joined by Sarah Chalk, Judy Reyes, John C. McGinley and others. Lawrence serves as executive producer along with Jeff Ingold and Riza Katzer through his Doozer Productions banner. Bluff; Phazon. Chalk. Showrunner Aseem Batra. And Randall Winston. TV number 20 is the studio.
