1 Network Sitcom Promises The Scrubs Reboot Will Be A Success — And It Isn’t The Original Scrubs

Review

Although the Scrubs revival benefits from the show’s existing fan base and viewer nostalgia, it is St Denis Medical’s success that proves the reboot can really succeed. The Scrubs revival is officially happening, to the delight of ‘00s sitcom fans everywhere. The denizens of Sacred Heart Hospital will be reunited as Zach Braff has announced his comeback as JD in the revival, and various other major stars are rumored to return.

However, while the news of new Scrubs episodes was always going to be exciting, this revival does seem somewhat risky. Scrubs season 9, Med School, was an infamously bad semi-reboot that kept Braff’s JD and Donald Faison’s Turk, but dropped many of the other supporting characters and replaced them with newcomers. Although many of Med School’s stars went on to become major actors in their own right, including Eliza Coupe and Dave Franco, the series failed to recapture the magic of the show’s first eight seasons.

St. Denis Medical's Success Bodes Well For The Scrubs Reboot

This Workplace Mockumentary Proves The Scrubs Revival Can Succeed

As such, Scrubs’ return comes burdened with a lot of audience expectations. Luckily, a completely unrelated sitcom’s success proves Scrubs has a chance at successfully reviving the series. Arguably, it is the success of NBC’s medical mockumentary St. Denis Medical that bodes well for the success of the Scrubs reboot even more than the enduring popularity of the original series. St. Denis Medical is currently a popular hit with viewers, and it is familiar to a younger audience that may not have ever watched the original Scrubs.

St Denis Medical’s season 2 renewal and successful ratings prove that the show could open the door for people who love the NBC sitcom to also watch the Scrubs reboot.

Although both St. Denis Medical and Scrubs are both quirky workplace comedies set in hospitals, The former show’s mockumentary setup and deadpan humor mean they are not too similar to succeed at the same time. On the contrary, St. Denis Medical’s season 2 renewal and successful ratings prove that the show could open the door for people who love the NBC sitcom to also watch the Scrubs reboot.

Younger Audiences May Not Have Seen Scrubs, But Have Seen St. Denis Medical

St Denis Medical Brought The Hospital Sitcom Subgenre Back Before The Scrubs Revival

While it might be hard to believe, the original run of Scrubs ended over 15 years ago in March 2010. Season 8’s ending, “My Finale,” aired even earlier, in May 2009, and is still seen as the definitive ending of the original series by many viewers. Thus, an entire younger generation of TV viewers and even anyone under the age of 30 may not have ever seen Scrubs or remember the series. As such, the contemporary popularity of St. Denis Medical crucially proves that hospital-set sitcoms remain viable.

Although Scrubs’ worst season lost the show some audience goodwill, this isn’t the reboot’s biggest barrier. Instead, the biggest difficulty that Scrubs will face is getting new viewers to engage with the show if they have never heard of the original series. Thus, St. Denis Medical’s popularity is indispensable.

Hospital Shows In General Are Having A Moment Right Now

The Inherently Dramatic Settings Are Everywhere On Network TV

While the specific success of St. Denis Medical is good news for the Scrubs revival, a broader TV trend also bodes well for the show. Hospital TV shows are proving popular right now, and this means Scrubs is arriving in a welcoming TV landscape with this revival. Not only has St. Denis Medical proved a hit, but The Pitt, Doc, Brilliant Minds, Dr. Odyssey, and even the Sherlock Holmes retelling Watson all prove hospital shows are enjoying a resurgence right now.

Even though many of these shows are in completely different genres, they still prove that there is an appetite for hospital-set or medical shows, no matter the genre. Meanwhile, St Denis Medical’s season 1 success proves that a workplace comedy set in a hospital has a chance even in this busy lineup. As such, the Scrubs revival can actually benefit from the success of St. Denis Medical, despite how much the two shows might look like rivals on paper.

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