Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: Bill Lawrence, Scrubs

Scrubs Creator Bill Lawrence Offers Update, Revival/Return Reasons

Scrubs' Bill Lawrence offered an update on where things stand with the revival/return series in terms of writing, a showrunner, and more.

Ever since the news first broke that Bill Lawrence and 20th Television were developing a revival/sequel series to the Zach Braff and Donald Faison-starring Scrubs, Lawrence has been taking the time to address how the decision came about, how much he understands fans' excitement and apprehension, and more. Checking in with the Los Angeles Times, the show's creator offered an update on where things stand so far while also further elaborating on some of the issues he's previously tackled. Lawrence expects to begin writing the project in the new year and that a deal for a showrunner was "being made as we speak" and that "as soon as that's done, we'll start." In terms of who it could be, Lawrence dropped an interesting tease. "We've already been shooting the s*** because we're old friends, but we'll start coming up with the idea of where the world starts and who's doing what." he added. "They've said it's been so weird going back and watching every episode. My ultimate goal on the whole thing is just to get the music restored to the old episodes."

"If I thought it was a bad idea, I wouldn't do it. I'm not chasing commerce, and without being self-aggrandizing, I don't need to. Creatively, if somebody said, 'Do you want to pick 'Scrubs' up right back in the same hospital with the same people on a normal day, everything's back to normal?' No, that would be disingenuous to the story. Am I curious, and can I think of a bunch of stories about where some of these characters are years later, not being kid interns anymore and having new young people around them, with the way the medical world has changed — yeah, without a shadow of a doubt. That creative answer was easy. The complicated thing, and why I was always hesitant, was I don't work for Disney anymore. I work here [Warner Bros.], and it's not really, business-wise, a show I was allowed to go do. It's not jerky for Warner Brothers to say, 'We're not employing you to go do a Disney show,'" Lawrence shared, making it clear that it was the creative opportunities to move the series forward that brought him back, and not a desire to repeat what they've already done.

Lawrence continued, "The thing that changed is the cast are all tight in real life and as a lot of us do, at this point in our lives, covet that experience. So [there's] the amount of friends that [say], 'Man, it would be fun to have that experience again because we all really loved each other.' And you connect that directly to a time in Hollywood that not only are we not making a ton of stuff, but people that I really care about and love, both in front of and behind the camera, they're scrambling, hustling to find work. The best thing for the show is a sad state of affairs, which there are amazing writers that are available. It's not going to be a mailed-in cash grab."

To make that happen, Lawrence is moving forward with a team of veteran writers from the original series and new writers. "There will be a bunch of the original 'Scrubs' writers on the show; there will also be a bunch of new writers. Someone was like, 'I hope this doesn't happen.' That made me incredulous. Like, why the f*** would you care if it happened? He's like, 'I just love the show so much, it would tarnish it.' I don't think that's true. Shows that I care about have had reboots. This is my attitude: If it's a show I love, I'm gonna watch it. If it's great, I'm gonna be super happy. If it's good, whatever, at least it didn't offend me. And if it sucks, I'm gonna be super happy to badmouth how much it sucks to my friends. Not on the internet. But that's how I watch TV. To me, that's a no-lose. What's the big deal?"

Lawrence also noted that as much as the fans and cast have been pushing for a return of some type, they're not the only ones who have a vested interest in seeing what the future could hold for the gang. "Not to get way too deep on you, I've got my own stuff to work through. You hinted at it before, and I would probably, without telling anybody the reasons, just say: I'm doing this just because it's something that's important to me for my own stuff. I'll live with the consequences," he explained.

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