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

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.