Stop shouting “Eagle!” with your bros and delve into these little-known facts about Scrubs, which premiered 15 years ago today.
1. THE HOSPITAL IS REAL.
Sacred Heart is a real, abandoned hospital building. Patients used to drop by the set, seeking medical advice. The writers’ room was North Hollywood Medical Center’s former psychiatric ward, which might help explain some of the show’s more out-there fantasy sequences.
2. REAL DOCTORS REVIEWED THE SHOW’S STORYLINES.
Real doctors served as consultants on set to make sure Scrubs‘s storylines were scientifically accurate. One was a cardiologist named Jonathan Doris—J.D. for short. Another was Jon Turk. See what they did there?
3. THERE WAS AN ERROR IN THE OPENING CREDITS.
The X-ray sign in the opening credits was backwards for nearly five whole seasons. Then urologist Kim Briggs (Elizabeth Banks) strolled in, said “It’s been bugging me for years,” and flipped it over.
4. J.D. and Elliot’s stunt doubles got married.
They met on set. Hopefully their route to happiness was less rocky than that of the characters they portrayed bungee jumping.
5. DR. COX’S TEASING IS PULLED FROM REAL LIFE.
Dr. Cox calls J.D. girls’s names because John C. McGinley jokingly does the same to close friend John Cusack in real life. Cox hit everything from Abby to Zsa Zsa on the show, according to a fan-compiled list. Poor Cusack.
6. Ted’s a cappella group, The Worthless Peons, performs in real life as The Blanks.
Naturally, they made a music video for the show’s musical episode hit “Guy Love.” The Blanks also do sketch comedy.
7. Neil Flynn, the janitor, ad-libbed most of his lines.
“Sometimes a script would show up and when Neil enters it would just say (Neil makes up something and then exits),” Zach Braff told Redditors.
8. The janitor was originally supposed to be a figment of J.D.’s imagination.
In the first season, Flynn’s character only talks to J.D. Braff said writers broadened his role when they realized just how funny he could be.
9. Judy Reyes fractured her pelvis before the musical episode.
Knowing she had recently undergone surgery makes Carla and Turk’s tango all the more impressive.
10. Men and women had equal-opportunity risqué scenes.
“One of the things I swore to the female actors on the show was ‘You guys will have to be in skimpy lingerie and doing sexy shit, but I promise you for every time one of you guys is like that one of the male characters will be like that,'” said creator Bill Lawrence. That certainly explains The Todd’s frequent banana hammock appearances.
11. The real reason J.D. and Turk get a new stuffed dog, Steven, is because a fired crew member hid Rowdy in the hospital’s ceiling.
“It’s not really easy to find dead, stuffed golden retrievers,” Lawrence said in a Paley Center interview. The inspiration was a guy Lawrence knew in college.
12. Writers killed off beloved Nurse Laverne Roberts in a car crash because they thought the show was going to be cancelled.
When it was renewed, Lawrence re-hired Aloma Wright as Laverne’s twin sister, Shirley. Only J.D. notices the similarities between the two nurses.
13. The janitor cleaning up outside the hospital after the eighth season finale montage is series creator Bill Lawrence.
It’s one of a handful of cameos he made on the show.
14. There’s an epic Scrubs reunion during the Cougar Town credits.
It’s another Lawrence-created show. Even Bob Kelso shows up.
15. Zach Braff actually hates appletinis.
He prefers to sip Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Some fans aren’t pleased.
October 2, 2016 – 10:00am