Good news hit the wire yesterday. The return of “Scrubs” is only a month away. Creator Bill Lawrence announced earlier this summer his plans for the ninth season of the show, and we’ll see the new version of the hospital (now med school) comedy on Dec. 1.
I like this news for a few reasons. First off, I love the show. I have been mildly disappointed with Lawrence’s new show “Cougar Town,” so hope to see his old magic on display with this premiere. Secondly, ABC has put the show on Tuesday, which is one of the nights where I have no other TV obligations, making it easy for me to fit this into my schedule.
But last of all, I’m excited about seeing how the transition to Turk and Dr. Cox teaching med school goes. They will introduce new characters to carry the load left by regulars such as Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes, Ken Jenkins and Neil Flynn. Those favorites will return in some form throughout the 13 episodes, but the med students learning under Turk and Cox will be the focus.
That might worry some fans of the show, but Lawrence made a promise to those of us who lived and died with the Sacred Heart staff. We should be entertained regardless of how well the transition works.
It very well may suck. But don’t say it sucks until you see it. And my pledge is that if it sucks, it’s not going to suck in a fizzly way. It’s going to suck in a giant, ‘Oh my god’ kind of way, because we’re really swinging for the fences and trying to do some big stuff.