Season One

Season One of Scrubs originally aired between October 2, 2001 and May 21, 2002 on NBC. It averaged 11.2 million viewers per episode and received two Emmy nominations. It is available on DVD in regions 1, 2, and 4; and episodes are syndicated in most major markets.

Story[]

Season One follows John "J.D." Dorian (Zach Braff), Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke), and Christopher Turk's (Donald Faison) year as interns at Sacred Heart Hospital. Turk and Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes) begin dating early in the season, and their relationship grows stronger as Elliot and J.D. cycle through many relationships, including with each other. As they all have mishaps and interesting occurrences adjusting to transferring from medical school to becoming interns, established doctors such as Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) and Chief of Medicine Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins) give them tough love to make it through the day.

After the interns' first day ("My First Day"), J.D. comes to the realization that this job will be really difficult, especially having a patient who won't quit smoking despite the risk of cancer, and an extremely reluctant mentor. ("My Mentor") J.D. fears that his best friend Turk may have made a mistake during an operation, and finds himself wanting Elliot. ("My Best Friend's Mistake") All three interns come to terms with the fact that all of their patients will die when they each treat charismatic patients who end up passing away. ("My Old Lady") They also learn that they won't be able to make everybody in the hospital happy at the same time, especially Dr. Kelso's strict financial rules and Dr. Cox's responsibility to the patients' health. ("My Two Dads") J.D. sleeps with a patient, only to find out it is Dr. Cox's ex-wife Jordan Sullivan. ("My Bad") His luck doesn't increase when jealousy gets the best of him when another intern outshines him as a doctor ("My Super Ego") or when he and Turk become the reluctant spokespeople for the hospital. ("My Fifteen Minutes") J.D. gets a taste of Sacred Heart's medicine when he is admitted as a patient ("My Day Off") and realizes how much he is learning and surpassing his and other co-workers knowledge. ("My Nickname") The interns experience their first Christmas at Sacred Heart, each experiencing a different Christmas miracle. ("My Own Personal Jesus")

In the next few months, J.D. meets a woman in an MRI machine and asks her out on a date ("My Blind Date") only to have problems managing his personal and work lives ("My Balancing Act") and to find out she is not what she appears. ("My Drug Buddy") As a result, J.D. and Elliot hook up, but their relationship ends shortly after. ("My Bed Banter & Beyond") J.D. and Elliot avoid each other, and J.D. directs his attention to Dr. Cox who seems to be in a completely foul mood. ("My Heavy Meddle") The interns have a day with assigned students, and all struggle with each of their students. ("My Student") Elliot and Carla think they discover a secret about Dr. Kelso, while the rude Chief of Medicine sends J.D. through a Morbidity and Mortality conference for possible malpractice. ("My Tuscaloosa Heart") The interns parents visit them at their work ("My Old Man"), and soon after J.D. and Turk argue about treating patients surgically or medically. ("My Way or the Highway") Elliot begins dating a patient and Carla begins to tease Turk about weight he is gaining. J.D., meanwhile, has a bigger problem of being afraid of getting sick. ("My Sacrificial Clam") Dr. Cox's good friend comes shortly after J.D. has gotten over his fear and is diagnosed with an unfortunate disease. ("My Occurrence") Dr. Cox has a problem watching his friend undergo treatment, but J.D. realizes this makes him all the more an admirable mentor. ("My Hero") At the end of their first year at Sacred Heart, the new interns become residents and enjoy the progress they made together. ("My Last Day")

Cast[]

Category: Season 1 Cast

Main Cast:

Supporting Cast

Neil Flynn as Janitor (24 episodes)
Aloma Wright as Laverne Roberts RN (17 episodes)
Robert Maschio as Dr. Todd Quinlan (15 episodes)
Sam Lloyd as Ted Buckland, Esq. (11 episodes)
Johnny Kastl as Dr. Doug Murphy (7 episodes)
Charles Chun as Dr. Phillip Wen (7 episodes)
Christa Miller as Jordan Sullivan (6 episodes)

Guest Cast

Sean Hayes as Nick Murdoch ("My Super Ego")
Michael McDonald as Mike Davis ("My Day Off")
D.J. Qualls as Josh ("My Student")
John Ritter as Sam Dorian ("My Old Man")
Scott Foley as Sean Kelly ("My Way or the Highway")
Brendan Fraser as Ben Sullivan ("My Occurrence")

The entire main cast was introduced in the pilot episode, though Neil Flynn's role of The Janitor was not made a part of the main cast until Season Two. ("My First Day" DVD Commentary)

Awards[]

Full list: List of Scrubs' awards and nominations

The first season was nominated for the following Emmys:

Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

The episode "My Old Lady" won the 2002 Humanitas Prize.

Episodes[]

Category: Season 1 Episodes

"My First Day" October 2, 2001
Directed by: Adam Bernstein - Written by: Bill Lawrence

J.D., Turk and Elliot begin their internship at Sacred Heart.
The new interns meet the staff of the hospital including nurse Carla Espinosa, Dr. Cox and Chief of Medicine Dr. Kelso.
J.D's feud with The Janitor begins.

"My Mentor" October 4, 2001
Directed by: Adam Bernstein - Written by: Bill Lawrence

Elliot and Carla fight over Elliot telling Kelso about Carla's mistakes
Turk tries to get a date with Carla
J.D. attempts to get Will Forte to stop smoking

"My Best Friend's Mistake" October 9, 2001
Directed by: Adam Bernstein - Written by: Eric Weinberg

J.D. has to kiss Elliot before he is stuck the "friend zone".
Turk gets too close a patient for the first time.
Elliot accuses Dr. Kelso of being sexist when he calls her "sweetheart" during rounds.

"My Old Lady" October 16, 2001
Directed by: Marc Buckland - Written by: Matt Tarses

J.D. tries to convince his 74-year old patient, Mrs. Tanner, not to want to die.
Turk becomes friends with his patient, David Morrison, after watching a football game together.
Elliot learns Spanish from Carla so she can talk to her patient.

"My Two Dads" October 23, 2001
Directed by: Craig Zisk - Written by: Garrett Donovan

Dr. Kelso and Dr. Cox fight over J.D.'s trust.
Elliot uses her boobs to heal numerous patients.
Turk tries to stop Carla opening her gift; a pen which has been up somebody's ass.

"My Bad" October 30, 2001
Directed by: Marc Buckland - Written by: Gabrielle Allan

J.D. sleeps with a patient and later realizes it is Dr. Cox's ex-wife.
Dr. Cox is suspended and could possibly be fired.

"My Super Ego" November 6, 2001
Directed by: Peter Lauer - Written by: Mike Schwartz

J.D. tries to regain his spot as top doc after new doctor Nick Murdoch outshines him.
Turk realizes that he could mess up and kill someone.

"My Fifteen Minutes" November 16, 2001
Directed by: Lawrence Trilling - Written by: Eric Weinberg

J.D. tries to get Dr. Cox to both write his evaluation.
Turk gets annoyed at being portrayed as the "black doctor hero".
Elliot finds out Carla dumped her at the bar and they lose their friendship.

"My Day Off" November 20, 2001
Directed by: Elodie Keene - Written by: Janae Bakken

J.D. gets appendicitis and gets a day off work...but remains in the hospital.
Elliot finds out her physicals are cold and violent.
When J.D. doesn't want Turk to operate on him, Turk gets upset.

"My Nickname" November 27, 2001
Directed by: Matthew Diamond - Written by: Bill Lawrence

J.D. and Carla's friendship comes to a critical point where his knowledge surpasses her experience.
Dr. Cox is assigned a new patient with Elliot - Jill Tracy.
Turk and Dr. Kelso fight over a bench.

"My Own Personal Jesus" December 11, 2001
Directed by: Jeffrey Melman - Written by: Debra Fordham

J.D. sees a Christmas miracle.
Elliot helps a pregnant girl at the free clinic, but she disappears when they diagnose her with HELLP syndrome.
Dr. Cox asks J.D. to tape his friend's baby's birth.

"My Blind Date" January 8, 2002
Directed by: Marc Buckland - Written by: Mark Stegemann

J.D. starts flirting with a patient but he can't see her face.
Dr. Cox tries to work 24 hours without letting a patient die.
Elliot tries to get the attention of Dr. Cox by assisting him.
Turk has relationship problems after arguing over a patient.

"My Balancing Act" January 15, 2002
Directed by: Michael Spiller - Written by: Neil Goldman & Garrett Donovan

J.D. tries to develop his relationship with Alex.
Turk and Carla are having sexual problems.
Dr. Cox tells the interns not to be afraid of Dr. Kelso. This results in eveyone in the hospital losing their fear of Dr. Kelso.

"My Drug Buddy" January 22, 2002
Directed by: Michael Spiller - Written by: Matt Tarses

J.D. and Alex keep getting interrupted before they can have sex.
Turk keeps on meeting Dr. Cox at the toilet and they get to know each other a little bit.
Dr. Kelso gives Carla several rides to work, and they temporarily become friends.

"My Bed Banter & Beyond" February 5, 2002
Directed by: Lawrence Trilling - Written by: Gabrielle Allan

J.D. and Elliot sleep together for a day and suffer the consequences of their relationship thereafter.
The staff of Sacred Heart must speak with a psychologist about why they entered the medical field.

"My Heavy Meddle" February 26, 2002
Directed by: Will Mackenzie - Written by: Mike Schwartz

J.D. tries to get over his favorite teacher's death.
Elliot gets annoyed that Turk only worked with her because she's a geek.
Dr. Kelso and Carla argue whether a coma patient should be allowed to listen to music.

"My Student" March 5, 2002
Directed by: Matthew Diamond - Written by: Mark Stegemann & Debra Fordham

J.D. must help his incompetent medical student Josh to succeed.
Elliot's med student, Philip Chambers refuses to do any work, rendering Elliot helpless.
Dr. Cox is attracted to Turk's med student, Kristen Murphy.

"My Tuscaloosa Heart" March 12, 2002
Directed by: Lawrence Trilling - Written by: Debra Fordham & Mark Stegemann & Janae Bakken

J.D. worries that it was his fault that a patient died because of his neglect.
Turk, Elliot and Carla discover that Dr. Kelso wrote love songs when he was younger.

"My Old Man" April 9, 2002
Directed by: Adam Bernstein - Written by: Matt Tarses

J.D.'s father embarrasses J.D. by trying to be one of the guys.
Elliot's parents are very snobbish and expect too much of her.
Carla realizes that she is just like Turk's mother.

"My Way or the Highway" April 16, 2002
Directed by: Adam Bernstein - Written by: Eric Weinberg

J.D. fights against Turk and Janitor who both advise everyone to get surgery.
Elliot finds out she has a crush on Sean.
Dr. Cox is angry at Dr. Kelso for firing two nurses for no good reason.

"My Sacrificial Clam" April 30, 2002
Directed by: Marc Buckland - Written by: Janae Bakken & Mark Stegemann & Debra Fordham

J.D. gets jabbed by a needle and fears he might be infected.
Turk feels insecure about his weight and Dr. Cox offers to help him loose weight.
Elliot's work life is disturbed because of her new boyfriend, Sean.

"My Occurrence" May 7, 2002
Directed by: Lawrence Trilling - Written by: Bill Lawrence

Ben Sullivan causes trouble in the hospital for many people.
Ben annoys Jordan by constantly taking photos of people when they aren't expecting it.
J.D. comes to like Ben and wants to hang out with Ben and Dr. Cox and J.D. can't accept Ben has leukemia.

"My Hero" May 14, 2002
Directed by: Michael Spiller - Written by: Garrett Donovan & Neil Goldman

Dr. Cox is afraid of Ben's chemotherapy.
Dr. Kelso tricks Elliot and Carla into revealing what they really think of him.
Turk is annoyed when the Whipple surgery is handed over to his rival surgeon, Bonnie Chang.

"My Last Day" May 21, 2002
Directed by: Michael Spiller - Written by: Gabrielle Allan & Mike Schwartz

J.D.'s last day as an intern reminds him of everything that has happened in the last year.
Elliot reveals to Jordan that the whole hospital knows about Jordan and Dr. Cox still have sex.
The Main Trio try to get rid of Mr. Bober, an annoying patient who has no insurance and doesn't need surgery.

Music[]

ScrubsSoundtrack — *Scrubs* (Soundtrack).

Full list: List of music featured in Scrubs

Scrubs is known for incorporating hit songs, and has even featured songs that later turned out to be smash hits. The first season includes songs from Cheap Trick, The Cars, Five for Fighting, Poison, Colin Hay, and many more. Scrubs (Soundtrack) was also released shortly after the premier of Season Two, and features songs heard in episodes of the first season.

The DVD[]

Main article: The Complete First Season DVD

The complete first season was released onto DVD in region one on May 17, 2005. The three disk set includes all 24 episodes, plus the following special features:

Newbies — a documentary that examines the actors before they were cast
Deleted Scenes
Outtakes
The Doctor Is In — one on one with Zach Braff
Alternate Lines: A Second Opinion — shows the cast's unique ability to improvise
Not Just Another Medical Show — a look at how the show is filmed, from using a single camera setup to actually shooting in a closed down hospital
Favorite Moments — cast and crew reflections on their favorite episodes
Audio Commentaries with creator and cast
'Superman' Music Video

Trivia[]

Scrubs title — *Scrubs* x-ray title in a native 16:9 format.

The Scrubs German logo. (from our sister German Scrubs Wiki.

When the x-ray with the word "scrubs" on it is placed on the light box, it is reversed (the heart is on the wrong side). Bill Lawrence explains that the name of the show has double meaning: they wear scrubs, and they are scrubs (ones who make mistakes). The x-ray is backwards because (in the first season) they are interns and make mistakes.
Because series creator Bill Lawrence was afraid the show would not be thought of as funny by the general audience, several comical elements were added, such as sound effects whenever the characters make certain head movements. The sound effects were dropped late in Season One. Lawrence later commented that he thought the sound effects were annoying.
It is revealed in the DVD commentary that if Scrubs wasn't renewed for a second season (something the creators were almost sure would happen), it would've been revealed in this episode as a series finale twist that The Janitor was a figment of J.D.'s imagination.
Sacred Heart Hospital is named after the school Christa Miller (Bill Lawrence's wife) attended.
International titles of Scrubs include:
- Croatia: Stazist (The Intern)
- Estonia: Kollanokad (The Newbies)
- Finland: Tuho-osasto (Department of Destruction)
- Germany: Die Anfänger (The Beginners)
- Latin America: Docs
- Poland: Hoży doktorzy (Fresh Doctors)
- Portugal: Medicos e Estagiarios (Doctors and Interns)
- Russia: Кли́ника/Klinika (The Clinic)
- Slovenia: Mladi zdravniki (The Young Doctors)
- Sweden: Första hjälpen (First Aid)
- Hungary: Dokik (Doctors [slang])
- Bulgaria: Смешно отделение (Laughter Unit, parody of "Спешно отделение", Bulgarian title of ER)