Bill Lawrence on ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4, ‘Scrubs’ Reboot Writers’ Room Coming Together ‘Very Soon’
Prolific comedy writer Bill Lawrence gave an update on where his reboot of “Scrubs” is in the development stage while speaking with Variety on the Writers Guild Awards red carpet Saturday in New York.
“Well first thing is, on an interview, asking my wife if she’ll do the show whenever she has time,” Lawrence said while standing next to his wife, “Scrubs” alum Christa Miller.
Lucky for Lawrence, Miller replied: “Of course.”
With that cleared up, the “Scrubs” creator went on to say: “We’re in the process of, the cool thing, putting the writers together. And it’s the best thing in the world to see that some of the most talented writers in the world wrote on that show and they’re all still friends, and my friends. And so [we] have a combination of the old and new. We’re just starting to build it right now. And I expect it to make an appearance very soon.”
“Scrubs” originally aired on NBC for its first seven seasons from 2001-2008, followed by two seasons on ABC from 2009-2010. The single-cam comedy took place at Sacred Heart Hospital and followed the interns, doctors, nurses and the Janitor through their day-to-day lives at the hospital. The cast included Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes, Ken Jenkins, John C. McGinley and Neil Flynn, as well as Miller in the recurring role of Jordan Sullivan.
In December, Variety confirmed Lawrence was working on a new iteration of the series via 20th Television for ABC. The original series was produced by ABC Studios, which was recently absorbed into 20th TV as part of a restructuring undertaken by parent company Disney. (Lawrence remains under his overall deal at Warner Bros. Television, with that studio carving out room for Lawrence to work with his former studio partners on “Scrubs.”)
After years of fan demand and reunion teases, Lawrence explains why he finally decided now was the time to bring back the beloved medical comedy.
“I thought about it a lot, and I think the main impetus is selfish,” the writer said. “It’s that we’re all friends, and we enjoy spending time together, and you can’t meet a writer or an actor or actress on that show, a crew member, that didn’t count that as one of the highlights of their career. And so all of us were like, even if it’s just that, why not do it again? And that’s part of the fun.”
When accepting the Writers Guild of America East’s Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence at the 77th annual WGA Awards Saturday, Lawrence was praised for his work on “Scrubs,” as well as “Ted Lasso,” “Shrinking,” “Bad Monkey, “Cougar Town” and “Spin City.”
Though he was able to give an update on the “Scrubs” reboot, he’s kicking all questions about “Ted Lasso” Season 4, which is reportedly eyeing a greenlight at Apple TV+, over to Ted Lasso himself, co-creator and star Jason Sudeikis.
“I leave all ‘Ted Lasso’ questions, as does everybody else, to our fearless leader, Jason Sudeikis,” Lawrence told Variety. “He’s around [in New York City] for the ‘SNL’ 50th [anniversary special] so I bet you he’s somewhere right now being asked that same question. And I bet you his answer is better than mine.”
“Well first thing is, on an interview, asking my wife if she’ll do the show whenever she has time,” Lawrence said while standing next to his wife, “Scrubs” alum Christa Miller.
Lucky for Lawrence, Miller replied: “Of course.”
With that cleared up, the “Scrubs” creator went on to say: “We’re in the process of, the cool thing, putting the writers together. And it’s the best thing in the world to see that some of the most talented writers in the world wrote on that show and they’re all still friends, and my friends. And so [we] have a combination of the old and new. We’re just starting to build it right now. And I expect it to make an appearance very soon.”
“Scrubs” originally aired on NBC for its first seven seasons from 2001-2008, followed by two seasons on ABC from 2009-2010. The single-cam comedy took place at Sacred Heart Hospital and followed the interns, doctors, nurses and the Janitor through their day-to-day lives at the hospital. The cast included Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes, Ken Jenkins, John C. McGinley and Neil Flynn, as well as Miller in the recurring role of Jordan Sullivan.
In December, Variety confirmed Lawrence was working on a new iteration of the series via 20th Television for ABC. The original series was produced by ABC Studios, which was recently absorbed into 20th TV as part of a restructuring undertaken by parent company Disney. (Lawrence remains under his overall deal at Warner Bros. Television, with that studio carving out room for Lawrence to work with his former studio partners on “Scrubs.”)
After years of fan demand and reunion teases, Lawrence explains why he finally decided now was the time to bring back the beloved medical comedy.
“I thought about it a lot, and I think the main impetus is selfish,” the writer said. “It’s that we’re all friends, and we enjoy spending time together, and you can’t meet a writer or an actor or actress on that show, a crew member, that didn’t count that as one of the highlights of their career. And so all of us were like, even if it’s just that, why not do it again? And that’s part of the fun.”
When accepting the Writers Guild of America East’s Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence at the 77th annual WGA Awards Saturday, Lawrence was praised for his work on “Scrubs,” as well as “Ted Lasso,” “Shrinking,” “Bad Monkey, “Cougar Town” and “Spin City.”
Though he was able to give an update on the “Scrubs” reboot, he’s kicking all questions about “Ted Lasso” Season 4, which is reportedly eyeing a greenlight at Apple TV+, over to Ted Lasso himself, co-creator and star Jason Sudeikis.
“I leave all ‘Ted Lasso’ questions, as does everybody else, to our fearless leader, Jason Sudeikis,” Lawrence told Variety. “He’s around [in New York City] for the ‘SNL’ 50th [anniversary special] so I bet you he’s somewhere right now being asked that same question. And I bet you his answer is better than mine.”