All 9 Seasons Of Scrubs, Ranked Worst To Best

The medical sitcom Scrubs was one of the best shows on television when it aired between 2001 and 2009, however, the quality of the series can differ from season to season and when ranking them from worst to best there are some interesting results. Scrubs follows John “J.D.” Dorian, played by Zach Braff, and several other doctors, staff members, and patients at the Sacred Heart Hospital. Throughout nine seasons, Scrubs presented a heartfelt mix of comedy and drama, that was at times laugh-out-loud hilarious, and at others made audiences cry with tear-inducingly poignant moments.

Over the course of the show, Scrubs saw J.D., Elliott Reid, Christopher Turk, and many more develop from medical interns to fully qualified doctors, in a fast-paced series full of slapstick comedy, surreal side gags, and its signature narration from Zach Braff. With an extremely likable supporting cast, including John C. McGinley as Dr. Perry Cox, Judy Reyes as Nurse Carla Espinosa, and Ken Jenkins as Dr. Bob Kelso, Scrubs had one of the strongest ensembles on TV and was never afraid to take risks and try interesting new things during its nine-season run.

9 Season 9 (Scrubs Med School)

This season felt like a different show with new and missing cast members

The ninth season of Scrubs came as a surprise as the last episode of season 8 “My Finale” would have acted as a fitting send-off to this series. However, ABC renewed Scrubs for an additional 13 episodes and shifted the focus to med-school students with several new cast members. Without Zach Braff as part of the main cast, Scrubs season 9 felt like a different show, and this rebooted version, also known as Scrubs: Med School, failed to find its footing properly. The major cast changes shifted the dynamics, the new med-school element affected the tone, and season nine lacked the emotional depth, charm, and humor of the previous seasons.

8 Season 7

This season was cut short by a writers’ strike

With just 11 episodes, season 7 of Scrubs is the shortest in the show’s entire run and, for this reason, unfortunately, feels a little bit incomplete. Originally, the season was supposed to have 18 episodes, but due to the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America Strike, it was reduced significantly. Due to its haphazard production, some episodes were aired out of order, and this led to confusing continuity errors. While this season does have some strong moments, collectively, it’s the weakest one to feature all of its original main cast.

7 Season 6

This season featured some strong episodes, but overall, it is one of the weakest

The sixth season of Scrubs showcased the characters at transitional points in their lives with J.D. about to have a baby with Dr. Kim Briggs as well as Turk and Carla becoming parents for the first time. At this point, the golden age of the series had come to an end and there are very few really strong episodes from this season. One notable exception is the excellent episode “My Musical” which demonstrated the series was still willing to take risks. Based around a patient who mysteriously starts to hear everybody singing, this musical episode made sense within the world of the show and avoided feeling jarring or gimmicky.

6 Season 1

This season Scrubs was still finding its voice and developing the characters

The first season of a TV show usually needs some time to find its feet, and Scrubs was no different. Season 1 features some incredible episodes and acts as a great introduction to the characters that audiences would be following for the next nine years, but the characters have still not been fully developed. Many of the episodes also lacked the depth and emotional resonance that would constitute the best seasons of Scrubs. However, season 1 did lay a strong foundation for everything that followed it and acted as a strong debut with many stand-out moments.

5 Season 2

This season was where Scrubs started to really come into its own

By season 2, Scrubs had found its footing and earned its place as one of the best sitcoms on television. This season upgraded Neil Flynn’s The Janitor from a recurring role to season regular and J.D. moved from being a medical intern to a resident at Sacred Heart Hospital. Season 2 mixed many poignant moments with laugh-out-loud hilarity and featured some memorable guest stars, like Richard Kind as the annoying hypochondriac Harvey Corman. Overall, this season is when Scrubs hit its stride, J.D.’s relationships with Elliot, Turk, Dr. Cox, and The Janitor were firmly established, and the storylines grew in complexity.

4 Season 4

This season took risks and addressed more mature themes

In season 4, J.D. became co-chief resident, along with Elliot, and Scrubs was dealing with more mature themes relating to the character’s personal and professional lives. There were stand-out episodes like “My Life in Four Cameras” which used dream sequences to pay homage to multi-camera sitcoms. This highlighted just how different the tone of Scrubs was to other shows, as it used a single camera, no laugh tracks, and didn’t have a studio audience. This season introduced long-running recurring guests like Heather Graham as Dr. Molly Clark, and guest stars including Collin Farrell, Matthew Perry, and Tara Reid.

3 Season 8

This season was the last to feature the original main cast

Season 8 of Scrubs was the first to air on ABC after NBC dropped the show. With a need to cut costs, many of the main cast members were absent for several episodes. However, rather than impede the show this restriction helped, as it gave other cast members time to shine, such as the hapless lawyer Ted Buckland, played by Sam Lloyd. The highlight of this season was its 40-minute finale, which featured a perfect ending for Scrubs, as J.D. imagined all the people he had helped over the years and included appearances by characters across Scrubs entire run.

2 Season 5

This season highlighted the real-life trials of being a doctor

By season 5, J.D. was an attending physician at the same level as Dr. Cox, which led to a shift in the character’s dynamics. After many years of seeing Dr. Cox as a mentor, J.D. could now call himself his equal. Scrubs season 5 showcased the difficulties of being a doctor and highlighted the emotional resonance that set Scrubs apart. In “My Fallen Idol” Dr. Cox is responsible for the deaths of three patients, and J.D. must give him advice and guidance in a complete role reversal. Overall, season 5 is one of the funniest in Scrubs run and features some excellent dramatic episodes too.

1 Season 3

This season featured the most emotional episode in the entire show

Encapsulating everything that made Scrubs an incredible show, season 3 was the strongest in the series’ run. With equal parts humor and drama, the tension between J.D. and Elliot’s will-they-won’t-they relationship was at its peak and there were excellent appearances by actors Scott Foley as Elliot’s boyfriend Sean Kelly, and Michael J. Fox as the obsessive-compulsive Dr. Kevin Casey. It also includes the show’s best episode, “My Screw Up”, which features the emotional final appearance by Brendan Frasier as Ben Sullivan. In a devastating twist-ending, it’s revealed Ben died, and Dr. Cox was imagining him throughout the episode in one of the most poignant moments ever seen on television.

Scrubs

Release Date: 2001-10-01

Cast: Array

Genres: Array

Seasons: 9

Season List: Array

Summary: In the unreal world of Sacred Heart Hospital, intern John “J.D.” Dorian learns the ways of medicine, friendship, and life.

Story By: Bill Lawrence

Writers: Array

Network: Array

Streaming Service(s): Array

Directors: Array

Showrunner: Array