The eighth season of the American comedy television series ''

Scrubs Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," o ...

'' premiered on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on January 6, 2009 and concluded on May 6, 2009 and consists of 19 episodes. The eighth season was the first to be shown on ABC after NBC dropped the series, ending its seven-year run on the network. ABC's pick-up of the show was followed by it commissioning nineteen episodes, which included an hour-long finale. For all of the season's run, it was expected that the eighth season would be the last, especially after the show's creator Bill Lawrence announced it. After rumors surfaced of a ninth season, it was understood that the eighth would be the last to star Zach Braff and much of the main cast. However, the show was later re-commissioned for another season, in which Braff and other cast members appeared for multiple episodes. The eighth season was the first to air in

high definition High definition or HD may refer to: Visual technologies *HD DVD, discontinued optical disc format *HD Photo, former name for the JPEG XR image file format *HDV, format for recording high-definition video onto magnetic tape * HiDef, 24 frames-pe ...

. Needing to cut costs for the eighth season, Bill Lawrence stated that he divided the writing staff up into two groups, half for the first seven episodes and half for the last eleven episodes. Additionally, each main cast member was absent for three episodes during the season (except Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke who are absent for two). An accompanying web series that aired on ABC's website called '' Scrubs: Interns'' was also created to coincide with the season, starring the new interns with guest appearances by the main cast.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Another way ABC cut costs is to have the main cast absent in a few episodes. Series star Zach Braff is absent for an episode for the first time in the series, and only lends his voice to another episode. * Zach Braff as Dr. John "J.D." Dorian * Sarah Chalke as Dr. Elliot Reid * Donald Faison as Dr. Chris Turk * Neil Flynn as

The Janitor The Janitor is a fictional character, played by Neil Flynn in the American comedy-drama ''Scrubs''. Though he is a janitor at Sacred Heart, he is rarely referred to as ''the'' janitor, but rather just called Janitor. Neil Flynn was originally bil ...

* Ken Jenkins as Dr. Bob Kelso *

John C. McGinley John Christopher McGinley (born August 3, 1959) is an American actor. His best known roles include Perry Cox in '' Scrubs'', Bob Slydell in ''Office Space'', Captain Hendrix in '' The Rock'', Sergeant Red O'Neill in Oliver Stone's ''Platoon,'' ...

as Dr. Perry Cox *

Judy Reyes Judy Reyes (born November 5, 1967) is an American actress, model and producer, best known for her roles as Carla Espinosa on the NBC/ABC medical comedy series '' Scrubs'' (2001–2009), and as Zoila Diaz in the Lifetime comedy-drama ''Devious M ...

as Nurse Carla Espinosa

Recurring roles

* Robert Maschio as Dr. Todd Quinlan * Sam Lloyd as

Ted Buckland TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Dep ...

* Eliza Coupe as Dr. Denise Mahoney * Christa Miller as Jordan Sullivan * Betsy Beutler as Dr. Katie Collins * Sonal Shah as Dr. Sonja "Sunny" Dey * Todd Bosley as Dr. Howard "Howie" Gelder * Kit Pongetti as Ladinia "Lady" Williams * Taran Killam as Jimmy "The Overly Touchy Orderly" * Aziz Ansari as Dr. Ed Dhandapani

Guest stars

* Courteney Cox as Dr. Taylor Maddox * Kate Micucci as

Stephanie Gooch Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Polish, and Russian "Stef ...

Lee Thompson Young Lee Thompson Young (February 1, 1984 – August 19, 2013) was an American actor who began his career as a teenager, playing the titular character on the Disney Channel television series ''The Famous Jett Jackson'' (1998–2001). As an adult, ma ...

as Dr. Derek Hill * Elizabeth Banks as Dr. Kim Briggs * Johnny Kastl as Dr. Doug Murphy * Travis Schuldt as

Keith Dudemeister Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

* Aloma Wright as Nurse Laverne Roberts *

Scott Foley Scott Kellerman Foley (born July 15, 1972) is an American actor and director. Foley is known for roles in television shows such as ''The Unit'', '' Scrubs'', '' Felicity'', and ''Scandal'', and in films such as '' Scream 3''. He has als ...

as Sean Kelly * Jay Kenneth Johnson as Dr. Matthews * The Blanks as the Worthless Peons

Production

After a rumor-induced build-up to season eight, and it being believed that season seven was the last, ABC picked up ''Scrubs'' and announced it as a midseason replacement. The first episode aired January 6, 2009. The season's timeslot shifted from ''Scrubs'' being shown on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm and 9:30 pm to Wednesdays at 8:00 pm beginning with episode 11, " My Nah Nah Nah." The show performed most successfully on Wednesdays, with average viewing figures of 5.36 million an episode. To cut costs the writing staff was split into two groups, with the exception of Bill Lawrence,

Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan are a television writing team who have worked on television comedies ''Family Guy'', '' Scrubs'', and ''Community''. Another project was the television pilot '' Nobody's Watching'', which they created and wrote wi ...

, and Bill Callahan: one group for the first seven episodes, and the second for the rest of the season. Since Goldman & Donovan, Callahan and Lawrence wrote an episode in the second half, the term was longer. Mike Schwartz and Mark Stegemann, two writers who had been on since season one, did not return to the writing staff, although Stegemann did return to direct one episode. For the episode "My Nah Nah Nah," writers who didn't work in season 8 were credited, since the episode was partially written/filmed in season 7.

Writing staff

* Bill Lawrence – executive producer/head writer *

– executive producers/assistant head writers * Bill Callahan – executive producer/assistant head writer Episodes 1–7 * Janae Bakken – co-executive producer *

Angela Nissel Angela R. Nissel (born December 5, 1978) is an American author and television writer best known for her first book ''The Broke Diaries: The Completely True and Hilarious Misadventures of a Good Girl Gone Broke''. She was a writer and executive ...

– co-executive producer *Aseem Batra – co-producer *Clarence Livingston – co-producer *Dave Tennant – executive story editor *Taii K. Austin – staff writer Episodes 8–19 *

Debra Fordham Debra Fordham is an American television producer and writer. She is best known for her work on the sitcom '' Scrubs''. Early life Fordham is a graduate of Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia, where she studied theatre under the directi ...

– co-executive producer *Tad Quill – consulting producer *

Kevin Biegel Kevin Biegel is a television writer/producer, the co-creator of ''Cougar Town'' and creator of '' Enlisted''.Kevin Biegel

– co-producer *Andy Schwartz – executive story editor *Devin Mahoney & Rego Marquiis – staff writers

Production staff

*Bill Lawrence – executive producer/showrunner *

Randall Winston Randall Keenan Winston is a television producer and director best known for his work on ''Spin City'' and '' Scrubs''. Career He has been an associate producer on such shows as '' Champs'', '' Day By Day'', '' Brooklyn Bridge'' and ''Spin City''. ...

– producer *Liz Newman – producer *Danny Rose – co-producer *Abraham Park – associate producer

Directors

''Includes directors who directed 2 or more episodes, or directors who are part of the cast and crew'' * Bill Lawrence (6 episodes) * Michael Spiller (2 episodes) * John Putch (2 episodes) * Zach Braff (1 episode) * Michael McDonald (1 episode) *John Michel (editor) (1 episode) *Mark Stegemann (writer) (1 episode)

''Scrubs: Interns''

To coincide with ''Scrubs'' being shown on television, a web series was produced called '' Scrubs: Interns''. It consisted of twelve webisodes following the adventures of the interns at Sacred Heart Hospital. The episodes featured cameos from several regular cast members, and included an episode with J.D. The webisodes' theme tune was performed by The Blanks.