The eighth season of the American comedy television series Scrubs premiered on ABC 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.

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 Ken Jenkins as Dr. Bob Kelso John C. McGinley as Dr. Perry Cox Judy Reyes as Nurse Carla Espinosa

Recurring roles Robert Maschio as Dr. Todd Quinlan Sam Lloyd as Ted Buckland 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 Lee Thompson Young as Dr. Derek Hill Elizabeth Banks as Dr. Kim Briggs Johnny Kastl as Dr. Doug Murphy Travis Schuldt as Keith Dudemeister Aloma Wright as Nurse Laverne Roberts Scott Foley 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, 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 did not work in season 8 were credited, since the episode was partially written/filmed during production of season 7.

Writing staff Bill Lawrence – executive producer/head writer Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan – executive producers/assistant head writers Bill Callahan – executive producer/assistant head writer Episodes 1–7 Janae Bakken – co-executive producer Angela Nissel – 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 – co-executive producer Tad Quill – consulting producer Kevin Biegel – co-producer Andy Schwartz – executive story editor Devin Mahoney & Rego Marquiis – staff writers

Production staff Bill Lawrence – executive producer/showrunner Randall Winston – 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.

Episodes

References

General references

External links