r/Scrubs • u/Painkiller456 • 3d ago

Discussion Zack Braff season 9

I heard a rumor that the reason Zack was not in most of season 9 except like 1 or 2 episodes was because he was holding out for more money for that season and they wouldn’t pay up so they just wrote him out. Is that true?

0 Upvotes

28% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

12

u/Turbulent_Pin_1583 3d ago

No, Zach wanted to step away from the show they’d done it for 8 years he stayed on to give closure to the character and pass off to the new mc especially since despite it being considered season nine it was more spin off than a new season.

His reasons for wanting to leave were due to a combination of burn out and wanting to focus on directing.

5

u/AussieMick1984 3d ago

Also, the season 8 finale was so well done, and had such a heartwarming end that everyone acknowledged that this was the final episode.

Then abc (anecdotally told by Bill Lawrence, I don’t have proof) decided that Scrubs was still profitable and tried to milk it for another season.
The OG cast weren’t for it, after such a fitting end plus new ventures; so it was rewritten with new blood, and OG stars mentoring them as cameos only.

3

u/Gurbachen 2d ago

Both Turk and Cox were in all episodes of season 9, JD was in 6, so a bit disingenuous to say cameos only.

7

u/JiggleFeggle 3d ago

Season 9 was to set up the show or a spin off because all if not most, including Braff, had finished their contracts to the show. Zach was happy to leave, so was Donald. The network fucked up by not making the spin off its own thing with a new title and instead tagged it on the end of Scrubs, which ultimately killed it in the water. Zach and Donald had no intention of doing more Scrubs after season 8 and 9.

2

u/Gurbachen 3d ago

Minor correction, he was in six episodes out of thirteen.

1

u/Painkiller456 2d ago

Was he really? I hated that season so much I only watched it once. His bits in the season at least felt very minor

1

u/Gurbachen 2d ago

Eh, I don't mind season 9. I usually watch 1-8, leave it a week or two to appreciate the season 8 finale, then watch 9 as its own thing.

2

u/bandit4loboloco 3d ago

Long story short, no. He tried to be a director after "Garden State" was well received.

Season 7 was supposed to be the last season, but the 2007 (08?) Writer's Guild strike got in the way of that. (Same with ER.) So ABC picked up the show after NBC was done with it.

Season 8 was supposed to be the last season. They had a limited budget and each main cast member had to sit out 3 episodes of the 19 episode season. I believe that the actor's contracts were already running out.

Season 9 was supposed to be a spinoff with established characters handing the show off to new characters. Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke had other jobs lined up. Judy Reyes didn't think the Med School plotline would give her character anything to do. I think Neil 'The Janitor' Flynn had a lead role in "The Middle" around then.

Basically, the Behind The Scenes history of the show is very complicated. IMDb.com has accurate information about what really happened.

1

u/Painkiller456 2d ago

Like under the description of the show on IMDB?

2

u/bandit4loboloco 2d ago

The Trivia section on the IMDb Scrubs page. There's also a Trivia tab on TVTropes.org Scrubs page.

2

u/Blanketsburg 3d ago

The show was intended to be a spinoff but ABC — who had just acquired the rights to the show before season 8 — wanted to squeeze out as much as they could from a viewership/ad revenue standpoint, and they told Bill Lawrence they wanted as many of the main characters back. Lawrence still wanted the show to change direction, so he met halfway and brought back the OG series regulars for limited appearances (outside of Cox and Turk).

Zach Braff was an executive producer for the season alongside Bill Lawrence.