Scrubs is back. Sort of.
It's not really the same show. It's just sort of the same show.
And it's sort of funny. Sometimes it's hilarious.
If this was an entirely new show, I'd probably be telling you how promising it is.
But it's only sort of a new show, and it's hard not to worry that it won't be as good as the old version.
"Scrubs," you may recall, ended its eight-season run back in May with an episode titled "My Finale." And it was a great series finale. One of the best we've gotten from any long-running TV show. Ever.
If creator/executive producer Bill Lawrence had his way, it would have been the last TV episode of a show titled "Scrubs."
And yet tonight at 8 and 8:30 p.m. on ABC/Ch. 4, there are two new episodes of "Scrubs."
"It's a completely different show but with some of the same characters," Lawrence said. "It is tonally the same."
In a lot of ways, this is "Scrubs: The Next Generation." Even that might have been a better title than just keeping it "Scrubs," but that decision was out of Lawrence's hands.
ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson "wants to keep it the 'Scrubs' brand," Lawrence said.
The new "Scrubs" features a couple of regulars returning from the old "Scrubs." Perry Cox (John C. McGinley) and Chris Turk (Donald Faison) are still doctors at Sacred Heart Hospital — the new Sacred Heart, because the old one has been torn down.
They're also teachers at the medical school across the street. And the new focus of the show is on the new crop of med students.
"I would say it's a little like 'Paper Chase' in a hospital setting," Lawrence said. "It's one of those things we always fudged on 'Scrubs.' We always said it was a teaching hospital, but we never really showed the teaching aspect of it."
The show certainly hasn't toned down the outrageousness. Like when Turk, who's African American, addresses his new students.
"In my class, you will each be graded by the color of your skin," he says. "If you're white, raise your hands. F's."
The new stars of the show are Kerry Bishe, who plays naive Lucy; Michael Mosely, who plays former med school drop out Drew; and Dave Franco, who plays obnoxious, entitled Cole.
And Eliza Coupe, who joined the cast last season as socially inept Denise, is back as another mentor of sorts to the newbies.
The new "Scrubs" feels pretty much like the old one, only with new faces and a bright, new setting.
" 'Frasier' was very smart because they moved it to a new location so it didn't bother you when you didn't see Sam and Diane (from 'Cheers')," Lawrence said.
Of course, Sam and Diane didn't show up on "Frasier" as often as J.D. (Zach Braff) and Elliott (Sarah Chalke) are going to be on the new "Scrubs." Braff is returning for at least half a dozen episodes. He's in Tuesday's first episode a lot.
The episode opens with a very funny scene focused entirely on J.D. and Elliott — now happily married and expecting their first child.
"Part of me hates how familiar this seems," J.D. says in that familiar voice-over. "I hope I can find a way to make this all feel new."
And they're not the only returnees. Bob Kelso (Ken Jennings), the janitor (Neill Flynn) and Todd (Robert Maschio) all make cameo appearances.
"We've created a world in which the hospital still exists and they're still there," Lawrence said.
Well, except for the janitor.
"All Neil did — because, you know, he makes up his own stuff — he just came up with an idea of how his character would have left," Lawrence said. "Because he's got his own show to do."
(Flynn co-stars in "The Middle.")
Lawrence said he's not worried that "Scrubs 2.0" will fail and ruin the "Scrubs" legacy.
"Nothing can ruin the eight years I had. I had such a good time," he said.
And he's certainly not apologizing for keeping the show's crew employed.
"I actually became friends with those 105 people who still have a job, so it was a no-brainer. It is a tough world out there. Most of the guys who work with me are living hand to mouth," Lawrence said. "I can confidently say — not trying to look like a good guy — I don't stand to make a buck from 'Scrubs' this year. The worth of that show for how much it costs compared to how much it now makes is out the window. So for me, it's just, hey, you want everybody to keep working."
And he promised that even if the show fails, it won't go out quietly — it will go out in "a really horrible, what-was-he-thinking kind of way."
"We're going to take a swing for the fences."
e-mail: pierce@desnews.com