Scrubs promotes Ava Bunn as Season 2 reshuffles Sacred Heart
ABC’s Scrubs revival is keeping its original trio in place while Ava Bunn moves up and several Sacred Heart faces fall off the Season 2 roster.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
ABC’s Scrubs revival is giving Ava Bunn a bigger badge at Sacred Heart.
Deadline reports that Bunn, who plays intern Sam Tosh, has been promoted to series regular for Season 2 after recurring in the show’s first revival season. The move comes as the comedy firms up its returning cast, boosts a few familiar faces and drops two notable recurring characters.
Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke remain the center of the show as John “J.D.” Dorian, Christopher “Turk” Turk and Elliot Reid. All three are returning as series regulars, according to Deadline.
The rest of the new intern group will stay in recurring roles. Jacob Dudman returns as Asher Green, David Gridley as Blake Lewis, Layla Mohammadi as Amara Hadi and Amanda Morrow as Dashana Trainor.
Showrunner Aseem Batra told Deadline after the Season 1 finale that the revival is not built solely around the younger doctors, but that viewers are interested in their lives beyond the hospital, so the show intends to show some of that.
More Janitor, more Bilson
Neil Flynn is set to recur as The Janitor in Season 2 after appearing briefly in the Season 1 finale of the revival. Rachel Bilson, who guest starred in that finale as hospital visitor Charlie, is also due back in a recurring arc, Deadline reports.
Batra previously told Deadline that Bilson’s return would stir up feelings for J.D. and Elliot. Deadline also reports that Andy Ridings, who played pilot Wes, is not currently listed among Season 2’s recurring or guest cast, though sources said a return has not been ruled out.
John C. McGinley and Judy Reyes are also returning in recurring roles as Perry Cox and Carla Espinosa. Deadline notes that both actors are series regulars on other Los Angeles-based shows, McGinley on HBO’s Rooster and Reyes on ABC’s High Potential.
Christa Miller is expected to guest star again as Jordan Sullivan. Deadline reports that Jordan is expected to factor into Dr. Cox’s medical storyline after his recent diagnosis.
Who is out at Sacred Heart
Two Season 1 recurring characters are not coming back, according to Deadline: X Mayo’s Charge Nurse Raymond and Joel Kim Booster’s Dr. Kevin Park.
Raymond’s exit separates the character from charge nurse Dubois, played by Michael James Scott, who is returning. Park had served as a rival to J.D. during Season 1.
Robert Maschio is also back as The Todd, while Vanessa Bayer returns as Sibby, Deadline reports.
Darcy Michael, who played the Maintenance Guy, is not currently listed among the returning Season 2 cast. Deadline says sources cautioned that his departure is not final. In the finale, The Janitor claimed the character was his son, though Batra previously told Deadline that the claim may not be reliable because The Janitor “lies about everything.”
Ken Jenkins, who played Dr. Bob Kelso during the original run, has not been confirmed for Season 2. Creator Bill Lawrence told Deadline in February that Kelso would be back next year, while Batra later said Jenkins remained on her wish list.
Mike Royce joins Season 2 as an executive producer. Lawrence, Jeff Ingold, Liza Katzer, Braff, Faison, Chalke, Batra, Mathew Harawitz, Randall Keenan Winston and Michael Spiller also executive produce. The series comes from 20th Television and returns to ABC on Wednesdays this fall, with next-day streaming on Hulu.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.