Janitor (Scrubs)
The Janitor is a fictional character played by actor Neil Flynn in the American sitcom Scrubs.
Profile
The Janitor is a mysterious hospital employee who has made it his business to terrorize J.D. This character is an interesting paradox in that he is both a clever underdog who frequently outwits the more educated doctors (he claims to have been in Harvard), but at the same time is the physically imposing bully of the hospital (Dr. Cox once recruited him to be his henchman in threatening everyone in the hospital unless they admitted he was the best physician).
Since the Janitor works in a hospital, he seems to have developed an inferiority complex about his job. Many episodes show the Janitor pretending to be a doctor, and he also feels very self important when called on to assist in medical emergencies ("His Story III"). He does, however, defend his sanitary responsibility in the hospital whenever J.D. is mean enough to insult him about it.
He speaks Spanish and Korean as well as English, being also able to pull off, convincingly, at least 3 different accents of English ("My Friend the Doctor").
He also refers to people by physical characteristics. He was very nice to a previous doctor (Red Haired Doctor) and, of course, Elliot (whom he knows as "Blonde Doctor") and, as of season 4, seems to have romantic feelings for her (although he claims to be married with children - see Family History below).
He also apparently has a tattoo of a mop, according to J.D. in the episode My Big Move in Season 4, when he gets a new uniform.
Much of the Janitor's life isn't really known for certain. Well known to be a notorious liar, he actually enjoys the adrenaline rush he gets from telling tall tales about himself, also, nobody believes him, so it is difficult to determine the truth of some things he says.
Family History
- According to him, his wife only has a "pointer" and "thumb/pinky" instead of regular hands.
- As revealed in a few flashbacks, his mother's strict parenting influenced him (indirectly) to become a janitor ("Never Again", incidentally the informal resolution made by economists and governments after the Great Depression).
- His father was played by R. Lee Ermey in a sort of parody of Ermey's most famous role as a drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket, which somewhat explains the Janitor's delight in torturing others.
- His grandfather, who suffered from OCD, also apparently used to beat him with a gym sock full of nickels.
- He has a son, for whom he impersonated a Dr. Jan Itor in a career day.
Career
It is revealed in the storyline that 'Janitor' actually played the role of a transit policeman in the film The Fugitive (1993). Actor Neil Flynn actually did play the part, mixing reality with the storyline; Janitor shares this secret only with J.D., and it was implied as another reason for his sadistic behaviour, as an outlet for his frustration at a failed acting career. ("My Friend the Doctor")
He has made various unsupported claims about his personal life, such as that he is married and has at least one child (however in one episode he told Carla that he isn't going to have children until genetic technology allows his son to have gills), that he is a Christian, and that he went to Harvard. (In a related claim made in "My Deja Vu", another member of Hibbleton/(Janitor's) Brain Trust, Troy the Cafeteria Worker, went to Yale.)
According to a conversation he has with Carla in the Season 5 Episode 'My Missed Perception', the Janitor has been working at Sacred Hart for 13 years (in 2005, so he began in 1992), however, there is not any information on his previous employment beyond a minor stint in "The Fugitive".He has made several attempts to move up the ladder including becoming announcer for the hospital and security guard. However he was demoted to janitor after he tackled Dr.Kelso for using a fire door for his own personal use.
Transportation
He owns a blue van designed after the one on The A-Team, presumably bought after Perry Cox crashed and subsequently blew up his old van after winning a bet against the Janitor. The old van was used as mass transport for the entire sanitary force at Sacred Heart, in a fabled (and rarely seen) daily morning ritual called "The Arrival of the Janitors". It is unclear if the new van is still in use for this purpose, as Janitor is no longer the union president (having lost the election to his protege, new janitor Randall the Crotch-Punching Midget).
Relationship with other characters
J.D.
His perpetual victim. J.D has never really done anything wrong to the Janitor, but it is his "instinct" to prey upon J.D. At the end of season one, the audience sees someone who looks a lot like J.D meeting the Janitor for the first time, saying a varied version of J.D's first conversation with him. The Janitor responds almost exactly the same way.
Dr. Kelso
Technically his boss.
Dr Cox
Usually at some sort of war with each other, (Examples; spoiling endings for each other, betting about a date so they can get the other's car, using photo's to get Jordan angry at Dr Cox after Cox ruined Janitor's photos). However in many episodes they do form as allies, although normally on a strictly business level. In season 5 Janitor and Dr. Cox become drinking buddies, though Dr. Cox becomes confused when the Janitor ignores him at the hospital. As it turns out it is 'uncool' for hospital staff and Doctors to be friends and the friendship can only continue outside the workplace.
Elliot
The Janitor appears to have a soft spot for Elliot, and in fact develops romantic feelings for her in Season 4 which she actually finds out about. However, they seem to be friends, despite Elliot still not knowing what the Janitor's real name is.
Leadership Qualities
Apart from being the former Janitor union president, the Janitor is also part of Hibbleton (formed in opposition to "The Worthless Peons", its entire repertoire consisting of one song, "Barbara Ann" by the Beach Boys), his impromptu acapella group, together with Troy the Cafeteria Worker and Randall who are also members of his original "Brain Trust." When he abandoned them in the effort to get the attention of "Blond Doctor", Elliot, he replaced them with the new Brain Trust of Ted the lawyer, Doug the pathologist and The Todd. He is also often seen leading other hospital employees in various initiatives and other activities, including giving the evil eye (several times) to J.D. and Carla. In an episode in the 5th season, he and Ted organize an air-band.
Life out of Sacred Heart
He fancies himself as an inventor, though usually his inventions are simply combinations of two other devices, such as his pen-straw and knife-wrench. His hobbies include taxidermy (he once rid the trees by the hospital of squirrels). He is also, apparently, an Olympic hurdler, who could run 110 meter hurdles in 9.92 seconds. If true, this feat would break the existing world record by almost 2 full seconds. J.D. once saw Janitor at home naked in the shower, through a first floor window, subsequently diagnosing him with a possible melanoma ("220 - My Interpretation"). This may conflict with a later episode in Season 5, "My New God", where Janitor asks J.D. to help him move house, and J.D. does not notice the incongruity that Janitor's house is now an apartment filled with ancient Chinese artefacts, although one explanation could be that the Janitor may have moved house in between seasons.
Show Trivia
- Quotes
- Neil Flynn had auditioned for the role of Dr. Cox, and The Janitor was originally a one-time gag for the pilot. [1]
- Flynn also ad-libs or improvises many of Janitor's lines. [2] Janitor's incredibly pragmatic medical alter-ego Dr. Jan Itor is a happy consequence of one such moment of inspiration.
- The Janitor character was initially to be used as a figment of J.D.'s imagination and if the show had been cancelled during the first season or the first half of the second, this fact would have been revealed to the audience in the finale.
- His first interaction with a "real" person is in Episode 20 of Season 1 - 'My way or the high way', where he gives medical advice to J.D.'s patients.
- The first time Janitor interacts with another major character besides J.D. is in Episode 16 of Season 2 - 'My Karma', when he blackmails J.D. and Turk.
- From Season 3 Neil Flynn joins the rest of the main cast appearing in the show's minimalist opening credits.
Since then he has had encounters with most of the other regular characters and, aside from Elliot rebuffing his romantic advances, few of the others ever get the better of him, even the head of the hospital Dr. Kelso or the acerbic Dr. Cox. He has even had an entire episode devoted mostly to him (His Story III, Season 5 Episode 19) wherin he provides narration instead of J.D., and the story revolves around a day in his life.
Nicknames
- Soft-Scrub, Lurch, Jolly Green, Frankenstein, Mop Jock, Sir Plunge-a-lot (secretly by the nurses), Jumpsuit and Sasquatch, and in two instances, referred to himself as Dr. Jan Ïtor.
- His real name is never spoken and his nametag simply reads "Janitor", so thus far, he remains unnamed. Strangely, even when thinking to himself, he refers to himself as "Janitor". There has been some speculation that when the show finally ends, the Janitor's name will be revealed, much in the same way that the producers intended to reveal the Janitor was not real at the end of the first season, should the show not be renewed. Obviously, a little mystery surrounding him is part of what makes his character who he is.
