List of Scrubs characters
The following are a list of minor characters from the American sitcom Scrubs.
Recurring cast
These cast members have appeared in numerous episodes since the show's beginning but remain credited as guest stars.
Dr. Wen
Dr. Wen is an attending surgeon, played by Charles Chun, who was also Turk and the Todd's mentor for the first three years. He seems very serious but does lighten up and make jokes from time to time. There is much we don't know about him, including his first name, but we know that he is married, as well as a fan of the band Erasure and their song "A Little Respect" (Ep 1.03 "My Best Friend's Mistake").
Lonnie
Lonnie is the medical resident under the supervision of J.D. and Elliot played by Michael Hobert. He and J.D. occasionally spar with each other over insignificant incidents, but Lonnie has been spending an increasing amount of time with J.D. and Elliot. He is married with three children "that he knows of", and can grow a moustache in one day. Dr. Cox chose him for research into ATTP over J.D because his father passed away from said disease. Introduced at the end of Season 3, his role has continued to increase. Michael Hobert also appeared as an extra in the pilot (as a patient getting an MRI scan near the end of the episode). In a Season 4 episode, he was part of the "Triple Giant Doctor." Lonnie is a very good basketball player, having made all-conference (Big East) while at Villanova.
Dr. Murphy
Dr. Doug "Nervous Guy" Murphy, played by Johnny Kastl, is the nervous and terribly inept colleague of J.D. and Elliot. Because of his incompetence he is known for many quotes such as "stop bleeding, stop bleeding, oh God please stop bleeding". After being the only person in the history of the hospital to repeat his third year of residency, he transferred from internal medicine to pathology in Season 4, where his extensive personal knowledge of botched medical procedures makes him an expert coroner, though he still occasionally makes mistakes such as forgetting his gurney, misplacing a dead body or waiting too long to get a patient before rigor mortis kicks in. He is under the impression that the dead bodies in the morgue are out to get him, after several of them fell on him.
Ted
Theodore "Ted" Buckland is a divorced hospital lawyer, played by Sam Lloyd, whose desire to kill Dr. Kelso is surpassed only by his unfortunate inability to have an opinion. Ted stumbles through life as one of its ultimate losers. Despite being a qualified attorney (albeit thoroughly incompetent), he is Kelso's doormat, given tasks such as standing in the hospital parking lot to monitor Carla's arrival times and announce Dr. Kelso's entrances on his day off. The other characters rarely treat him better. He is part of a barbershop quartet with three other administration workers from around the hospital called The Worthless Peons (played by Lloyd's real life band The Blanks) [1].
He is prone to panic and outbreaks of excessive sweating. He lost his hair in the 8th Grade. He has also tried to commit suicide in a number of episodes, in between being socked by the Janitor, having his ice cream treat taken by Carla and having his tie stuffed in his mouth by Cox. He lived with his mother until the bank foreclosed on his home in season five, leaving him homeless.
Ted is easily susceptible to being taken advantage of by even the slightest seduction, which has been done by almost all female characters. He is a fan of Gilmore Girls, and sleeps in the same bed as his mother.
The Todd
Dr. Todd "The Todd" Quinlan (also sometimes called "High-Five Todd" or just "The Todd") is a jockish surgical resident played by Robert Maschio who is friends with Turk. He attempts to turn every sentence into a double entendre, usually of a sexual nature. Once, when accused of this by a female nurse, he responded by saying "Yeah I'd like to double her entendre!" and another time, when being confronted by a patient complaining he turns everything into innuendo, he replies "In-your-endo." He loves high-fiving, which is often painful to the recipient. He's also invented many variations on the high-five (Such as the Miracle Five, Mental Five, Self Five, Face Five, Betrayal Five, Tough-Break Five, Assisted Five, Sterile Five, Air Five, Inflatable Five, Fist Five and Make-it-Stop Five). Todd is, however, a skilled surgeon despite his frat boy personality. Some medical professionals call real life surgeons who share "The Todd's" knack for surgical skill, but loafish intelligence "Scalpel Jockeys." Todd's trademark distinction in physical appearance is in his surgical scrubs. Unlike the other characters in the show, Todd's scrubs are cut off at the shoulders leaving his arms in full view most of the time.
There have been numerous hints that Todd's excessive boorishness towards women is over-compensation for homosexuality, and in one Season 5 episode he even comes out to Carla and Elliot. However, this turns out to be a subterfuge as he declares that "Girls love gay guys!" as he reveals he has had sex with a number of women around the hospital. Later in the same episode, however, he continues to display an attraction to men. This is perhaps because he is bisexual, or, more likely simply because his character is intended to be sexually depraved to the point where sexual orientation isn't even an issue. When asked out right what orientation he is, he simply replies "I'm The Todd". In Season 4, Episode 14, My Lucky Charm, the Todd is apparently upset at JD having an attractive male visitor (played by Colin Farrell) arrested, saying "The Todd appreciates hot, regardless of gender". He has a fixation with tight-fitting men's underwear ("banana hammocks" or Speedos). Maschio previously had two small guest appearances on Lawrence's Spin City. In Season 5, Episode 15 ("My Extra Mile"), Todd's surname is confirmed as Quinlan on the Surgical Residents Rankings list that Dr. Wen tapes to the board.
Jordan Sullivan
Jordan Sullivan is Dr. Cox's bipolar ex-wife played by Christa Miller Lawrence (wife of Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence), who is his only rival for sheer sarcasm, and seemingly the only person able to effectively retort to Perry's many remarks and rants. She and Perry broke up temporarily after Jordan had an affair with Dr. Cox's former coworker, Dr. Pete Fisher (portrayed by Jay Mohr).
She has a sister Danni, played by Tara Reid, who dated J.D., and a brother named Ben played by Brendan Fraser, who was Dr. Cox's best friend. Early in season one, she slept with J.D. before he realized that she was Dr. Cox's ex-wife. In season two, she gave birth to Dr. Cox's son, Jack, and the two have since rebuilt their relationship and live together, albeit in a non-marital arrangement. She is on the hospital's Board of Directors, but gets a full-time position at the hospital at the end of season four. Jordan turned out to be the consummate mother even to the point of ignoring Perry. Her one weakness may be that she allows any and all strangers to touch Jack even when they are in the hospital, presumably sick.
At the end of Season 5, it is revealed that Jordan is pregnant with her and Dr. Cox's second child.
Laverne
Nurse Laverne Roberts, played by Aloma Wright, spends her days at the hospital watching soap operas and keeping up with inter-office gossip. She has made many comments about others "having to answer to Jesus" implying a religious background. She also mentions her church group, which often does productions of popular musicals. Although her husband Mr. Roberts has been mentioned many times, he, like Dr. Kelso’s wife Enid, remains an unseen character. She nicknamed her breasts "Paris" and "Nicky", but denied that this was after the Hilton sisters ("Other way around" was her defiant riposte). Nurse Roberts is one of the lucky few hospital employees who is not afraid of the Janitor, and refers to him derogatorily as 'Jumpsuit'.
Harrison Kelso
Even though he remains an unseen character, there have been numerous references to the flamboyantly gay son of Dr. Bob Kelso, Harrison. He is a fan of heavy metal and is described by Kelso as "a bit of a headbanger". When Dr. Cox's sister, Paige, visits him in season 5, Kelso recounts the dress his son wore at his baptism and sees this almost as a foreshadowing (saying "we're not laughing now. My son's a poofter."). Harrison arrived late for his father's 50th birthday with freshly pierced nipples and a barely legal Fillipino boy called Pogo. Even though their relationship appears strained, Kelso seemingly accepts his son's orientation. Since Harrison wanted his father to go "halvesies" on a Mother's Day gift for Enid, there is still a family element to their relationship. Harrison also dabbles in sado-masochism and in season 5 has a new gimp called Barry, or possibly Larry (Kelso finds it hard to keep track of Harrison's gimps). Harrison appears to resent his father, having staged a scathing play called "Dr. Dad", which, despite mixed reviews, was held over in Buffalo. At one point in season 5, he also dated the lead actor of his play.It is also revealed in season 5 that he has a boyfriend named Winston (in a postcard sent to his father, the two are dressed as Tonto and the Lone Ranger).
Other recurring characters
A few other familiar hospital staff members are seen every so often.
- Dr. Kim, played by Lo Ming, who makes patients take off their pants no matter what.
- Dr. Mickhead, who has been seen and mentioned several times since he was initially brought up in a joke ("You should hear what the interns are calling Dr. Mickhead"). Mickhead allegedy murdered his wife and used to huff paint.
- Colonel Doctor, a doctor who nobody seems to know the name of, yet gets his nickname from bearing a striking resemblance to Colonel Sanders.
- Leonard, the hospital's security guard who is recognized by his giant afro and hook-hand. It's a running joke that people tend to associate him more with his afro than his hand.
- Gloria, played by Christina Miles is a medical intern who is outrageously older than all the other interns. She is dating Leonard.
- Keith Dudemeister, played by Travis Schuldt is a medical intern who J.D. has a slight disliking for. In Season 5, the first year of J.D.'s attendance, Keith is considered the best intern, and is also dating Elliot.
- Dr. Zeltzer, a skilled oncologist who enjoys prostitutes and seems to have rather unusual sexual tastes (he and his wife once drugged Dr. Cox and Jordan with roofies and remarked "Party time...").
- Snoop Dogg Intern was mentioned during one episode by J.D. (he asked "Where my ho's at?". J.D. replied "I haven't seen them".) In most episodes, he can be seen in the background as an extra.
- Hooch is a black surgeon who Turk and J.D like to mess with. When he was first introduced, he was an easy-going guy, but during an episode where Turk and J.D. repeatedly said his name, he gradually became angrier and eventually snapped. Hooch is now very aggressive; he once beat up a man for trying to exit an elevator he was guarding for J.D., Seeing Hooch's extreme behavior, J.D. and Turk always respond with "Hooch is crazy."
- Troy, played by Joe Rose, a cafeteria worker and sometimes sidekick of the Janitor. Not very intelligent, but hates J.D. as he, without thinking, said Troy was stupid. Part of Hibbleton, the Janitors band.
- Randall, played by Martin Klebba, a little person who works as a janitor and is also friends with the main Janitor and wrestles him from time to time. J.D. has frights about him punching crotches and remarks about the "powerful tiny fists" whenever he sees or thinks about Randall.
- Franklyn, a nerdy Asian laboratory assistant. He dislikes pulling strings and sometimes outright rejects analysis.
Major guest cast
Important roles have been played by:
- Nicole Sullivan, as flighty and nervous recurring patient Jill Tracy. She and Elliot got along extremely well due to how alike they are. She was known to suffer from depression and relationship problems, which became more extreme up until the day she died. She was originally misdiagnosed as fatally overdosing on cocaine, but the cause was later revealed to be rabies.
- Elizabeth Bogush as Alex Hanson, a social worker at the hospital and who dated J.D. during the first season. She was revealed to be a drug addict.
- John Ritter, as J.D.'s father Sam Dorian. As on 8 Simple Rules, Scrubs featured an episode dealing with the character's death, following the real-life death of Ritter.
- Kelli Williams, as Kristen Murphy, Turk's medical student and Dr. Cox's love interest.
- Scott Foley, as Elliot's two-time ex-boyfriend Sean Kelly.
- Brendan Fraser, as Jordan's brother and Dr. Cox's best friend Ben Sullivan, who died of a sudden heart attack during season three. He previously had leukemia but he went into remission.
- Tom Cavanagh, as J.D.'s older brother Dan, who still lives with his mother in his home town and works at a bar. J.D. is slightly embarrassed of him, which Dan is aware of. He also had a fling with Elliot Reid, J.D.'s on-again-off-again girlfriend. Cavanagh was apparently chosen due to his physical similarity to Zach Braff.
- Heather Locklear, as Julie, a representative of a pharmaceutical company, lusted after by the men of the hospital. Had a relationship with Dr. Cox which lasted less than a full episode, as Jordan came back, interested in renewing their relationship.
- D.L. Hughley, as Turk's rambunctious brother Kevin. He is divorced, claiming he "got the hell out of there", when in actuality his wife took the kids and left him.
- Dick Van Dyke, in the second season as Dr. Townshend, Kelso's opposite in terms of relation to the staff, J.D.'s attending for one episode. Reluctantly fired by old friend Kelso (who began his career the same time) for a botched checkup on a patient and refusing to follow contemporary methods of treatment.
- Freddy Rodríguez, as Carla's brother and Turk's nemesis Marco.
- Rick Schroder as slightly controlling male nurse ("murse") Paul Flowers, whom Elliot dated during the 2nd season.
- Amy Smart, as J.D.'s drama-creating one-time love interest, and wife of a comatose car crash victim, Jamie Moyer or Tasty Coma Wife (TCW).
- Tara Reid, as Jordan's sister and J.D.'s two-time ex-girlfriend, Danni Sullivan.
- Michael J. Fox, as Dr. Kevin Casey, a medical attending and also a surgeon with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Has a good rapport with Cox in bossing the younger staff around. He also is the only doctor shown in the series whose medical genius rivals Cox's.
- Bellamy Young as Dr. Miller, in the middle of Season 3 was one of the new surgeons and is at times the female version of Dr. Cox in regards to her personality. Dr. Cox was at one point attracted to her.
- Heather Graham as attending psychiatrist Dr. Molly Clock, whom J.D. had a crush on and was Elliot's friend and mentor.
- Julianna Margulies, as cold-hearted malpractice attorney Neena Broderick.
- Josh Randall, as Elliot's boyfriend Jake, who was introduced towards the end of the 4th season.
- Travis Schuldt as Keith Dudemeister, an intern under J.D.'s supervision who came to Sacred Heart at the beginning of Season 5. He is said to be a very competent doctor, which annoys J.D. to no end. He was also Elliot's "booty call" for a brief period, but their relationship has progressed to a dating status.
- Cheryl Hines as Paige, Dr. Cox's born-again Christian sister who reminds him of their troubled childhood and abusive father.
- Jason Bateman as Mr. Sutton, an unappreciative patient who raises ostriches in Season 5. Bateman was originally slated to play a larger role, but was unable to because shooting of the episode followed surgery to remove throat polyps. There is speculation that he will reprise his role in a later episode. Braff made an appearance in Bateman's FOX sitcom Arrested Development in 2004.
- Michael Learned as Mrs. Wilk, a kind and genial patient whose lengthy stay at the hospital and apparent recovery were ultimately for naught when she succumbed to an unexpected infection.
- Elizabeth Banks as Dr. Kim Briggs, a divorced surgeon and love interest of J.D.'s near the conclusion of Season 5. In the last episode of that season, it was revealed that she was pregnant, although virtually no information about the baby was revealed.
Cameo appearances
Guest appearances have also been made by Alan Ruck, Michael Boatman, Barry Bostwick, Alexander Chaplin, and Richard Kind, who previously worked on Spin City with Bill Lawrence (who have been producer on both).
Other guests: Clay Aiken, Fred "Rerun" Berry, Gary Busey, Carrot Top, David Copperfield, Lee Ermey, Erik Estrada, Colin Farrell, Dave Foley, Colin Hay, Sean Hayes, Phill Lewis, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Meloni, Jay Mohr, Mandy Moore, Matthew Perry, Ryan Reynolds, Mary-Kate Schellhardt, Molly Shannon, Larry Thomas, Jimmie Walker, Billy Dee Williams, Hattie Winston, Ben Heff, and DJ Qualls.
