10 Greatest Minor Scrubs Characters
The Rewatch Podcast has reminded viewers what we all loved...
It has already been more than a decade since Scrubs aired for the final time, having prematurely wrapped up the failed experiment that was its ninth season, considered more of a spin-off by some (including series creator Bill Lawrence) and outright ignored by others given the emotional weight of the season eight finale.
The series holds up to this day, the odd dated reference or joke that would now be considered politically incorrect aside. Much of the show’s appeal came from (and continues to come from) the well-balanced blend of comedy and dramatic storytelling, which got viewers heavily invested in the motley crew of characters that inhabited Sacred Heart hospital.
Throughout the eight main seasons of the series, the core cast remained the same, with J.D, Turk, Elliot, Carla, Dr. Cox, Dr. Kelso and The Janitor centre stage in every episode. An area in which Scrubs always excelled, however, was backing them with a fantastic array of supporting characters, from key players that appeared in the majority of episodes such as Ted, The Todd and Jordan to heavy hitting one-off guest stars and a recurring and background cast that remained largely consistent year-on-year for the sake of continuity.
With the series back in the limelight thanks to Zach Braff and Donald Faison’s new ‘Fake Doctors, Real Friends’ rewatch podcast, here are ten of these minor characters, each worthy of recognition in their own way with less than twenty episode appearances to their name.
10. Dr. Jeffrey Steadman
Played By – Matt Winston, Appearances – 5 (My First Day, My Two Dads, My Old Man, My Lucky Night, My Finale)
Appearing for the first time in the pilot, Dr. Steadman initially seemed to be being set up as a recurring character, having been established as J.D. and Elliot’s resident and as a perennial suck-up to Dr. Kelso, depicted in fantasy sequences as humping his leg like an overenthusiastic dog or having all of his speech replaced with the words ‘I’m A Tool’.
Actor Matt Winston would only go on to make three more appearances before popping up again six years later in the finale, but in each of these he managed to leave a lasting impression with the ludicrous depths of his sycophancy, such as exclaiming that Dr. Kelso’s penis was ‘like a baguette’.
Everybody has worked with somebody like Dr. Steadman during their career, inside a hospital or not. Given the contempt that is held for such brownnosers when their actions result in preferential treatment or other workplace perks, it was hugely satisfying to see Steadman get some sort of comeuppance in most of his appearances, whether from taking a golf ball to the face from J.D. or being denied a promotion Kelso had shoehorned him for by the manoeuvring of Dr. Cox and Jordan.