With Scrubs now back on our screens, many viewers are taking a look at Bill Lawrence’s other projects, and there’s a fascinating connection between the hilarious medical sitcom and another title from the show’s creator. Following the release of the Scrubs revival a few weeks ago, audiences have been vocal about the missing characters from the original run. Bill Lawrence’s TV shows are generally full of familiar faces, and the Scrubs creator is known for casting certain actors in more than one of his projects.
One example of this is Lawrence’s wife, actress Crista Milla, who stars in both Scrubs and Shrinking as Jordan Sullivan and Liz Bishop, respectively. Considering things like lawyer Ted Buckland appearing in Cougar Town and Scrubs‘ strange new multiverse, viewers know that Lawrence is no stranger to comical, bordering on meta crossovers in his shows. Many are revisiting Scrubs‘ earlier installments now that the revival is airing, but they’re only just realizing that Lawrence’s TV show Shrinking seems to be foreshadowed in the sitcom’s original run.
Are the Janitor in ‘Scrubs’ and Raymond in ‘Shrinking’ the Same Person?
Another actor who appears in more than one of Lawrence’s TV shows is sitcom icon Neil Flynn, who rose to fame for his portrayal of the Janitor in Scrubs and now plays Paul’s former patient-turned-friend Raymond in Shrinking. The Janitor will return for the Scrubs revival at some point, which audiences are excited about, especially as the character is such a staple of the show. Two things the Janitor is best remembered for, though, are his wild lies and the wacky characters he’d often slip into around the halls of Sacred Heart. Throughout Scrubs‘ original run, the Janitor pretends to be his own twin, a British man named Nigel, a German man named Klaus, the Chief of Medicine, and Dr. Jan Itor, to name a few of his alter egos.
However, there’s one throwaway moment in the Scrubs Season 7 Episode “My Own Worst Enemy” that suggests the Janitor could be Shrinking‘s Ray. While talking with J.D., the Janitor offers him the contact details of a cognitive therapist and makes a point of saying he knows the guy and that he’s “good,” implying the custodial staff member has used this person’s services before. Shrinking also establishes that Ray has been a patient of Paul’s for several years, to the point that after he no longer needs therapy, the two spark up a solid friendship.
While it’s unlikely that Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence wasn’t thinking about Shrinking back in 2007, which is when “My Own Worst Enemy” first aired, there’s still a chance that Neil Flynn’s Ray and the Janitor could be the same person. All of the Janitor’s funny little characters are very over-the-top and differ from each other in various ways, but what if the Janitor is also an alter ego? Ray is more subdued, but perhaps this is because that is his real personality.
We also don’t know what leads Ray to use Paul’s services, so what if it’s to discuss his weird need to trick others into thinking he’s someone other than himself? Or because he has a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder, the official term used for those who have multiple personalities? Alternatively, the Janitor leaves Sacred Heart after J.D.’s departure in the Season 8 finale, and assuming his brief appearance explaining this in Scrubs Season 9 is one of the things the show hasn’t retconned, maybe Ray is still with Paul after all this time because he never truly gets over J.D.’s exit.
Between Scrubs‘ reboot, Shrinking, and the upcoming Ted Lasso Season 4, Bill Lawrence has been incredibly busy lately, but now would be the perfect time to reveal that his shows are all set in a shared universe. Some consider Scrubs‘ Season 9 retcon to mean that Ted doesn’t actually appear in Cougar Town, and we won’t see the lawyer in the revival because actor Sam Lloyd sadly passed away in 2020, so maybe Lawrence will implement another crossover through Neil Flynn’s characters in either Shrinking or Scrubs in the near future.
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Scrubs
- Release Date
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2001 – 2010-00-00
- Network
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ABC, NBC
- Directors
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Michael Spiller, Chris Koch, Ken Whittingham, Adam Bernstein, Gail Mancuso, Marc Buckland, John Inwood, John Putch, Will Mackenzie, Victor Nelli Jr., Craig Zisk, Lawrence Trilling, Linda Mendoza, Michael McDonald, John Michel, Rick Blue, Richard Alexander Wells, Henry Chan, Joanna Kerns, Mark Stegemann, Matthew Diamond, Peter Lauer, Elodie Keene, Jason Ensler
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Shrinking
4
/5- Release Date
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January 27, 2023
- Network
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Apple TV
