Scrubs season 1

The first season of the American comedy television series Scrubs premiered on NBC on October 2, 2001 and concluded on May 21, 2002 and consists of 24 episodes. Scrubs was created by Bill Lawrence who wrote the pilot as well as three other episodes in the season. Adam Bernstein directed the pilot as well as four other episodes. Neil Flynn was only a guest star in the first season, although he appeared in every episode of the season. Bill Lawrence said if the show had been cancelled at the end of the first season, he would have made the Janitor a figment of J.D.'s imagination.

The first season follows J.D. (Zach Braff) and his best friend Turk (Donald Faison) in their first year out of medical school as interns at Sacred Heart Hospital. J.D. quickly meets his reluctant mentor, Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley); a young woman (and fellow intern) named Elliot (Sarah Chalke), on whom he has a crush; the hospital's janitor (Neil Flynn), who goes out of his way to make J.D.'s life miserable; the Chief of Medicine, Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins), who is more concerned about the budget than the patients; and Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes), the head nurse and Turk's new girlfriend, who puts Turk through the trials and tribulations of being in a serious relationship. The characters face romances and relationship issues, family obligations, overwhelming paperwork, and a tremendous number of patients. The first season also introduces recurring supporting characters such as "The Todd" (Robert Maschio), a boorishly lascivious surgeon; Ted (Sam Lloyd), the hospital's hapless, nervous lawyer; Laverne (Aloma Wright), fellow nurse and mentor to Carla; Jordan Sullivan (Christa Miller), Dr. Cox's caustic administrator ex-wife, and Doug Murphy (Johnny Kastl), a nervous young doctor who often accidentally kills patients.

Main cast

 * Zach Braff as Dr. John "J.D." Dorian
 * Sarah Chalke as Dr. Elliot Reid
 * Donald Faison as Dr. Chris Turk
 * Ken Jenkins as Dr. Bob Kelso
 * John C. McGinley as Dr. Perry Cox
 * Judy Reyes as Nurse Carla Espinosa

Recurring roles

 * Neil Flynn as The Janitor
 * Aloma Wright as Nurse Laverne Roberts
 * Robert Maschio as Dr. Todd Quinlan
 * Sam Lloyd as Ted Buckland
 * Charles Chun as Dr. Phillip Wen
 * Johnny Kastl as Dr. Doug Murphy
 * Christa Miller as Jordan Sullivan

Guest stars

 * Scott Foley as Sean Kelly
 * Brendan Fraser as Ben Sullivan
 * Michael McDonald as Mike Davis
 * Masi Oka as Franklyn (MT)
 * Sean Hayes as Nick Murdoch
 * DJ Qualls as Josh
 * John Ritter as Sam Dorian
 * The Blanks as the Worthless Peons

Writing staff

 * Bill Lawrence – executive producer/head writer
 * Eric Weinberg – supervising producer (episodes 2–14) / co-executive producer (episodes 15–24)
 * Matt Tarses – consulting producer (episodes 2–14) / co-executive producer (episodes 15–24)
 * Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan – co-producers
 * Gabrielle Allan – co-producer
 * Mike Schwartz – story editor
 * Debra Fordham – staff writer
 * Mark Stegemann – staff writer
 * Janae Bakken – staff writer

Production staff

 * Bill Lawrence – executive producer/showrunner
 * Randall Winston – producer / co-producer (pilot)
 * Liz Newman – associate producer
 * Danny Rose – associate producer
 * Mychelle Deschamps – producer (pilot)

Directors
Includes directors who directed 2 or more episodes
 * Adam Bernstein – 5 episodes (including pilot)
 * Michael Spiller – 4 episodes
 * Lawrence Trilling – 4 episodes
 * Marc Buckland – 4 episodes
 * Matthew Diamond – 2 episodes

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 96% with an average score of 8.3 out of 10 based on 25 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Scrubs is a worthy spiritual successor to M*A*S*H thanks in part to its seamless blend of cheeky comedy and poignant, heartfelt moments."