The Ultimate “Scrubs” Fan Quiz

AVG SCORE:  86% 75 PLAYS

By: Ian Fortey

6 Min Quiz

Image: NBC / ABC

About This Quiz

From 2001 until 2010, "Scrubs" was hands down one of the funniest and best shows on television. The mix of the serious and the surreal, the slapstick and the intelligent, made it unlike any other sitcom on TV. Not to mention the great performances by a seriously talented cast. Despite how great the show was, there was plenty of doubt internally about whether it would succeed. During the first season, the creators were not sure they'd be back, and you can chalk that up to new show jitters. But by season 6, lower ratings had made them afraid they were going to be canceled as well. And then, in season 8, they were so sure they'd be done that they filmed the series finale and everything. And then the show still came back for one more season, albeit a weird one. 

If you were a hardcore fan of the show because you loved the acerbic wit of Dr. Cox or the absolutely off-the-wall way Janitor interacted with other characters, if you were down with the bromance between Turk and J.D, or if you just loved the musical stylings of Ted and his fellow singers, this is the quiz to show off your stuff. 

Donald Faison played Turk, but what was the character's first name?

Turk's first name is Chris in the show. Turk appears in more episodes than almost any other character in the entire series. In fact, he only missed three episodes in season 8 and, along with John C. McGinley, was the only actor from the main cast to regularly appear in season 9.

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Ted had a singing group on the show. What was it called?

Ted's singing group in the show went by a number of names, including Ted's Band, but the Worthless Peons may be the most memorable. In real life, Sam Lloyd, who played Ted, is actually a singer in an acapella group called the Blanks.

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Most of the show's action takes place at Sacred Heart, but where did J.D.'s character come from originally?

J.D. is supposed to be from a town called Trotwood, in Ohio. Weirdly enough, although we know that Sacred Heart is the name of the hospital where everyone works in the show, they never clarify what state or city the hospital is in.

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J.D.'s family has a tradition when it comes to telling someone bad news. What is it?

The Dorian family tradition of breaking bad news involves the eating of cake. In one episode, J.D.'s brother shows up with a cake, and J.D. immediately knows something is wrong. Unfortunately, their father had died.

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The Todd appeared in 126 episodes. What did his tattoo say?

Todd Quinlan, better known as The Todd, had a tattoo that just said "DOC." On set, Robert Maschio, who played The Todd, would routinely prank Donald Faison by putting dog poop outside of his dressing room door.

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What's the name of Turk and J.D.'s first pet, a sort-of dog?

In a very technical way, Rowdy is the pet dog that J.D. and Turk have. It's technical since the dog isn't actually alive at any point in the show — it's stuffed. J.D. and Turk had bought him at a yard sale eight years prior.

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What country song did Dr. Kelso sing, even though he denied it?

After hearing "My Tuscaloosa Heart" on a tape, Eliot is positive that Dr. Kelso is the singer, but he denies it. Because the song is about a woman named Bunny, it's somewhat ambiguous. Later we find out that Dr. Kelso calls his wife Bunny.

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Do you remember which famous actor played J.D.'s dad?

John Ritter, most famous for his role on "Three's Company" back in the day, appeared on "Scrubs" as J.D.'s dad. It was one of the last roles Ritter played before his untimely death in 2003, outside of his own series "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter."

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What exactly does "J.D." stand for, anyway?

J.D.'s real name is John Michael Dorian. He's based on a real person, Dr. John Doris, who was a friend of the show's creator. Doris was also a medical adviser on the show, helping to keep the situations rooted in a bit of reality.

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It's a running joke that J.D. doesn't know Janitor's name. What's his name?

After many misdirections and jokes throughout the show's first 8 seasons, Janitor's name — Glenn Matthews — is finally revealed in the last episode of season 8, which was meant to be the show's finale. Surprisingly, the show did continue for another season.

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After Janitor tells J.D. that his name is Glenn Matthews, what other name does he immediately respond to?

Putting one final joke on what seemed like a sincere moment, Janitor tells J.D. his name and points out that, in all their years together, J.D. had never asked what it was. Then someone else randomly walks by and calls Janitor "Tommy," to which he responds as though that's his name,

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Nearly every episode title begins with the same word. What is it?

Because almost every episode of the show is told from J.D.'s perspective and includes his inner monologue, the titles are named from his perspective as well. As a result, nearly every title starts with "My," such as "My First Step" and "My Journey."

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J.D. buys a half acre with what character?

Julie, played by Mandy Moore, had a relationship with J.D. for a while. Aside from buying half an acre of land together, they shared a love of pop culture, including "Harry Potter." In real life, Zach Braff and Mandy Moore were in a relationship for a while as well.

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J.D. has a quirky nickname for his best friend Turk. What is it?

Over the course of the series, Turk is probably given three or four dozen different nicknames, but one of the most often used is Chocolate Bear. At one point it even gets upgraded to Super Chocolate Bear.

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Who is the first person Janitor speaks to in the first season?

If you go back and watch season 1 again, you'll notice something weird about Janitor — he only interacts directly with J.D. The reason? Because the producers didn't know for sure if the show would succeed, they wrote Janitor as if he were just in J.D.s mind and didn't really exist. If the show had tanked, the season 1 finale would have revealed that Janitor was not real.

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J.D. carries a piece of what game around for good luck?

J.D. carries a top hat from the game Monopoly around with him for good luck. When he shows it to Turk, Turk gets offended because J.D. compares it to Turk's religious beliefs. Turk asserts that a good luck charm doesn't compare to a religion.

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Despite his rough demeanor, Dr. Cox is a soap opera fan. What show does he watch?

Dr. Cox is pretty sharp with his tongue on the show, but he still loves to watch "Days of Our Lives." He's also a fan of movies starring Lee Marvin, the Detroit Red Wings, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Carla.

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Dr. Cox gives out a lot of nicknames. What sort of names does he give most often to J.D.?

Dr. Cox has a bad habit of referring to J.D. by girls' names. One of his favorites seemed to be Carol, and there was at least one incident in which he had Eliot call J.D. "Betty" over the phone on his behalf.

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Which character infamously wears what is known as a banana hammock?

Todd's kind of a creep at the best of times, so it's no surprise to learn he has a collection of banana hammock undies in his home. In a few episodes, actor Robert Maschio bravely wears one.

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J.D. had plans to do something before he turned 30. What was it?

In the episode "My Day at the Races," J.D. runs a triathlon, something he promised to do before he turned 30. Since it's almost his birthday, he tries to do it with no training and no preparation. He doesn't even have a wetsuit for the swimming portion.

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Who has a strict rule against talking to someone on the toilet?

Eliot is prone to a lot of irrational fears, and one of them is being spoken to while on the toilet. She only has one rule in her apartment: no one can speak or be spoken to while they're doing their business.

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Do you know which character names their eggs?

This one's a little tricky, as the eggs getting named aren't the breakfast kind. Elliot reveals that she names her eggs every month. When she mentions it to J.D. the name currently being used is Hailey. The previous month it was Cassie.

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In one episode, J.D. changes the name of the hospital to what?

J.D. changes the name of the hospital on a banner to "Sacred Fart" as a prank to make himself feel better. During the same episode, he tries to run a triathlon in an effort to make himself feel a bit younger.

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What kind of stuffed animal is Janitor fond of?

Janitor owns what is described as a squirrel army. There are apparently something in the neighborhood of 150 stuffed squirrels in his collection that he killed and stuffed himself. He speaks to the squirrels and even lets them vote on things.

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Which character did J.D. recognize in the Harrison Ford movie "The Fugitive"?

In one of the show's best jokes, J.D. catches sight of Janitor in the movie "The Fugitive." In real life, Neil Flynn, who plays the character of Janitor, was in "The Fugitive," which is why the joke works so well. It's one of the only times you'll see a character from one show or movie referenced by a character in a different show or movie while still being entirety fictitious.

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Do you remember which character made a habit of flicking their own nose?

Dr. Cox has a penchant for flicking his own nose, and it's intentional. The actor, John McGinley, included the gesture as a character trait in honor of the movie "The Sting." In that film, Robert Redford and Paul Newman did the nose flick gesture to indicate all was well.

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J.D. screams the name of a bird while Turk is spinning him in the air. To this day, people still yell it at Zach Braff. What did he yell?

J.D. screams out "eagle" in a scene from season 1, and it immediately became a meme related to the show. It's probably one of the most popular quotes — Zach has said that people scream it at him all over the world. The best part is, he improvised the line.

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What mythical creature does J.D. have?

J.D. has a small obsession with unicorns throughout the show's run. When things start to really stress him out, he even has a toy unicorn named Justin that he goes to for advice and to help decide what he needs to do.

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Elizabeth Banks' character Dr. Briggs does what to change the show's opening credits?

There's an image of an X-ray in the opening credits of the show that the production team didn't realize was backward until someone pointed it out to them. When Elizabeth Banks shows up in season 5, her character flips the X-ray the right way and makes a joke about it.

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What kind of animal did J.D. and Turk get when they had to replace Rowdy?

Rowdy the stuffed dog was replaced by a second stuffed dog, named Steven. The original stuffed dog went missing because a crew member got fired and stuffed it into the ceiling to hide it as a bit of revenge. The crew couldn't find the same dog again, so Steven was brought in.

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Do you remember which character was replaced by their own twin?

The writers of the show killed off the character of Laverne in a car crash because they thought the show was going to be canceled. When it came back, they brought actress Aloma Wright back as the character Shirley, who, of course, looks exactly like Laverne, but only J.D. notices.

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A rather emotional episode in which a patient of Dr. Cox's named Ben dies is an homage to which movie?

Often cited on lists and pop culture sites as the best episode of the series, "My Screw-Up" is an homage to "The Sixth Sense." The movie features the same twist as the film and offers up clues upon rewatching about what was happening.

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The season 8 finale features around 50 cameos of actors who had been on the series previously. Who is missing?

Only three actors were unable to return for the big (almost) series finale of the show. Both Masi Oka and Sarah Lancaster were forbidden to appear on the show because of NBC contracts. Heather Graham was unable to appear for other reasons.

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What famous actor played Janitor's father?

R. Lee Ermey, maybe best known for his role in "Full Metal Jacket," played Janitor's father — or maybe he didn't. Janitor, known for lying a lot, at one point says the man was a cat trainer when he was younger and later says his father has been dead for years.

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What is Dr. Cox's full name?

Dr. Cox is known by the first name Perry in the show, but that's short for his full name, Percival Ulysses Cox. You can see why he has a habit of making jokes out of other people's names, being a little insecure about his own.

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