Since it was announced that ABC was producing a Scrubs reboot, there have been some reasons to worry about the upcoming series. For example, the trailer for the show seemed to confirm something that made me worried about Scrubs' first episode back. However, the vast majority of news about the beloved series' upcoming comeback has been very exciting for longtime fans to see.
On top of the exciting news about the Scrubs revival that has been confirmed, there has also been some fan conjecture about some other fantastic things that could happen on the show. An obvious example of that is all the discussion about past characters that viewers are hoping to see return. As fun as that discussion has been, a new fan theory about the Scrubs revival could be the most heartwarming thing about the series if it turns out to be true.
A Scrubs fan theory hypothesizes that the revival's teaser hid a tribute to Ted Buckland
In December 2025, the second teaser for the upcoming Scrubs revival was released. That teaser began with footage of Zach Braff's John Michael "J.D." Dorian and Donald Faison's Christopher Turk reuniting. much to the excitement of many devoted fans, J.D. was then shown getting carried on Turk's back as part of their characters' classic Eagle ride.
As the teaser progressed, viewers could easily see more to be happy about, including footage of Sarah Chalke as Elliot Reid, John C. McGinley as Perry Cox, and Judy Reyes as Carla Espinosa. However, an eagle-eyed fan on Facebook shared an image taken from the trailer that they believed teased a potential detail that will be incredibly heartwarming if true.
After the second teaser was released, a fan took a screengrab to show what they believed was an image that could be seen in the background of a shot. When Turk is shown carrying J.D., the fan believes that a painting of Sam Lloyd's Scrubs character could be seen on the wall in the background. While it is unclear if that belief is accurate, the painting in the background certainly seems like it could be of Lloyd's character. If that turns out to be true, that will be a truly fantastic detail that pays a touching and fitting tribute.
On IMDb, Sam Lloyd is credited with appearing in nearly 100 episodes of Scrubs. During those episodes, Lloyd did such a great job portraying his character, Theodore "Ted" Buckland, Esq., that he became beloved. In fact, Lloyd made such a mark that he even cameoed in episodes of Cougar Town as Ted after Scrubs had long been off the air. Sadly, however, Lloyd can't return to act during episodes of the upcoming revival.
In the past, I have argued that the Scrubs reboot should bring back the other members of Ted's fictional a cappella quartet, the Worthless Peons. I believed that would be a fantastic tribute to Ted and his actor, who sadly passed away in May 2020 after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. While I still believe that would be wonderful, I love the idea of the painting of Ted being on the wall if that turns out to be true.
As Scrubs fans will already know, Lloyd's character openly hated his boss, Bob Kelso. As a result of how Kelso mistreated him and the fact that the character was a coward, Ted would sometimes direct his resentment to a painting of his boss that appeared on a wall in the show's fictional hospital. Given that history, the idea that Ted, a character who was rarely valued, would be given the respect to have his own painting on a wall in the same fictional hospital is incredibly touching.