Zach Braff wanted a "grounded" revival of Scrubs.

The 51-year-old actor portrays the lead character John 'J.D.' Dorian in the revived medical sitcom and explained how show bosses were keen to maintain a sense of normality after some "silly" episodes during the programme's original run.

Zach told Variety's Awards Circuit Podcast: "Launching the show and trying to thread the needle for what the show would be in 2026 was really complicated.

"If you look at the eight and a half years of Scrubs. it got quite broad, and every year it became more and more silly. We wanted to bring it back and reground it as it was in sort of the first third of its run, if you will. There were a lot of chefs in the kitchen, and we wanted to please Hulu, we wanted to please ABC/Disney, we wanted to please ourselves, we wanted to please the fans."

Zach explained that there was extra emphasis on getting the right tone because loyal Scrubs fans would pick up on any changes.

The three-time Golden Globe nominee said: "In writing and directing that pilot, there was a lot of consternation in getting the tone right, because the tone of Scrubs is so specific, and the fans love it so much.

"You cannot believe, if you're not close to it like I am, how important this show is to people. So, there was a lot of pressure to get that tone right in a way that also felt 2026."

Braff directed the pilot episode of the Scrubs revival and confessed that this caused him more tension than acting in the show.

Speaking to People, he shared: "I was nervous directing the pilot. I really wanted to get it right.

"I think that it was important to set the tone, the back-to-reality basics. We're going to have our fantasies, there's definitely comedy, there's definitely drama, but I felt a lot of pressure to make sure that we nailed the tone for the fans, most importantly, and for ourselves, because that was going to really set us on the right course.

"When we finally locked the pilot and everyone was so excited about it, I felt a big exhale of relief because I knew we at least had a good base as a jumping off point."