By the end of March 2020, the world was just starting its quarantine. Luckily, soon thereafter, a glimmer of positive energy erupted on March 31, 2020, when real-life best friends and stars of the medical comedy Scrubs, Zach Braff and Donald Faison, got together on iHeart Radio to host a rewatch podcast of the series. Their aim is to go through the entire series episode by episode, reminiscing about the fun they had, revealing secrets and bringing on fellow cast and crew members to bring in their insights on specific episodes or contribute to the banter.
The podcast is produced by Joelle Monique and Dan Goodman, who originally started off being silent observers, privately messaging the hosts whenever a commercial break was needed or a piece of forgotten trivia was demanded. However, the duo has since become full-blown members of the podcast, and their personalities shine alongside Zach and Donald. The energy the four individuals provide is game-changing, with there never being a dull second.
For those unaware, Scrubs was a sitcom that ran from 2001-2010 and was created by Bill Lawrence (Clone High, Cougar Town, Ted Lasso). It follows JD (Braff), a young doctor hoping to survive his residency at Sacred Heart Hospital. He's joined by his best friend Turk (Faison) who is a surgeon, along with fellow residents, interns, the Chief of Medicine and a strict but stern doctor, as well as a janitor who just loves to hate. While the series starts off immature in nature, with fantasies playing in JD's head and outlandish characters, Scrubs quickly reminds audiences that it took place in a hospital and the characters are real people with real problems. The show tackles death, helplessness, fear, regret, love, marriage, children and failure -- but not to worry, there is also a musical episode that helps provide some levity.
While it's been almost two decades since the start of the series, the Fake Doctors Real Friends podcast takes listeners back to those golden days of the early 2000s. It may come as a shock to some that Braff and Faison's chemistry on Scrubs is so strong, but that is because the two became very close friends while filming and continued that friendship even after the show concluded. This connection makes the podcast much more exciting as the chemistry is translated into the discussions.
What also helps the podcast is the guests that come onto the show, including show creator Bill Lawrence, his wife Christa Miller, who also plays Jordan Sullivan, Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes, John C. McGinley and Ken Jenkins. There is even a riveting episode with Brendan Fraser that demands many re-listens. Sadly, Sam Lloyd, who played Ted Buckland, passed away shortly after the podcast started, but Braff and Faison continue to honor him by keeping his stories alive.
In the end, the podcast has been this comforting light in these dark times. Every episode leaves audiences laughing and crying along with the hosts, producers and guests as they talk about the fun they had and how they're keeping busy during the quarantine. Fortunately, while the podcast may seem limited due to there only being 182 episodes of the series, Braff and Faison have already decided to keep it going, meaning there's plenty more to come from this electric podcast duo.