Imagine, if you will, that you had created not one but several of the most adored TV shows of all time.
We’re talking Spin City, Ted Lasso, and Shrinking. Hell, just imagine you wrote episodes of Friends and Boy Meets World, and your latest sitcom, Rooster, just got renewed for a second season.
You’d probably feel pretty fearless, right? At least, professionally, I don’t think being a good writer makes spiders any less scary.
Well, if you answered yes, you’re not Bill Lawrence, a name that should mean a lot to you if you’ve ever watched TV.
The 57-year-old comedy writer has a laundry list of credits to his name, two Emmys on his shelf, and oh yeah, he created Scrubs – the hospital comedy that convinced a generation of viewers to try an Appletini.
And now, 16 years after it went away, Scrubs is back with a new reboot, something Bill admits he found a little daunting.
‘I’m not usually afraid of failure, Bill told Metro. ‘I think it’s because I’ve failed so much in my career and worked on so many pieces of garbage. Luckily, most of them didn’t get on the air.
‘But Scrubs is the first time I had fear in a long time, because the fan base of that show is so gracious and loyal.’
In fact, it was this fear that made Bill, along with Aseem Batra the new showrunner leading the Scrubs revival and Zach Braff, the show’s lead, work out a contingency plan – a sort of break glass in case of emergency button to save them from the wrath of angry fans.
‘That’s why we only did nine episodes in the first season,’ he laughed. ‘We felt like, all right, if we sh*t the bed, if this stinks, it’ll be over quick, and we’ll just say “We’re so sorry”, and then we’ll all hide for a couple months, you know?’
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Thankfully, Scrubs season 10 was not a warm turd at the bottom of your mattress (my words, not Bill’s); in fact, it’s been embraced by fans, something Bill is very ‘happy and grateful’ for and credits to the incredible team working on it.
‘I think the ability to quality control, especially by that writing staff, Aseem, Zach and Donald, as well as all the old regulars and stuff, it feels less like a reboot and more like just the next season of the show, and the people are much older.’
Bill is clearly not a man who believes in doing reboots simply for the sake of doing them.
And while he’d no doubt blush at the idea of me saying he has a creative philosophy – as he did when I called him a ‘one man industry’ – he’s a man who likes to work with people he trusts and commits to ideas he has an attachment to.
He admitted as much to me, joking that JD, the main character in Scrubs, is basically just his best friend filtered through the theatrical lens of TV.
‘My best friend, I was with him last night, is named JD,’ he laughs. ‘He’s a cardiologist and heart surgeon here.
‘We went to college together. I stole his life. My creative writing teacher in high school, probably the first teacher who told me that I wouldn’t screw up and that I might have some talents, was named Bob Cox. He passed away recently, but I named Dr Cox after him.’
Bill’s reputation for pilfering his friends and loved ones stories is so notorious that he even warns them to beware what they say in front of him, as ‘once you make the mistake of saying it out loud, then I can do whatever I want with it.’
Even Bill’s daughter isn’t safe from his magpie-like tendencies, explaining how his relationship with her helped inspire Rooster.
‘Steve Carell, Matt Tarsus, and I all have daughters between the ages of 20, and we’re all trying to be big figures in their lives right at the time that they’re ready for us not to be a big figure in their life,’ he reveals. ‘ And that is, without a doubt, a major part of that show.’
It’s this instinct, of balancing comedy with something he understands emotionally, that I believe makes Bill’s work so distinctive, and it’s what made Steve Carell the perfect lead on Rooster.
‘Steve turned out to be one of those rare folk who is exactly like you would hope he would be, he reflected. ‘He’s that kind and that giving… he’s such a good actor when it comes to authentic emotions and feelings.’
Bill thinks this authenticity is what allowed Steve to do the hairpin turns necessary to keep his character, Greg, silly and funny, but also carry the emotional weight of the show.
Speaking of hairpin turns, I had to ask Bill if he’d seen the memes about Scrubs, specifically the ones which claim the show is 20 minutes of laughs followed by five minutes of heartbreak.
It’s fair,’ he laughed. Okay, I’m a softy. We’re all products of our influences. I’m sure you have favourite writers, and they got you into this.
‘I used to be obsessed with shows when I was a kid, like MASH, which was a show that could go from the silliest, funniest things into moments that would make you care and really feel something.’
‘I love shows and movies like that. I love that the people that. So I don’t mind the label, because I know my voice, and I like shows that you care about the characters and that you kind of hang on how things are going for them.’
This deep understanding that you have to care about the character is why Bill really shouldn’t have been worried about Scrubs.
It’s clear whenever you watch his work that he’s only interested in writing characters who feel alive and are worth caring about, and working with people who feel the same.
And if you care as much as Bill does, then you know your audience will care just as much. And if they don’t? Well, at least they only saw nine episodes.
Rooster is available to watch now on HBO Max and Now, while the Scrubs reboot is on Disney Plus
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