Scrubs spoilers follow.
Doctor Cox made a proper return to Scrubs in the revival's latest episode – but will he return full-time to the medical comedy? John C McGinley's classic character was last seen in the season premiere, where he handed over the reins as Chief of Medicine to JD (Zach Braff).
In this week's episode 'My Odds', Cox was back, though events took a more serious turn after tests revealed he had an incurable autoimmune disease, and allowed JD to oversee his treatment.
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McGinley has largely sat out the revival as he has been busy filming Rooster (co-created by Scrubs' Bill Lawrence), though in a new interview expressed hope that schedules would work out for a potential second season of the new Scrubs.
"I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but I think, God willing, for Season 2 on both of them, schedules will line up so that Dr Cox can be around Scrubs quite a bit more," he told Variety.
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The actor admitted that Dr Cox now being a patient provided a potentially "rich landscape for the writers" in the future, and called the recent episode "one of the best half hours of TV", akin to season three episode 'My Screw Up' where the character grieves his late brother-in-law (Brendan Fraser).
"That’s one of the best half hours we’ve ever done on Scrubs," he noted.
Pressed further on the prospect of more from his character in another season, McGinley teased: "I was just reading one of my favorite guys, Joe Campbell, and I think the protagonist/hero, on his journey, has to have consequences. There has to be jeopardy.
"I think the writers did a phenomenal job introducing five or six brand new principal characters, but Zach [Braff] is the hero [of this story]. There has to be consequences along the way. There has to be jeopardy.
"I don’t know if Cox will rise to the same level of a threat to the hero, but just in a traditional structure, Zach needs more Cox."
Scrubs streams on Disney+ in the UK, and Hulu and ABC in the US.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
