Neil Flynn’s Scrubs character could quite often be found getting up to some pretty irreverent antics, but one of his odd pastimes sadly started to become less of a focus as the sitcom drew to a close. Thankfully, with the Scrubs revival now confirmed, the Janitor can revisit one of his old passions. Of course, it depends if Flynn opts to come back for the reunion, but the Janitor is surely one of the Scrubs characters who must return for season 10. If not, the revival will be missing a key figure who helped the original run so great.
The Janitor appears in all nine seasons of Scrubs, although his role in the show’s divisive Med School run was reduced to a tiny cameo to explain the character’s departure. The Janitor’s real name in Scrubs was at one point a huge mystery, but showrunner Bill Lawrence has confirmed Flynn’s character was telling Zach Braff’s JD the truth when he introduced himself as “Glenn Matthews” at the end of the “My Finale” two-parter. So, although this particular twist would be difficult to undo, Scrubs season 10 can still make the Janitor seem like his old self.
The Janitor’s Useless Inventions Were An Underrated Part Of His Character
Neil Flynn’s Scrubs character certainly had ambition
It’s often implied that the Janitor is the leader of Sacred Heart’s custodial staff. However, he’s very rarely seen actually cleaning the hospital or offering any helpful contributions. This is a running gag for his character and a big part of why he’s so funny. So, if he isn’t doing what he’s being paid to do, then it begs the question of what he’s up to when he isn’t just torturing JD and his colleagues. Scrubs drops several clues to answer this, and one of them is the Janitor’s impressive array of useless inventions.
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Some Of The Janitor’s Funniest Inventions In Scrubs |
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Invention |
Description |
Why It’s Funny |
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Knife-Wrench |
A knife attached to the end of a wrench. |
Claims it’s “for kids,” then accidentally stabs himself with it. |
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Drill-Fork |
A power drill with a fork as the drill bit. |
Good at twirling spaghetti, but otherwise impractical. |
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Gum (Pronounced “Jum“) |
A mixture of gin and rum. |
Basically just a terrible cocktail. |
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Business Card Printer |
A small printer attached to a paintball gun. |
Two very diverse tools, brought together for no discernible reason. |
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Pen-Straw |
A regular pen, intended for beverage consumption. |
It is just a pen, and as such, delivers the user only ink. |
Although the Janitor is most known for telling obvious lies and fabricating tall tales, he also quite often has evidence of just how much he has been neglecting his duties. Sporadically, he will proudly present something he’s been working hard on, and it either has little to no use, or an application so specific that something else would be better to use in its place. For example, his “Knife-Wrench” in Scrubs season 5, episode 21, “My Fallen Idol” is exactly the combination of tools that it sounds like, and it’s also very unsafe.
Scrubs Started To Introduce The Janitor’s Inventions Less & Less
The Scrubs revival can bring back this brilliant running gag
The Janitor didn’t always show his inventive side. Instead, there’s a golden era for his questionable breakthroughs that starts about halfway through the show’s run. This period is dense with Janitor inventions, but the show then gradually starts to fade them out by the time of his true exit at the end of Scrubs season 8. They didn’t completely disappear, but they featured far less frequently, were a little less bizarre, and sometimes even on the cusp of being useful.
Related
Scrubs Season 10 Will Have A Weird Janitor Problem (But There’s A Solution)
Although no casting announcements have yet been made, Flynn will presumably return as the Janitor in Scrubs season 10, which will cause an issue.
Part of the reason for this could be the fact that Neil Flynn’s Scrubs character started to become a little more humanized by the writers in his final season. His behavior started to level out, and his marriage to Kit Pongetti’s Ladinia “Lady” Williams was probably a factor in his personality adjustment. Hopefully, Scrubs season 10 finds a way to restore the Janitor to his former glory by adding to his collection of wild inventions.
Scrubs is a Sitcom and Medical Comedy/Drama created by Bill Lawrence that follows a group of medical students throughout their daily lives at the Sacred Heart Teaching Hospital. The series stars Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, and Donald Faison, as they work their way up from Medical Interns while juggling all sorts of hospital shenanigans.
- Release Date
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October 1, 2001
- Cast
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John C. McGinley
, Robert Maschio
, Donald Faison
, Christa Miller
, Neil Flynn
, Judy Reyes
, Aloma Wright
, Zach Braff
, Sarah Chalke
, Sam Lloyd
, Ken Jenkins - Seasons
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9
