J.D. (Scrubs)

File:Scrubs jd.jpg

J.D. (portrayed by Zach Braff)

Dr. John Michael Dorian (most commonly referred to as "J.D.") is a fictional character played by Zach Braff in the American sitcom Scrubs.

Profile

Template:Spoiler J.D. is the affably nerdish narrator and main character—he provides the overall narration in the show with the voiceovers linking the two to three story arcs in each episode (with 5 exceptions so far). He is quite a geek, but knowingly so and manages nonetheless to have romantic liaisons with some attractive women. He recently celebrated his 30th birthday, which would place his birthdate sometime in 1975. It has also been revealed that his was a premature birth. In the season five finale, "My Transition", it was revealed that his left testicle is significantly smaller than his right, and it was also revealed that J.D.'s girlfriend of two and a half weeks, Dr. Kim Briggs (played by Elizabeth Banks) is pregnant.

Family History

J.D. is the youngest son of Sam and Barbara Dorian (maiden surname Turner). He has one older brother, named Dan (Tom Cavanagh). In episode 4.02, it was revealed that J.D. had grown up in Trotwood, Ohio. John Ritter played his father, who died in the series (Episode 4.06, "My Cake") as a tribute to Ritter's death. It is tradition in J.D.'s family to bring cake while bearing bad news. Sam was an office supplies salesman, J.D. describing him as a 'bad one.' He did manage to provide for the family, giving J.D. one bike part per year as a birthday present. Sam and Barbara got divorced when J.D. was seven, so Sam left home. Barbara then got remarried six times. She lives with her new fiancée, who kicked Dan out (Episode 3.05, "My Brother, Where Art Thou?").

In episode 2.17, J.D. stated that he had a Grandma who was still alive, although he claimed that he would feel awful if she did die when he lied about her death as an excuse. We also saw his Grandma in a flashback in episode 1.15. But as of episode 3.06, Grandma Dorian had died. In the same episode, J.D. also mentioned Nana Hobbs. He claimed that she was 'an eensy bit racist', a claim backed up by J.D.'s African-American best friend, Turk (Donald Faison), because she attacked him believing he was robbing her house.

Career

At Sacred Heart, J.D. was initially an intern (Season 1), later a resident (Season 2 - 4) and currently an attending physician in internal medicine. He served as Chief Resident with Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke) for his fourth year at Sacred Heart, until the Janitor (Neil Flynn) convinced everyone to call him Co-Chief, which he initially rejected but later accepted in deference to Elliot's desire for recognition and support. He took a job as staff internist at the end of the fourth season, a post he still holds at present. Additionally, he has recently been seen pondering about his specialty, trying to decide between Oncology and Radiology.

J.D., Elliot, Turk, and Turk's fiancee (and eventual wife) Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes) all work together, and have all learned to depend upon each other as colleagues as well as best friends. Throughout the series, he has also had a love/hate relationship with chief attending physician Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley). Cox regularly berates and humiliates him, going so far as to address him as "newbie" or by a succession of girls' names; in rare moments, however, Cox has shown a genuine concern and respect for him, and so J.D. thinks of him as a mentor. He has fantasized about taking up a private practice with Dr. Cox in Jacksonville, Florida.

Despite his numerous flaws, quirks and personal insecurities, J.D. is shown throughout the series to be a very competent doctor. While he doesn't possess as much theoretical knowledge about Medicine as Elliot, he is described by Carla and Dr. Cox as having "very good instincts" and a lot of determination and enthusiasm for his job. His gentle bedside manner is contrasted with Elliot's, which is described as "too cold and machine-like", and he often manages to win over a patient's confidence with his affable personality. He tends to worry quite a bit about his patients, and will often seek to treat them no matter the cost. As Dr. Cox says to the hospital board of directors in "My Fifteen Minutes", "He cares. Probably cares too much, but he's definitely somebody you don't wanna lose".

Quirks

He is afraid of sharks, hot air balloons, escalators, and dragonflies; acts strangely around pennies; refers to cream cheese as "cow fudge"; collects scarves, loves candy bracelets, asks for help in making major choices in his life from a rocking unicorn horse called Justin and his alcoholic beverage of choice is the appletini ("easy on the tini") although he does also enjoy the odd nectarini. He believes in Karma, although did not originally on the show. JD has on some occasions indicated that he is a Christian, although he was originally an atheist. In one episode JD became a Hare Krishna, in another he planned on converting to Buddhism and on a few occasions has made random references to other religions ("Holy Vishnu", "form of an ice menorah!").

Throughout his tenure at Sacred Heart, and despite advancing up the career ladder, he is tortured relentlessly by the Janitor. This theme has actually been the major device behind some of the episodes, e.g. in "His Story III." His fear of pennies is believed to stem from his first conversation with the janitor where he unintentionally, yet correctly, guessed that a penny was jamming a door (however, the reverse can also be true - he may have guessed that a penny was jamming the door due to his fear of them. Another explanation is that it was not a correct guess at all, but an intentional 'stitch up' by the Janitor, who was taunting him.) At the end of Season One, a new intern (who looked strangely similar to J.D.), on his first day had exactly the same conversation with a paper clip instead of a penny.

Transportation

His main mode of transportation is his blue scooter "Sasha"; though as he often manages to crash, fly, bang, or ride it into something (on one occasion, it was shot by police due to a holdup); he also has a blue bicycle as a backup. The bicycle was destroyed by the Janitor and Troy after he gave them the nickel riddle (two coins add up to thirty cents, and one is not a nickel), and its successor was similarly destroyed in "My Déjà vu, My Déjà vu" for pretty much the same thing. On each of them he likes to wear his "hairmet", an elongated helmet which he says prevents him from getting helmet-hair. His first vehicle was a brown Volvo station-wagon named Malik, which was later replaced by Sasha after Malik combusted under Turk's care. He drove a dashing Porsche with an included scarf, gloves and sock in one episode, however, he didn't realize it until the owner caught up with JD, demanding his driving glasses, scarf, gloves, and "driving sock", which is situated in the crotch.

Musical preferences

J.D. is an avid Journey fan, though he pretends he isn't. He suggested that the Lovin' Touchin' Squeezins', a Journey cover band, sing at Turk and Carla's wedding reception. He is also a fan of Pat Benatar, Billy Joel, Dido, George Michael, U2, Alanis Morissette and Toto. He describes his taste in music as "acoustic alternative", seeing as he is a sensi ("sensitive guy"), all of whom share such preference.

Trivia

• J.D. once shaved his head to go the "extra mile" for a cancer patient (causing him to be mistaken for a Hare Krishna several times), but it grew back after a month.
• He once also wrote a screenplay about a vampire doctor, named "Dr. Acula." This may be a reference to a movie Ed Wood pitched to a studio, or the Mitch Hedberg joke, or a joke written independently by the show's writers. Dr. Cox later admitted to not entirely hating it.
• Knows absolutely nothing about sports, geography (namely New Zealand), or politics, once referring to Dick Cheney as "the bald assistant president who keeps having the heart attacks" and still not having found out the difference between a congressman and a senator. Although there is the exception of when J.D. explained to Elliot the concept of a pitcher's "perfect game" during Dr. Cox's 24 hour shift in the "My Blind Date" episode during the first season. J.D was also at the batting cage after his break-up with Elliot in the first season ("My Heavy Meddle").
• A running gag through the series is for J.D to stand on one of his friend's shoulders, while wearing a very long white coat, and always saying in a loud voice something along the lines of him being "the world's most giant Doctor." He normally rests on either Turk's or Elliot's shoulders, however in one episode Elliot asks them if they want to try creating "the world's most-most giant doctor" with 3 people with Lonnie instead of Turk, leading to J.D being stuck on one of Sacred Heart's windows. In another episode the gag finally catches up on him: we see the whole of J.D on-screen, looking up, and next to him a giant pair of legs, and arm reaches down and the giant man named Chet says "Guys, can you stop messing around with my coat?"
• He has discovered that almost all of his sexual fantasies end right before the good part (particularly noticeable in 2.08 "My Fruit Cups" and 4.06 "My Cake"). Although he attempted to ask the psychiatrist Dr. Molly Clock why this always happened, the conversation also turned out to be a fantasy.
• At one time, Season 2 Episode 22 "My Dream Job", J.D. fantasizes about eating Turk's hand and Turk's ear when he thinks about his Dream Job of being a Candy Man and eating Chocolate all day.
• In episode 3.03 "My White Whale", JD claims subliminally to the Janitor that he had laser surgery and a skin graft from his buttocks placed on his forehead to cover up the word "PROM!" that his brother Dan wrote on it with their father's indelible space pen two weeks before prom started.
• J.D.'s name is based on John Doris, college friend of creator Bill Lawrence. Doris serves as medical advisor on the show.
• He has a stuffed (taxadermied) dog in his apartment.

Relationships with other characters

Turk

Turk is J.D.'s best friend for life, and has a long history with Turk as they were college roommates, and the pair continued to be roommates even as they progressed to become interns and residents. Bill Lawrence said on November 30th that "Both JD and Turk met at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. JD is from Ohio. We have never said where Turk is from, you can decide." They are frequently seen engaging in childishly entertaining antics, including wearing walkie-talkies, or playing hide and seek with a locating device. The two also form a joint entity they call "Multi-Ethnic Siamese Doctor" (with a "joint colon" and coordinated movements), a transformation which takes them all of two seconds to complete. J.D. has said that he once had "Turk fever," which, according to Turk, a lot of women suffer from. The pair "would make a good couple," as Colin Farrell's character notes in "My Lucky Charm." They are so close they once had a gong that they sounded after having sex which the other could somehow hear from any distance. However they were separated on Carla's insistence when she married Turk, and J.D. has since lived in a hotel, in the old apartment (secretly, without Carla's knowledge), and in a new apartment (with the also recently-dispossessed Elliot). J.D. has tended to overcompensate for this by intruding on "Turk Time"; i.e., going out with Turk whenever possible and even switching duties to do so. They have a stuffed dog named Rowdy, which Carla promised to throw out once she got married but never did.

J.D. is often shown to have a codependent fixation on Turk, regularly going through steep depression whenever he can't be with him, and feeling completely lost whenever Turk seems to be spending more time with anyone else. In the first episode, when Turk suggests the two of them seek separate apartments to "branch out," J.D.'s inner monologue tells himself to "Say it's a stupid idea. Tell him you need him." At one point, right before Turk leaves the room, J.D. says "I miss you so much, it hurts sometimes."

J.D. and Turk were once referred to as "an adorable interracial gay couple" after Denise the ambulancewoman (Molly Shannon) observes them running down the street. In episode 406 J.D. actually accidentally fantasies about kissing Turk, right after the fantasy in which he almost kisses Molly Clock.

It is implied in the episode "My Cabbage" that J.D. and Turk had drunkenly kissed each other as college students over 12 years ago.

Elliot

J.D. and Elliot have been friends since the beginning of the show, along with having romantic feelings for each other (see J.D. and Elliot). In seasons 1 to 3, a running joke in the series was that J.D. would sleep with Elliot at least once in each season, although the show's producers have indicated that this ended to prevent the characters' development being constrained by clichés. In season 3, when it is found that they have had sex again, Carla remarks, "Is it that time of year again?" But in Season 4, after their third failed relationship, they lost all romantic feelings for each other and decided to remain friends, although their friendship is still very close. In episode 5.03 ("My Day at the Races"), J.D. moved into Elliot's apartment and they have lived together ever since.

Dr. Cox

J.D. sees him as his mentor ("My Mentor"), and craves Dr. Cox's praise and acknowledgement, which is rarely offered. However, Cox made a promise to J.D.'s brother Dan, to be a man to look up to since Dan isn't admired by his little brother. J.D. also slept with Jordan (and her sister Danni), Dr. Cox's ex-wife, before he knew about their history together.

The defining moment of their relationship occurs at the end of My Fallen Idol where Dr. Cox thanks JD, calls him by his real name, and gives him a geniune pat on the back for helping him escape from severe depression.

Carla

J.D. and Carla are good friends throughout the series, with Carla advising him and having an affectionate nickname for him, Bambi. But in "My Nickname", J.D. offends Carla as they go through a dynamic shift in their nurse-doctor relationship.

In an episode where an Irish man comes to the hospital, the man starts to kiss Carla. The second time he dose this, both JD and Turk refer to her as "baby." This may hint that JD loves Carla, and not Eliot.

Interns & Residents

His interns laugh at his jokes only because they are sucking up to him; he used to think that he was really funny, but eventually realised that they were only laughing for his benefit. He asked them to only laugh when a joke was actually funny, but changed his mind about this to make himself feel better.

In Season 5, Keith, one of the interns, has experienced particular character development since his first "appearance" behind the camera in Episode 1, "My Intern's Eyes". From a position where he could not find the courage to talk to J.D., he quickly rose to prominence with his good looks, physique, and medical ability, making J.D. dislike him intensely first as an intern, then as a competitor when Elliot picked him as her intern booty call ("My Buddy's Booty"). J.D. finally accepted Keith on the principle that Elliot really likes Keith, and as Elliot's close friend he should also accept him without prejudice. J.D. also had an intern that he nicknamed Cabbage. Cabbage was J.D.'s favorite intern and especially loves his ape impression. However, through the process of trying to get Keith fired he realized that Cabbage was actually a very bad doctor, and despite J.D.'s feelings for him he fired Cabbage, who ended up passing a deadly infection on accident to a soon-to-be released long-time patient. It seems that Cabbage has landed to his feet, however, and was last seen working in a coffee shop named Coffeebucks, which was put into the hospital in ("My Coffee")