Scrubs Guest Stars - Season One

Not only has Scrubs become an official cult hit for NBC over the years, but this hit sitcom has become known for another fact: Actors love to be guest stars on Scrubs. For some reason, more odd and memorable guest star casting choices have come through Sacred Heart, the fictitious hospital Scrubs takes place at, than almost any other modern show on television. In season one alone, there are many guest stars, thirteen major ones to be exact, and some are very memorable. I'm going to go in order of appearance, and only talk about these memorable guest stars. For a complete, season one listing, check the end of this article.

The first season of Scrubs introduced us to a few recurring characters, the first of these memorable characters was a patient by the name of Jill Tracy, played by actress Nicole Sullivan. Jill Tracy was a flighty, somewhat nervous, patient that gets re-admitted a few times, and is known to suffer from depression, and a host of relationship problems. She gets re-admitted to Scared Heart Hospital a few times, but eventually dies in a later season. As for Nicole Sullivan, the actress that plays Jill Tracy on Scrubs, she is alive and kicking. Her strongest claim to fame, aside from the Scrubs guest spots, has been starring on the FOX sketch comedy show, MadTV for it first six years on the air. After that, she bounced around doing guest spots in shows like, The Drew Carey Show, Less Than Perfect, and Monk. Nicole Sullivan found a steady recurring role as the slightly ditsy, Holly Shumpert, on CBS' hit, The King of Queens.

Who could possibly forget J.D.'s father on Scrubs? Not only was Sam Dorian an entertaining character, he was played by the late, and great, John Ritter. J.D.'s father was an unsuccessful salesman of office supplies. Until J.D. was seven, his father was the sole bread-winner for the family, and somehow, managed to earn enough for them to get. After divorcing J.D.'s mother, Sam Dorian always stayed in J.D.'s adult life, and also become friendly with his best friend, Turk. Due to John Ritter's untimely passing, the character was written to have a massive heart attack, and killed off Scrubs, in order to pay homage to John Ritter.

R. Lee Ermy, one of my favorite actors, more for the roles he chooses than for his actual acting chops, popped up in the first season of Scrubs as Janitor's Father. He dislikes J.D. from the get go, and seems to have the same attitude towards his son. R. Lee Ermy's role on Scrubs, which unfortunately only spans one episode, is reminiscent of his first major acting role, as the drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. Besides Scrubs, you may have seen R. Lee Ermy in movies like; Apocalypse Now, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Saving Silverman, one of this author's personal favorites. R. Lee Ermy has appeared in over sixty films, as well as other media including video games, television shows, and even action figure toys.

The last memorable guest star of the first season of Scrubs, belongs to the actor Brendan Fraser. He appeared in Scrubs as Dr. Cox's brother-in-law and best friend, Ben Sullivan. It was discovered that Ben had terminal leukemia, but after treatments, the cancer went into remission. After coming back a year later for Dr. Cox's son's birthday, he ended up going into cardiac arrest and died in J.D.'s care. Another notable skill of Ben Sullivan, the carpenter and expert photographer, was an uncanny ability to identify actresses who appeared naked in movies, which was a talent shared by J.D., also. Brendan Fraser has been the star of many movies; most notably Encino Man, Airheads, and The Mummy franchise, of which the third installment is due out in 2008.

First Season Scrubs Guest Star List

John Ducey as Will Forte
Kathryn Joosten as Mrs. Tanner
Travis Wester as David Morrison
Michael McDonald as Mike Davis
Nicole Sullivan as Jill Tracy
Kelli Williams as Kristen Murphy
Aaron Simon as a member of Scrubs' Sacred Heart Hospital board of directors
John Ritter as Sam Dorian
R. Lee Ermy as Janitor's Father
Markie Post as Lilly Reid
Lane Davies as Dr. Simon Reid
Scott Foley as Sean Kelly
Brendan Fraser as Ben Sullivan