Dr. Kelso may not return to Sacred Heart after all. When ABC announced the Season 2 cast of the Scrubs revival, including OGs coming back, Ken Jenkins’ name was not among them despite being on show creator Bill Lawrence’s wish list.

“Dr. Kelso will be back next year,” Lawrence told Deadline in February, ahead of the Season 1 premiere. “It just didn’t work out this year but it will next year.”

That may have been too big of an ask for the 86-year retired actor Jenkins who portrayed former Sacred Heart Chief of Medicine Dr. Kelso for Scrubs‘ entire nine-season original run.

During a joint video interview with Scrubs‘ three stars/executive producers Zach Braff (J.D.) Sarah Chalke (Elliot) and Donald Faison (Turk), Braff provided an update on the status of Jenkins’ potential return.

“The fans want this so much, and I so respect that, we do too, but I think we just also need to be respectful of his age,” he said. “I’ll keep trying, but I think, for currently where he’s at, it’s a bit of a big ask, I’ll just say that.” (You can watch the video below.)

While Jenkins may not be able to make it, Season 2 has a stong contingent of original cast members returning as guest stars, led by John C. McGinley (Dr. Cox) and Judy Reyes (Carla), along with Neil Flynn (The Janitor), Krista Miller (Jordan), Robert Maschio (The Todd) and Scott Foley (Sean), who joins in Season 2 as a romantic interest to former flame Elliot (Chalke).

McGinley’s Dr. Cox is front and center in the opening episodes of Season 2 as his former pupils rally to find treatment for his autoimmune disease.

“We all find the story of all of his mentees rallying around to cure and and treat him really interesting and something we want to continue,” Braff said. “We want to keep Dr. Cox, Johnny C around, and we’ll continue to do that in different ways because the audience loves him, and we love him, and he’s such a valuable part of the show.”

Braff admitted that “it’s a little tricky” because McGinley is a series regular on Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence’s newest series, HBO’s Rooster, which started production on its second season in Los Angeles just a couple of weeks after Scrubs began filming its second season in Vancouver.

“We’ll have to navigate all that but I think this season is about us navigating being teachers, being the leads of the hospital, and and passing down our knowledge,” Braff said. “We’re navigating dating new people while being co-workers, and Turk’s battling some struggles with his mental health, we introduced that in the pilot. Having J.D. come back was certainly a temporary cure for that, but I think that what we’re going to start to explore is how that doesn’t just take away your melancholia. That there’s more work to do than just have your friend come back to town.”

“Absolutely,” Faison said. “I think that monologue in the pilot surprised not only myself but a lot of people. And it’s something worth, let’s explore it and find out how far the rabbit hole goes.”

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