History Series / Scrubs

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections
* ScriptWank: Lampshaded at one point.

* BrokenAesop:
** In "My Unicorn" the Aesop is supposed to be about Murray Marks learning to forgive his father and that whats truly important is the fact Gregory Mark deeply loves his son. Yet apparently not so much that he won't freely admit to having once stolen Murray's college girlfriend and took her to the Bahamas. We're supposed to forget he's a Jerkass who ''still'' hasn't apologised for how he treated Murray. It's Murray who apologises in the end.
** In an early episode when J.D. surpasses Carla in medical knowledge, she later decides to tell off Dr Cox for giving J.D. trouble instead of letting him handle his own problems. This of course leads Dr. Cox to heap even more abuse on J.D. J.D. lashes out at her for giving him advice (in a rather condescending manner while calling him Bambi) during a procedure. He apologizes, but that is not enough for Carla as she later rants at him about not being respected enough and how J.D. looked down on her. So the lesson is to not look down on your subordinates. Yet Carla showed less respect by interfering in his business and telling him what to do.
** In another episode after J.D. finds out about Kim's miscarriage and he is depressed. He learns from Carla, Elliot, and Turk to stop being a burden to them after he "has driven them crazy for six years". This coming from people who drag J.D. into 80% of their relationship problems (Carla and Turk) and has helped Elliot since day one.
** ''My Perspective'' is supposed to be about J.D. learning how to not force his own problems on other people and he needs to work on them him and seeing things from their perspective. Fair enough, the problem is is that when you look back on the show, you realize that J.D.'s friends are the ones who actually force their problems on him, like Turk forcing him to get in the middle of his fight with Carla to try and get her to come home, despite J.D.'s protests. Not only that, but it comes across as hollow because J.D. is now homeless because he couldn't keep Elliot's apartment and he just broke up with his girlfriend who he believes has miscarried their child. And he's now gotten a condition where he passes out when he poops, which could have led to serious injury if he had hit his head on something. He shouldn't be alone during this.
** The two-parter of "My Malpractice Decision" and "My Female Trouble" has two contradicting morals with the same patient Turk treated. The patient wasn't satisfied with the quality of his surgery, and thus started harassing Turk every chance he got to treat him again. This culminates in Turk filing a restraining order, and then the patient suing him for malpractice. The moral of the episode is about karma, and in Turk's case, the narration treats what he did as bad, and the lawsuit is his LaserGuidedKarma. Come the next episode, the moral is about the strength of a woman. However, in Carla's case, she ends up threatening the same patient that sued Turk with violence to stop the lawsuit, and gets her way. Carla is praised as strong and independent for ''threatening a patient with violence'', while Turk's lawsuit is treated as a punishment he deserved, even though he never went so far as to threaten the man.

* BegoneBribe: Discussed. J.D. is trying to get Cox to hire more nurses. Cox claims that there just isn't enough money for it, but that J.D. could raise the money himself, since he's so annoying, by offering people a service whereby he doesn't talk to them in exchange for a monthly fee.

* CreatorCameo: Bill Lawrence appears as bohemian Justice of the Peace "Van" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w14s5j2Vuvg (stretch it out - Vaaan)]] in season 8 "My Soul on Fire" parts 1 and 2. He marries the Janitor and Lady with the line "It is now time to join these two, as only the creator can."
** In My Finale: Part 2, he appears as a janitor and he and J.D. deliver the final goodbye of the show.

* OverlyPrepreparedGag: JD's box of Oprah-O's took him a week to prepare.

* PlotTumor: JD at the beginning of season 9. While him being there is justified with him PassingTheTorch, he is too prominent and takes important screen time away from the new characters in need of CharacterDevelopment, only to rehash old plotlines with Turk and Doctor Cox, which we have seen done better already and in turn also keeps these two characters from forming relationships with the new cast members.

* PowerDynamicsKink: In her first appearance, Jordan was assigned to JD as a patient. Because she was a member of the hospital board, she largely ignored him and even planned to leave before he cleared her to go. This caused JD to snap at her and demand she follow his orders. Jordan becomes turned on by this and had sex with him.

* ProfoundByPopSong: Dr. Cox actually calls JD out on this when the latter offers him relationship advice based on a Music/BillyJoel song after Cox rants about problems he's having with Jordan.
-->'''JD:''' Tell her about it. Tell her everything you feel.\\

* PulledFromYourDayOff: In the episode "My Way Home" JD is paged by an intern on his day off of work. What follows is a WholePlotReference to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' where JD gets constantly assigned tasks that prevent him from returning home.

* QueerPeopleAreFunny: Most prominently the running gag of Turk and JD being a couple.

** Dr. John Dorian, aka JD, is EndearinglyDorky and often stares off in to the distance when he has an elaborate fantasy, which will end with him saying something that would make no sense to anyone who didn't just witness his fantasy.

** Deconstructed with Dr. Kevin Casey. While his OCD initially presents itself in quirky ways, such as his need to touch everything in his first patient's room while saying, "Bink", [[spoiler: JD later accidentally witnesses Dr. Casey have a meltdown when he can't stop washing his hands, ''two hours'' after his final surgery of the day.]]

* RageJudo: JD says something to anger Carla, but before she gets to yell at him, he turns it around on Dr. Kelso, who's very confused by it.

* RaidersOfTheLostParody: One ImagineSpot by JD shows Turk climbing into a patient's intestines and removing a tumor in a parody of the idol-swap scene.
-->'''JD''': Watch out for colon darts.
** There's another episode where Carla has a lot on her mind and JD encourages her to confide her problems in him. He gets more than he bargained for when she begins unloading ''all'' of her problems on him at once, in rapid succession. This leads to an imagine spot where she opens up her head, which reveals a blinding light that melts JD's face.

** When John Ritter (who played Sam Dorian, J.D. and Dan's father) died, they wrote an episode devoted to JD and Dan dealing with his character's death.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Several, though special mention goes to Dr Cox. JD has a book made filled entirely with every single one he's ever used on him in season 8, fully categorized and rated from least to most damaging to his self esteem.

* ReboundBestFriend: JD and Turk, who are basically HeterosexualLifePartners, get in an argument, which leads to JD declaring Hooch his new "chocolate bear". It doesn't end well, because Hooch is crazy.

* RelationshipReboot: The Janitor has offered this to JD a few times. It's almost always a trick, and even if it isn't, FailureIsTheOnlyOption.
** One time the Janitor offered to go to a game with JD and hang out. Due to the fact that he sounded incredibly sarcastic (and that he constantly pulls this kind of stuff), JD took it as either a fake offer or as a trick and angrily walks off. After he's gone, the Janitor holds up the tickets to the event and reveals he was serious, but vows that this was the last time he reaches out.
* RelationshipRevolvingDoor: Elliot and JD have been on-and-off again so often that even by the third season other characters treat it as a mundane occurrence.
-->'''Carla''': What's wrong with [JD]?"

** Kim Briggs being introduced at the end of Season 5, despite being there all along, the excuse for this was that JD doesn't see women with wedding rings on and thus had never noticed her before.
* ReReleaseSoundtrack: The sitcom fantasy episode ended with a melancholy cover of the ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' theme, as JD leaves the harsh tragedies of the hospital to seek some comfort and escapism in television sitcoms. Tragically, this performance is removed for the DVD release of the season.

** Also, almost every woman J.D. sleeps with has an androgynous name: Elliot, Jordan, Alex, Danni, Jamie... even Kim, by far the least androgynous name of the lot, actually ''can'' be a male name! This is underscored by the fact that Kylie, a love interest who appears in a 3 episode arc, has a decidedly feminine name, but it is made explicit that they never actually sleep together. Likewise, there are at least two instances where the possibility is raised that JD and Dr. Molly Clock might hookup, but the first is foiled by Elliot and the second by JD’s guilt about Kylie.
** Turk and JD (especially JD) are big fans of the movie ''Judge Dredd'' and occassional references are made to their viewing habits and [[SawStarWars27Times the absurd number of times they have watched it]]; in "My Déjà Vu My Déjà Vu," for example, Turk invites JD to watch the movie at his place, at which point they both loudly proclaim, "NINETY-NINTH VIEWING," before they high-five each other; at the conclusion of "His Story II", JD is initially more interested in the movie than Elliot's sexual advances.
-->'''JD:''' What is she doing?! It's the Judge!

* SecretTestOfCharacter: A downright epic one is revealed in the finale. [[spoiler:Remember the door penny from the first day? It ''was'' JD's, after it fell out of his pocket and rolled there. He didn't say so because he wanted Janitor to like him. Except that the Janitor saw it happen, and had been hoping JD would fess up so they could be friends.]]

* ShownTheirWork: Despite some of the more cartoony personalities the show has, it is lauded as being one of the most realistic portrayals of the life of medical interns. The medicine itself too. According to the show's creator Bill Lawrence, the writers had to go out between seasons and do research, and they alter it slightly for drama. Also, JD is based on a real friend of Bill's, who was a consultant on the show, and [[https://www.quora.com/How-accurate-is-TV-Show-Scrubs-depiction-of-the-medical-community the department stereotypes are accurate]]. Dr. Cox was apparently based on Bill Lawrence's father-in-law.

* SickbedSmuggling: When JD and Turk spend the night keeping a dying man company, he complains that the nurse won't let him have a cigar, wondering what harm it could do since he's already terminal. JD explains to the patient that he's on an oxygen tank and smoking a cigar could cause a giant explosion. But JD and Turk do grant his request for a beer.

* StarvingStudent: While they aren't students anymore, JD, Turk and the other interns (apart from Elliot, whose parents pay for everything) have to steal hospital supplies to make ends meet.

* ThemeNaming: It's an underlying joke that the majority of JD's love interests [[GenderBlenderName have a masculine/unisex name or at least go by a masculine nickname]]: Elliot, Jordan, Danni, Kim, Alex and Jamie. The outliers tended to be more minor characters like Kylie, Julie and Molly. Notably, JD never sleeps with either Kylie or Molly.

* ThereWasADoor: JD and Turk get kicked through a window by ostriches (long story). Their owner quips this.
* ThirdPartyPeacekeeper: A marital rift forms between Turk and Carla after Carla and JD share a brief drunken kiss, and Turk decides to hold Carla the one responsible. JD realizes that he should have been the one to bear the blame, not her, and so he walks up to Turk and gives him a brief kiss as well, then points out to Turk that he was no saint in the marriage himself, having been texting an old girlfriend behind Carla's back. Turk realizes that JD has a point, and starts treating Carla with love and affection again.

** In ''My Way or the Highway'', The Janitor lets JD win. This isn't the only time where this happens in the series, but it is the first time.

** [[InvokedTrope Invoked by JD]] in one episode when they have a falling out and JD starts hanging out with Hooch, presumably for the sole purpose of still being able to call someone Chocolate Bear.

** JD [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvNvG2krOYw loves him the appletinis.]]

* TricksterMentor: Dr Cox's style of teaching, particularly when dealing with JD, though he [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial repeatedly]] [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold denies doing this]].

** Best exemplified in JD's Anvilicious closing narration in My Tormented Mentor: "There will always be a battle for power between the sexes, sometimes a man just has to give in, other times he just has to take a positive step, and once in a while a man just has to be there for her." The subtext being that women can't be wrong because they have it hard on account of being women(!?), while in the same episode the chief complaint a female surgeon has against Turk is that he assumes women in their profession have it hard (which is true, at least in universe) and then punishes him for being perfectly nice to her. The female surgeon who is in charge of Turk constantly insults everyone around her and then prevents him from operating indefinitely because she overheard him defending her in front of the resident MemeticMolester and he told her he doesn't share the prejudices of the other male surgeons. Hint: You're not supposed to be supportive of women, it's demeaning. All instances of female surgeons in the show basically illustrate one point: cocky men are assholes, cocky women are professionals who fight the good fight for women all over the world and it's completely justified if they lash out and misuse their authority from time to time (or all the time.)

** Carla demands to know when JD is moving out of the apartment because she wants to move in with Turk. It's a wonder why JD even goes along with this considering that it's ''his'' apartment! Even ''Turk'' briefly moved out in the Pilot, so you could argue this only reinforces that it belongs to him.
** Carla in one episode repeatedly infantilizes JD, her workplace superior, both by mocking his competence and referring to him as "Bambi" in front of his patients. It gets to the point where JD (who admittedly is having a bad day) snaps and furiously reminds Carla of her place. Both of them in this situation are out of line: Carla was demeaning JD in front of a patient, which can seriously impact the patient's confidence in their care, while JD's pulling rank humiliates a medical professional who is far more skilled and experienced than he is and who only has to take orders from him due to the medical hierarchy. However, JD is promptly reamed out by everyone he knows for the dispute and is clearly portrayed as the only one in the wrong. To save their friendship he apologizes, and to add insult to injury, "Bambi" forever after becomes Carla's nickname for him.
** Elliot sleeps with JD then immediately dumps him the day after because her old boyfriend came back; JD's jealousy is depicted as petty and he's advised to "be a good friend" (i.e., ''not'' tell Elliott's boyfriend that she cheated on him while he was away, with JD no less, even when said boyfriend asks JD point-blank if anything happened between them while he was gone). Later, JD convinces Elliot to leave her boyfriend but realises that he doesn't love her. After struggling over his dilemma, he admits this to her; she physically assaults him and at the start of the new season, injects him with something that knocks him out and holds a grudge all season.

** JD accidentally gets Kim pregnant on their first date, but they decide to raise the baby and work together to make their relationship work. Kim suddenly takes a lucrative job offer a few states over (naturally, JD doesn't want her to go but "learns" that the correct reaction is to support her decision unconditionally) and a few months later, informs JD that she has miscarried. Turns out, that was a lie to get out of their relationship. JD is furious but decides that he will get back together with Kim for the sake of his child, even if it means trapping himself in a loveless relationship for the rest of his life. When Kim is in labour she demands to know what he thinks of her; he admits that he doesn't love her and she is furious, dumping him immediately afterwards.

** Elliot demands that JD tell her he loves her in "the perfect way" and acts completely furious when he calls her on this, that they both agreed that the drama was ''over'' and it was this [[CharacterDevelopment growth in character]] was the reason ''they got back together''. Naturally, he has to eventually buckle in and give into her unreasonable demands.
** Elliot (once again) not understanding why JD is initially upset that she set up [[CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds Sean and Kim]] together, believing that since they (JD and Elliot) weren't dating at the time, it shouldn't have been a problem? By thinking of how this relates to her, she's completely failed to recognise that because JD and Sean mutually loathe each other, setting Sean up with the ''mother of JD's child'' is something JD might have a problem with. Furthermore, depending on how that relationship works out, Sean would now be in the position where he might become the new step-father to JD's son, which he's already acting in a father-figure capacity for now! When JD even brings this up, she tells him to just get over it and be happy for them.

** The case of an epilleptic girl from the episode "My Big Move". The girl refused to take her medications, for which Dr. Cox chews her out for endangering her own life and telling her to grow up. It turn out the girl refused to take her medications because "she was tired of people telling her what to do", even though it was her parents telling her to follow the dosage instructions. In the end Elliot tells the girl that she will be given the instructions directly. And it's seen to be a good thing, despite the fact that the girl had refused to take her medication for the aforementioned "reason". And to top it off Elliot tells Dr. Cox to mind the insecurities of all women, basically the aesop of the episode being: Treat all women, even grown-ups as hissy-fitting teenagers, play along their insecurities instead of calling them out for acting childish. (Which as previously mentioned Carla does to JD and Turk in almost every time they are being childish.)

* UnknownRematchConclusion: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in "My Manhood". After losing having one of his testicles removed in an operation, Turk starts acting extremely aggressive due to feeling like less of a man. Meanwhile, JD tries to be more assertive so he can be a better father figure for his son. This results in the two getting into a fight, which JD wins with a lucky hit to Turk's face and Turk becomes obsessed with beating JD in a rematch. However, they manage to reach an understanding and stop the fight. To save face, they decide to do a "Film/RockyIII freeze-frame ending" and circulate a picture of them about to punch each other. This allows them to both claim victory, without anyone knowing who really "won" the fight.

* WannabeLine: One episode had Turk and JD repeatably denied entrance to a club because the {{Bouncer}} thought they were acting uncool. They were only allowed in when Carla pays him off.
* WantingIsBetterThanHaving: JD is usually only interested in Elliot when she's not in a relationship with him. The fact that he never learns that he only wants what he can't have is frequently pointed out to him.

** "My Old Lady": This is the first truly dramatic episode in the series, where JD, Turk, and Elliot all try to save their patients. [[spoiler: But all of them die]]. It serves as a massive GutPunch that shows that not everything will turn out great at the end of each episode.

*** Most of the other season finales were quite shocking: "My Dream Job" had [[spoiler: Dr Cox punch Kelso in the face]], "My Best Friend's Wedding" had [[spoiler: JD break up with Elliot]], "My Changing Ways" had [[spoiler: JD moving out, Turk and Carla planning to have a kid, Elliot leaving Sacred Heart, and Jordan getting a new job]], and "My Transition" had [[spoiler: the reveal that both Jordan and Kim are pregnant.]]

** "My Life In Four Cameras": The second half of the episode consists of JD imagining that all of the episode's events take place in a happy-go-lucky sitcom, until [[spoiler: the patient of the week dies, Turk and Carla don't get over their marital issues, and Dr Kelso ends up having to fire someone.]]

** Combined with WhamLine at the start of "My Old Lady." JD's narration notes that, after you discount certain specialist wards that skew the demographics higher or lower, one out of three patients admitted to the hospital will die there. Cue Elliot, JD, and Turk introducing themselves to their new patients, with the implication that one of those patients is going to die. [[spoiler:All three die. [[FridgeBrilliance Those are not the only three patients, and our heroes are not the only three doctors, in the hospital that day.]]]]

** After JD [[spoiler:asks his question]] in "My Screw Up", we cut to Cox turning to Ben [[spoiler:and realizing he's not there]]. And, as if to drive the nail in further, [[spoiler:after coming to his realization, Cox and J.D. proceed to walk off to the side... and we see they are in a graveyard]].

* WhyAreWeWhispering: Season 2 Episode 21, between JD and Janitor.

* WillTheyOrWontThey: JD and Elliot - And yes, they...[[RelationshipRevolvingDoor wait, no. Yes. No. Maybe]]. I don't know. [[Music/TheyMightBeGiants Can you repeat the question?]]

** One episode had JD take his son to Disneyland and one had Carla being out of town.
* XCalledTheyWantTheirYBack: One episode has J.D. describe an elderly patient as a "neat old lady" and Turk tell him "the 1930s called, they want their lingo back." Lampshaded when JD tells Turk he's been using that "somebody called" joke a lot in that episode.

* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: Anytime Dr. Cox refers to JD by his name, it's a sign of something serious going on with Cox
** When JD confronts him about Ben's diagnosis and Cox's refusal to address it, Cox talks about the low chance of survival Ben has and that he can't handle it, and ends with a "No thank you. Johnny"
** After JD gets him out of his depressed funk in ''My Fallen Idol'', he greets him at the bar with a sincere "JD, thank you".
** After finding out JD dumped his interns on another doctor, he yells "Where the hell is Dorian?"

* YourMimeMakesItReal: JD tries to get rid of Todd by doing the old "invisible tennis ball throw" that anyone with a dog will be familiar with. Todd falls for it, but somehow returns with a real tennis ball.

:: :While it ''is'' worth noting that Turk and Carla's first year of marriage was very rocky, and that their relationship was already very strained by this point -- making Turk's flirtations with his ex more the [[TheLastStraw straw that sprained the camel's back]] than the sole cause of their marital problems -- this is still a '''great''' example of this double standard in action. Both indiscretions were made while Turk and Carla were well aware that what they were doing was either wrong or something that would upset the other. But whereas Turk's choices pushed Carla to move out and earned him quite a bit of scorn from other character's, Turk never even learned about the pre-wedding date Carla went on, let alone how strong her feelings were for him in the past. And had JD not been standing right there when Dr. Ramirez asked Carla out, it's likely ''no one'' else would have known she'd gone out with someone she used to have feelings for.

** "My Screw Up" ends with us finding out that Dr. Cox has been in denial most of the episode and [[spoiler: that Ben was actually the patient that died as a result of JD's apparent 'screw up'.]] Though even Dr. Cox would eventually realise that [[spoiler:if Ben's leukaemia had advanced to the point where he suffered cardiac arrest, there was nothing anyone could have done to save him]].

** "My Lunch" even has a downer middle when [[spoiler: Jill Tracy]] is brought into the hospital [[spoiler: from a suicide attempt by overdose after JD repeatedly brushed her off outside the hospital and JD can't stop blaming himself.]] Dr. Cox tells JD he can't blame himself and has to move on. [[spoiler: Jill's organs end up being donated to three patients in need of organ transplants that Cox has been obsessing over for weeks. Turns out Jill actually died of rabies and the three patients start dying one by one from her infected organs which sends Dr. Cox into a downward spiral of alcoholism over the next episode.]]

** Averted; as one might guess from the title, most of the main cast tends to wear hospital scrubs. JD only ever wears the usual white coat in one episode and it's a plot point then. Many other doctors do wear it, though. They wear (and use) stethoscopes, however. These tend to be the older and less hands-on doctors like Kelso, Mickhead, and Beardface. The younger, main character doctors wear scrubs. Cox, who straddles the line, wears the lab coat, but with t-shirt and sweats underneath.

** While Hooch clearly was AxeCrazy, he was still capable of functioning as a Doctor. That was ''until'' JD made his interns follow him around all day and not tell him ''why''. Later in the episode Kelso mentions Hooch was fired because of the "[[NoodleIncident Hostage situation]]".

** Turk and JD disagree about how to treat a patient, Turk thinks that surgery is the way to go, while JD thinks he should be treated with medicine, but they manage to reconcile with one another, complete with an ImagineSpot of them singing a duet “A Surgeon and a Doc Above It All”. There's also another scene later in the episode with Dr Cox and Dr Wen.

** The first few episodes in particular had an almost documentary-like look to them in the portrayal of the hospital, with dozens of extras and little background events going on. Later in the first season they toned down how busy the hospital looked likely to save money and make filming simpler. Additionally, the show was a lot more low-key in humor, the {{Imagine Spot}}s were more JD daydreaming about a pretty girl rather than the surreal NonSequitur, making it feel slightly more dramatic in tone.

* EndOfSeriesAwareness: The eighth season builds more and more toward this as the season progresses. JD grows a beard, Kelso is out as chief, Cox eventually replaces him, etc. Everyone moves on to new roles and a new set of interns are brought in for the intended spin-off (which became the ninth season).

-->'''JD:''' Oh, I'm just doing this thing where I use a slice of wisdom from someone else's life to solve a problem in my own life.

-->'''JD:''' And yet I do it almost every week.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Janitor. We never learn his name. He gives JD a name in the finale, but is immediately called a different name by a passing orderly. We will never know.

* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Pretty much the entire hospital knows that despite breaking up twice, JD and Elliot are meant to be together, and for the most part, [[ShipperOnDeck are on board for it.]] Even Cox and Kelso.

* FakeGuestStar: Pretty much bound to happen, given the wide selection of recurring characters that would be required for a hospital setting. Of particular note, however, are Robert Maschio as Todd, Sam Lloyd as Ted, and Creator/ChristaMiller as Jordan, who each appeared in over 80 episodes (or, in Maschio's case, over 120), and were present throughout every season of the show. They also seemed to gain more prominence as the show went on, even sharing a collective [[ADayInTheLimelight day in the limelight episode]] in "Their Story". [[spoiler: Additionally, Jordan, Ted, and Todd are pretty much the only recurring characters to show up for the Janitor's wedding in Season 8, and one of the recurring subplots of that season was Ted finally getting a girlfriend. Indeed, Jordan essentially became part of one of the show's three main romantic couples when she got back together with Perry permanently, with her pregnancies being given quite a bit of focus and the series finale showing the two of them celebrating Christmas with JD and Elliot and Turk and Carla.]]

* FamilyFriendlyStripper: Turk and JD occasionally go to strip clubs but all we see are bikini/lingerie clad dancers. Eliot fantasises about doing a burlesque striptease for the male doctors in their co-ed locker room but whilst she reluctantly gets into it she never goes further than removing one of her elbow gloves.

** Elliot is MsFanservice, but not to forget the two-part BeachEpisode in season 8's "My Soul's on Fire." The male principals (JD, Turk, and Cox) collectively spend about as much time shirtless as Elliot, but aren't quite so forthcoming about their fetishes.

** JD had apparently started going to the gym in Season 8, turning his scrawny frame into something a little more toned. This made him favor the ShirtlessScene in a BeachEpisode and in some of his daydreams in an effort to show off.

* FiveStagesOfGrief: Obviously, Dr. Cox and JD go through them in ''My Five Stages''.

** JD was originally more of a timid but very empathetic character who looked to Dr. Cox as a mentor and role model. Soon his obsession with Dr. Cox became a ParentalSubstitute ordeal and (with few exceptions) he was just desperate for any sort of appreciation. He was always a bit geeky, but by the end of Season 2, he was an insanely feminine and girly masochist who enjoyed it when Doctor Cox did something semi-abusive to him. Zach Braff even joked in a Season 8 outtake that his character was mostly gay by now.

* ForcedOrgasm: in 'My Dirty Secret' Eliot inadvertently gives an elderly female patient an orgasm during a pelvic exam. When JD recalls the incident later he remembers the whole scenario as much more seductive and recasts the patient as a much younger and more beautiful woman (literally played by Miss USA).

** It's mocked earlier than that. In one of the episodes with JD's dad, Cox tells him to stop moping because "''everyone's'' parents do considerable emotional damage".

** "My Bed Banter and Beyond": JD and Elliot get into an argument about their relationship. When Elliot accuses JD of relying on jokes because he is afraid someone in the hospital won't like him, JD fires back that his jokes are how he makes friends and points out that Elliot pretty much has only one friend among the Sacred Heart staff.
* FriendshipSong: "Guy Love" from the MusicalEpisode of the series. It's a song about JD and Turk's bromance.

** The show was actually pretty fond of this trope. Other examples include the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qgGoqcwLUI Janitor's dad making him do pushups]] while Dr. Cox tells JD that ''everybody'' has issues with their parents; Turk continues to do his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yB0xwE2v80 "We're the Turks" dance]] while JD and Elliot discuss her new job....
*** During a serious conversation between JD and Elliot, [[ItMakesSenseInContext The Janitor can be seen through a window, rollerblading around a children's ward and wearing a sheet.]]

** Elliot storms into a room to demand why JD has been telling people that she's rough with her physical examinations, startling Turk who had been balancing backwards on a wheelchair into falling on his ass. While Elliot and JD talk, we can see Turk shuffling out of the hospital room, tenderly rubbing his behind.

** JD had a mullet in the flashbacks of his college years while Turk had a complementary hi-top fade that made his head seem 50% taller. After Turk learned that JD's scatter-brain cost him the chance to see Michael Jordan live, Turk ripped all his hair off out of frustration. This is the story of how he got his [[Main/{{HairTodayGoneTomorrow}} signature bald head]].

** The short-haired Dr. Cox is shown in a flashback (or rather, one of JD's {{Imagine Spot}}s) as having a blond Mohawk in TheEighties, and an attitude to match:

* GaggingOnYourWords: When Cox finally tells JD that he's a good doctor.

** "My Buddy's Buddy" has the Janitor mention he often breaks into JD's apartment at night to do this.

* GayMoment: JD's had one. [[CampStraight It started in 2001.]]

** Dr. Kelso also has these during one of JD's daydreams in the first episode.

* HairReboot: Avoided when JD shaved his head for a patient. The next episode indicates that a month passed for his hair to grow again.

** JD at one point [[LampshadeHanging comments that he has too many dances]]

** In another episode, JD's happy place is an ImagineSpot with him as the bandleader for Jay Leno.

--> '''JD''': Turk, we're not married.

--> '''JD''': I know, I love it.

* HumanLadder: World's Most Giant Doctor, Turk and JD in an oversize lab coat. They tried Giant Black Doctor once, but people ran.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Every episode is named "My [Something]," unless the narrator isn't JD, in which case it's His/Her/Their Story, depending on who's getting ADayInTheLimelight.

* IdiotBall: Not even JD is dumb enough to give the responsibility of telling a wife that she should let her husband die to the one woman who has proven time and time again that she's so emotionally dead that Jordan looks happy by comparison. It's arguable that the only reason he did it was to tie up the symmetrical intern-protege story arc at the end of "My ABC's".
** Except ''somebody'' has to be the first person she tells they (or their loved one) is going to die and JD does push her to be ''somewhat'' more sympathetic

** Kelso does the same thing to JD in the Bahamas with a pair of Bahama Mamas.

* ImagineSpot: JD's mind is a strange, strange place.

* InformedSelfDiagnosis: FOUR doctors as patients, helping JD; especially notable in that all four doctors played characters on ''Series/StElsewhere''.

* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: JD is very emotional and sensitive, with some stereotypically "girly" interests.

** That drawing on JD's journal is a horse with a sword in its head, ''not'' a unicorn. Even the internal fantasy of the "horse" disagrees.

* {{Irony}}: After years of referring to JD by various girl names, Dr. Cox's daughter is named "Jennifer Dylan" by Jordan, AKA JD. He is not happy to say the least.

* IrritationIsTheSincerestFormOfFlattery: JD did this to Dr. Cox until he learned that Dr. Cox didn't like himself.

** In ''My Ocardial Infarction'', he gets angry at Elliot just because she's better at train-wreck codes than him and tried to teach him how to deal with them. When Elliot reminds him that, for the past three years, JD has always been the golden boy while Elliot was the screw-up and now she's finally doing something well, JD outright tells her that "You're the one that's supposed to struggle -- not me."
** Towards the end of season 3, he admits his feelings to Elliot, causing her to break up with her current boyfriend Sean in order to come back to JD...who dumps her after just ''one'' episode, because he doesn't actually love her.

** In season 5 he's a jerk to Keith for no apparent reason. He was probably jealous of him for being a good-looking/competent doctor and because he was dating Elliot, even if JD had no apparent feelings her at the moment.

--->'''JD:''' Ohh, you smell like a father figure. Mmm.

* KinkyRolePlaying: Dr Eliot Reed appears to be a big fan of this. When her boyfriend Sean is too shy to voice his fantasies she immediately suggests they play the naughty schoolgirl and the stern headmaster, commenting they need to buy her a schoolgirl uniform as soon as possible as she has work in the morning. With Keith Dudemeister she acts out the tale of an orchard owner who catches a Mexican apple thief, sometimes employing JD in the role of a mute peasant who witnessed the crime. She also describes to JD a game she and Keith play where she is a lesbian wrestling coach and he the hunky athlete who "turns" her.
* KissingWarmUp: JD practiced kissing with the stuffed dog.

* LameLastWords: An early episode sees JD about to be grilled by hospital higher-ups. He keeps thinking to himself "I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay," eventually misthinking it as "I'm a K." It then switches to an ImagineSpot where he's blindfolded and getting a last cigarette lit as thought about to be executed by firing squad, when Dr. Cox asks for his last words.
-->'''JD''': I'm a K. That was bad. Can I have a do-over? ''(BOOM!)''

** JD's girlfriend Julie has classic Klutz tendencies, but when there's someone else for her to hurt she'll find an interesting way to maim them. Elliot is often a victim.

** JD often has a long sleeved shirt underneath his scrubs. His civvie wear tends towards grey or muted blue (same with Turk, though more muted green).

** Elliot wears a lighter shade of blue scrubs than JD, and her civvie wear is often white and pink. When she goes into private practice she switches to pink or blue dresses with a lab coat.

** A season 2 episode featured JD wearing a white coat that let him stand up to the Janitor and Dr Cox.

* MaleGaze: In the pilot episode, one of Elliot's very first scenes has JD walking behind her up a stairwell, followed by a lingering POV shot of her butt.

'''JD (voice-over)''': ''Your butt looks like two Pringles hugging.''\\
'''JD''': No you don't.
** Lampshaded in an episode focusing on the hospital's co-ed locker room. JD needs to talk to Elliot, but she's just taken off her shirt and turns to face him in only her bra. JD is visibly straining so hard to avert this trope that Elliot sighs resignedly and says "Just look before your neck snaps."

* MediationBackfire: JD's attempt to intervene in a domestic between Cox and Jordan - "And just like that, all the hatred they had for each other was instantly directed at me."
* MentalStory: Almost all of "My Life In Four Cameras" take place in JD's head. Only the BookEnds are real.

* MistakenForUndead: After having spent the most of the day trying to get away from work after Dr Cox pettily has him [[PulledFromYourDayOff pulled from his day off]], in revenge for his days as an intern, JD attempts to leave the hospital in a bodybag, scaring mortician Doug.
--> '''JD:''' ''(From inside bodybag)'' Can you press lobby, please?\\
''(Doug screams and begins hitting JD with a fire extinguisher.)''\\
'''JD:''' ''(Shouts in pain and bursts out of bag)'' Doug!? Why are you hitting me?!\\

'''JD:''' ''({{Beat}})'' Then why were you hitting me?!\\

** "Resident Kabuki Theatre" is part of a dual whiplash. It's the funny moment after demonstrations of serious ways to tell people that their loved ones have died, and then it leads almost directly into the news that [[spoiler:JD's father has died]].

* MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat: Turk figures out that JD and Elliot were getting back together for the second time by the potential couple nodding at each other in the hallway.

* NewAbilityAddiction: One episode had The Janitor get a new circular saw. He spends the episode desperate to use it (JD even caught him using it to saw a twig). In the end, he [[spoiler: saws Dr. Kelso's table in half so it can be removed (thanks to Dr. Cox making everyone think he's dead).]]

* NeverLendToAFriend: JD once lent the Janitor a buck for the vending machine, only for him to start acting as if every random encounter is JD hounding him for a repayment. Of course, that's how he acts most of the time with no provocation whatsoever, so...

* NoEnding: Two season finales were written with the expectation that the show would be canceled, and both conspicuously avoided resolving the JD/Elliot WillTheyOrWontThey.

** JD can tell the difference between Rowdy and Stephen by feeling their genitals. Don't ask how.

* NotThatKindOfPartner: JD refers to his HeterosexualLifePartner Turk as his "partner" (since they're more or less an internal medicine/surgeon team), then hurriedly clarifies "not that type of partner". Later, it's revealed that his patient had the right idea to start with and got the wrong idea from the correction.

* OhCrap: JD attempts to [[PetTheDog Pet the Dragon]] by giving [[HairTriggerTemper the Janitor]] a pen; when said pen bursts, staining the Janitor's favorite shirt (and his favorite skin), his first reaction is ''"Oh God no..."''
** Not to mention JD's reaction to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl4pZokZhzs Dr. Cox learning]] he was baby Jack's real father.

* OldFashionedRowboatDate: JD has an ImagineSpot where he's on such a date with Elliot, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqbOX6Gk18k even throwing her lover in a lake]].

* TheOner: The ColdOpen of "My Student" is a single unbroken take, following JD, Turk and Elliot as they leave their car in the parking lot, walk into the hospital, get into an elevator where they are joined by Kelso, exit the elevator on an upper floor and meet their new medical students. It goes on for two-and-a-half minutes.

** This also becomes a sub-plot in a later episode, when it's revealed that JD ''does'' only know everyone by their nickname.

* OpposedMentors: [[DrJerk Dr. Kelso]] and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Dr. Cox]] have this dynamic for the first few episodes, with both being presented as possible mentors to JD. With Dr. Kelso being concerned with money (arguing that if the hospital doesn't make a profit, it'll close) and Dr. Cox arguing that the patient should come first. JD chooses Cox, earning him Kelso's contempt (although later episodes show Kelso in a better light). They recycled this plot a few times;
** One episode had JD ''think'' that Cox and a Private Practice Doctor were warring mentors to him, but really it was about the PPD having slept with Jordan years ago, shattering Cox and Jordan's already fragile marriage.
** When JD moved up to attending in the middle of the series they replayed the Cox vs Kelso only this time with Cox taking Kelso's part and JD taking Cox's part with some of the new interns being the ones caught in the middle.

--->'''Carla''': Heard it! Me, dead mom. J.D., dead dad. Elliot, emotionally abusive parents. Dr. Cox, emotionally and physically abusive dead parents, which he may have killed. No one's sure. [[note]]Though it's worth noting that both Carla and JD were adults when they lost a parent, which just can't be compared to a six year old losing her dad. Of course, J.D.'s parents divorced when he was seven, his father was a travelling salesman who was almost always going through financial difficulties (to the point that he couldn't afford to buy J.D. a bike, so he'd buy a single piece every year as a birthday present for J.D.), his mother married "everyone that rang the doorbell", and she may have been an alcoholic for a while, though she is shown as having loved J.D. a lot.[[/note]]

** This makes up the drama at the end of ''My Lunch''. Earlier in the episode, Dr. Cox tries to comfort JD by saying that the latter shouldn't fret over not being able to see that Jill was in trouble before she died, because "the moment you start blaming yourself for deaths that aren't your fault, there's no going back". But at the end when all three donor patients die, Cox completely breaks down, despite the fact that he couldn't possibly know the organs were infected with rabies. JD even ends up calling him out on it, but Dr Cox points out that unlike the other two patients, the last one wasn't in imminent danger of death, says his piece ("You're right."), and walks out anyway.

** Dr. Taylor Maddox, Kelso's temporary replacement as Chief of Medicine after his retirement. JD describes her as "an odd combination of super friendly and soulless".

* AllGirlsLikePonies: Elliot and JD both love horses; Lucy is obsessed with them to a positively creepy extent - which is commented on by the other characters.

* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:Much of "My Occurrence" is revealed to be one of JD's extended daydreams towards the end, with the shift occurring the moment he walks in to tell Dr. Cox and Ben the test results. JD's mind was playing tricks on him because he didn't want to face having to tell Dr. Cox's friend that he had leukemia.]]

* AlternateCatchphraseInflection: Inverted. Turk and JD love to mess with Hooch and say, "Hooch is crazy" in an amused way, but eventually Hooch becomes more unpredictable and has a shorter temper so they begin to say it in a concerned, and eventually flat-out afraid, tone.

* AnAesop: As the show is intended to show the emotional hardships of medicine, albeit with a comedic bent, episodes frequently end with the young doctors having learned a lesson, usually narrated by JD.
* AnalogyBackfire: An extended one in season five, when Elliot quickly loses her new job at a different hospital, and refuses help from her friends. Carla maintains the opinion they have to help her. When Turk says Elliot didn't want their help, Carla comes with an analogy about JD refusing help, and Turk immediately finds a reason why JD wouldn't want their help. It only goes south from there. For the record, Elliot really didn't want help and managed to get her old job back by herself, so Turk's initial point was valid.

'''Carla:''' If JD were drowning and he told you he didn't want you to save him, would you do it?\\

'''JD:''' Oh, I would never swim in a pond. They're infamous for serpents.\\

'''JD:''' Have you been to the Y on men night? Not me...\\

'''JD:''' Why did you have to go there?\\

** Dr. Cox's list of things he cares as little about as JD's last week as a resident - the list in general starts on minor things and ends on the big ones, but Cox returns to add Creator/HughJackman, resulting in this trope. After this, Hugh Jackman frequently became the punchline of a Cox LongList rant.

** Originally, the Janitor was meant to be a one-season-only character who would be revealed in the season finale to be JD's imaginary creation. He was so popular that they scrubbed that idea and kept him as a real character and AlmightyJanitor.

--> '''JD:''' I don't want to go to Mass in the stupid morn- ooh, hey, candy!
--> ''[JD takes candy from the Christmas tree, causing it to topple to the ground].''

* AxCrazy: Hooch is '''''crazy'''''. Hooch '''''is''''' crazy. In the space of an episode he goes from genial, to upset, to shouting, to willing to beat a man unconscious with his shoe when JD asks him not to let anyone off the elevator.

* BackToBackBadasses: Turk and The Todd, in one of JD's dream sequences.

* BegoneBribe: Discussed. JD is trying to get Cox to hire more nurses. Cox claims that there just isn't enough money for it, but that JD could raise the money himself, since he's so annoying, by offering people a service whereby he doesn't talk to them in exchange for a monthly fee.
** Cox continues, saying that after while, people will forget how annoying he is and let their subscription run out. And then JD will go to their house and annoy them all over again, but this time, the price is quadrupled.

** Done by JD in "My Last Chance" when, [[spoiler: after spending an entire night trying to get to Molly's apartment before she leaves town for another job, he finds out the note from Elliot that presumably gave him permission to have sex with Molly instead read "''Now'' we're even."]]

* BilingualBonus: Turk decides to learn Spanish to speak to Carla and the vast majority of the episode is subtitled--all of it except for the bit at the very end where they talk about JD and Elliot as they start to repair their friendship and ultimately their relationship. Lampshaded beforehand by Turk saying they are going to say things nobody can understand except in their language.

** Elliot has shades of this starting in season 4. Ranging from downplaying and forgetting how everyone else helped her early on, to calling JD jealous after being called by Dr. Cox for dumping patients on others, to calling JD a bad friend for considering telling Sean she cheated on him with JD.

** JD is tackled by an alzheimers patient at the beginning and end of the season 5 episode ''My Intern's Eyes''.

** One episode's cold open has a gag of JD seemingly speaking directly to the audience about his new suit [[FourthWallPsych but actually talking to one of the characters]], taken to its extreme when he says "What I really want to know is what ''America'' thinks." when he's actually speaking to his tailor, an Italian man named Americo.

** "My Scrubs" has an interesting variation: although JD is explaining to Maggie (Kelso's friend who needs to be admitted, but has no insurance) why Mr. Rabinowitz (a patient who recently died whose room they can give her) died, the camera shot of him has him look ''directly into the camera'' to say it. It comes off as JD explaining to Maggie and ''the audience'' why he died:

** Played with in "My Jerks" when JD seemingly points at the ABC logo in the corner and says "That's new" (it was the show's first episode on ABC) [[FourthWallPsych but is actually talking about the Janitor's new watch]].
*** Played with again in the tag for the same episode when JD, Turk and Elliot discuss how people count on them from week to week so they should work hard even though it's tempting to phone it in. There's also a reference to a Dr. [[Series/{{Monk}} Shaloub]] who steals all the awards during medical award season and Turk points out that the Nielsens (an unhappy family at the hospital) don't really like them.

** In an early episode when JD surpasses Carla in medical knowledge, she later decides to tell off Dr Cox for giving JD trouble instead of letting him handle his own problems. This of course leads Dr. Cox to heap even more abuse on JD. JD lashes out at her for giving him advice (in a rather condescending manner while calling him Bambi) during a procedure. He apologizes, but that is not enough for Carla as she later rants at him about not being respected enough and how JD looked down on her. So the lesson is to not look down on your subordinates. Yet Carla showed less respect by interfering in his business and telling him what to do.
** In another episode after JD finds out about Kim's miscarriage and he is depressed. He learns from Carla, Elliot, and Turk to stop being a burden to them after he "has driven them crazy for six years". This coming from people who drag JD into 80% of their relationship problems (Carla and Turk) and has helped Elliot since day one.

** JD's [[spoiler: last episode]] has him attempting to launch a bunch of balloons from his classroom ceiling; later in the episode when [[spoiler: Dr. Cox reveals he wrote JD's bad review]] the balloons come down.
** There are many of these, such as the reveal that the "Crotch-Punching Midget" in JD's fantasies was a patient he was treating, or that [[AscendedExtra Troy the Lunch Room Worker]] eventually joined in the Janitor's grudge-war against JD because JD accidentally insulted him.
** In the Season 1 finale, JD says he wants more people to call him Tiger. In the season 2 premier, Turk wakes him up by saying [[HoYay "Good morning, Tiger."]] [[invoked]]
** Doubles with CallBack and FunnyBackgroundEvent: At the start of "My Five Stages", a mid-season five episode, JD narrates how Elliot and Keith love to play games while the camera pans over a bunch of gaming cards/boards/dice and the like. Among them is a Scrabble board and on it the word "jzilbek", which JD comments on not being a real word while playing Scrabble with a patient in "My Old Friend's New Friend", the first season four episode.

** Dr. Cox's evaluation of JD:

'''JD:''' [''holding his ear''] [[ShellShockSilence ...oh my God.]]

* CardboardBoxHome: One episode saw JD on a date trying to impress a girl. First he ran over an opossum and took it to the vet. As they pulled out of their parking spot at the animal hospital, he ran over a homeless man in a cardboard box. [[FromBadToWorse It got worse from there]].

** JD's brother Dan - "heeey little brother!"

** JD meets his girlfriend Alex while she is stuck in an MRI machine, though she wasn't freaked out at all.

** The main characters, particularly JD, has been mentioned several times to be fans of ''Series/{{Friends}}'', yet no one reacts when Matthew Perry (Chandler) appears at Sacred Heart.

** Jamie, one of JD's girlfriends. At the end of "My Drama Queen," an episode focused on JD learning to evolve their relationship beyond the scandalous excitement phase, it is suggested that they have made up. The season finale "My Dream Job" does not mention her, and in the following season, other than a brief mention about her being out of town when JD feels like a fifth wheel she is never seen or heard from after that. She was referenced in a list of JD's girlfriends he broke up with over stupid reasons in a later episode and appeared (in fantasy form) among many others in the finale. She said "You never called." Read what you will into that.

** In the season 1 episode "My Student", the interns all get medical students assigned to them. JD and Elliot's students never appear or are mentioned again after the episode despite the episode going out of its way to establish conflicts between the interns and their students. Turk's student fairs a little better since she begins dating Dr. Cox in the same episode... only to dump him in the next and THEN never be mentioned again.

** Subverted in Season 4's "My Best Moment", where JD remarks "You know what would be really neat? If you guys all took a second and thought about what your best moment in medicine was." All cast members present shake their heads, stand up, and walk out.

** JD may as well be the Cloudcuckooland emissary.

** This is one of the Janitor's defining traits (especially in later seasons), besides being JD's tormentor.
* ClutchingHandTrap: Turk has gotten his hand stuck in both a candy vending-machine, and an ice dispensing machine (apparently the latter also happened to Leonard the [[FridgeHorror Hook-Handed]] Security Guard) and JD once got his hand stuck in a coffee jug.

* ComfortingTheWidow: J.D. ends up having sex with his patient's widow, and comments "There are a lot of ways to grieve, but last time I checked, wheelbarrow style wasn't one". It borders on RomancingTheWidow in this case, as the man had been in a coma for several years (after a car accident two weeks into their marriage). As "Tasty Coma Wife" puts it, she had already grieved over losing her husband, his actual death really just gave her some closure. This trope is more definitely in effect several episodes earlier when JD and the wife went on a date while the husband was actually still alive (but of course comatose). They have a good time together but JD backs out before anything physical happens because this trope makes him uncomfortable with the situation.
* CommanderContrarian: After Dr. Kelso retires as Chief of Medicine and Dr. Cox takes the job, Kelso spells out to JD that Kelso kept Cox around, and kept promoting him, because he could rely on Cox to play this for him. If Dr. Cox asked Kelso for something, Kelso said "no" as was his wont, and Cox let it drop, Kelso knew it wasn't that important. But if Dr. Cox kept pestering him, then he knew it was something worth paying attention to. Now that Dr. Cox is Chief, he'll need JD to play a similar role, even if he doesn't realize or appreciate it.

** Rowdy, a stuffed dog JD and Turk treat as a real one. Note that "stuffed" does not mean "toy." It is an actual dead dog that has been stuffed.
** After JD stopped living with Turk, his scooter Sasha largely took over this role, due to Turk getting to keep Rowdy.
** When a series of incidents see Rowdy temporarily go missing, Carla tries to replace him with yet another stuffed dead dog. Turk and JD find out but adopt the second dog and call him Steven. Turk ends up with Rowdy and JD keeps Steven.
* CompositeCharacter: Lucy is basically a composite of early-JD and early-Elliott.

** One episode has Elliot telling an embarrassing story to a patient to cheer them up about their own embarrassing incident; which involved her roller-skating out of a toilet with her pants about her ankles. Due to a mole on her butt, she earned the nickname Roller Moler. Several episodes later and JD rattles of a list of his former girlfriends, Elliot is nicknamed 'Mole Butt'

** One of JD's interns being forced to follow [[AxeCrazy Hooch]] around all day, no matter what.
*** That was Rex, and he wasn't forced, just incentivized by Turk and JD to do so. What Hooch said he'd do to Rex (and the other interns that were also roped into this) counts as this trope.

* CoolTeacher: JD. Sometimes also Dr. Cox.

* CovertPervert: At one point Elliot mentioned that she got into [[{{Hentai}} anime porn.]] and old dudes, and in separate boxes from her partner, and any number of role playing games. And one time when she was going out with JD, she asked him to pee on her. Allegedly because a jellyfish had stung her. She does have her limits though, Jake's sexual kink creeps her out.

* CurseCutShort: A couple times: once after The Todd high-fives JD ("motherf-" Cut to opening song.) and another when Dr. Cox starts to call Dr. Kelso a "stupid motherf-" after he punctured his eardrums.
** Not so much cut short as sneakily slipped in, JD demonstrating that he can indeed rhyme with anything by responding to Laverne "Eat ''schmidt'' and die".
* CurtainCall: The Series Fauxnale at the end of season 8 ends with JD walking down a hallway and meeting a lot of the actors that appeared on the show. A few dead people too. Some of them make comments referencing their story arcs.

* TheCutie: JD's childlike innocence and sensitivity is part of his eccentricity.

* DaydreamSurprise: A staple, thanks to JD and his five times an episode ImagineSpot.

* DerailingLoveInterests: Danni wasn't an ''especially'' likeable character when she's first introduced in the middle of season three, but when she returns at the end of the season her negative qualities are dramatically exacerbated to add fuel to the {{UST}} between JD and Elliot.

* DivingKick: One of JD's fantasies involves Turk being ambushed by ninja surgeons while trying to return Dr. Wen's briefcase. He and Todd get into a kung fu fight, with Turk starting the battle up with a Rider Kick!
* DoppelgangerDating: When JD first dates Danni.

*** "My Moment of Un-Truth": Only five episodes before their wedding, Carla justifies going on a date with Dr. Ron "Hotbutt" Ramirez, a co-worker she used to have a crush on, as a means of strengthening her relationship with Turk (before guilting JD into not telling Turk):

* BigNo: Done by JD in "My Last Chance" when, [[spoiler: after spending an entire night trying to get to Molly's apartment before she leaves town for another job, he finds out the note from Elliot that presumably gave him permission to have sex with Molly instead read "''Now'' we're even."]]

* ChristianityIsCatholic: Before the writers decided to drop Turk's role as a stereotypical Black charismatic Christian (which was handed off to Laverne), a Christmas episode has J.D. admiring his friend for his faith, featuring an ImagineSpot with Turk portrayed as a Baptist preacher. Later in the episode, Turk forces Carla and J.D. to go to ''Mass''. Protestants use service, church, or any number of other terms for their worship practices, but decidedly ''not'' Mass.
** A more subtle example: when [[spoiler: Laverne finally passes away after Carla is able to say goodbye to her]], the screen pans down to her hand which appears to be clutching a rosary. This would be very odd, as the character has been firmly established as a charismatic (possibly evangelical) Protestant, and rosaries are very, very, ''very'' Catholic. (Though some Prot denominations use "Protestant Prayer Beads")

* CelebrityParadox: The main characters, particularly JD, has been mentioned several times to be fans of ''Series/{{Friends}}'', yet no one reacts when Matthew Perry (Chandler) appears at Sacred Heart.
** Similarly, Courteney Cox (Monica) appears in the early episodes of Season 8 as the new Chief of Medicine. It was made even more amusing retroactively when it was revealed that ''Series/CougarTown'' (another Bill Lawrence show which happened to star Courteney Cox) was eventually revealed to take place in the same universe as ''Scrubs'' after Ted guest-starred there.

''Scrubs'' is a {{dramedy}} series created by Bill Lawrence that aired from 2001-2010 (2001-2008 on Creator/{{NBC}} and 2009-2010 on Creator/{{ABC}}, although the latter network's [[Creator/{{Disney}} parent company]] produced and owns the rights to the show). The show is PuttingTheMedicInComedic at its finest, shot in a single-camera format.

* CrazyMemory: The Janitor

* ImpaledPalm: Ben's introduction. Played for laughs.

*** A particularly big one: after J.D. tells Dr. Cox that "[[AmbiguousSituation he]] went into cardiac arrest" and died, Ben comes into view [[spoiler:missing the camera that he swore he'd keep on him "[t]il the day [he dies]"]].

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Janitor

* AffectionateParody: Both the ThreeCameras SitCom episode, the MusicalEpisode, and the ''Series/{{House}}'' ShoutOut.* * AgeInappropriateDress: Jordan puts her hair in pigtails and dressing childishly to persuade a gorgeous gynocologist that she's younger than she really is.