One Of Scrubs’ Best Episodes Was A Nightmare For Judy Reyes

The musical episode of Scrubs may have been one of the series’ best, but filming it was a nightmare for Carla actress Judy Reyes. Reyes played Carla Espinosa throughout Scrubs seasons 1-8, a role that saw her act in a maternal capacity to many of the show’s more childish characters, including her own husband, Dr. Christopher Turk (Donald Faison). Ever the voice of reason, Carla was one of Scrubs‘ biggest grounding influences amid stories full of wacky and fantastical comedy.

Scrubs season 6, episode 6, “My Musical” is one of the series most ambitious and well-reviewed by both fans and critics alike. It saw Scrubs’ beloved cast of characters acting out the episode in the style of a Broadway musical, complete with numerous song and dance numbers. The story itself centered on a patient who believed that everyone around her was singing—actually caused by an aneurysm in her temporal lobe—allowing for Scrubs‘ cast to indulge their musical sides.

Though the episode was one of the best in the series, for Judy Reyes, filming it was far less pleasant than one might expect. Shortly after starting work on the episode, Reyes injured herself at home, breaking her hip and requiring surgery. Unfortunately, Carla’s biggest scene in the episode still needed to be filmed – the song “For the Last Time, I’m Dominican” – and it required Reyes to dance the tango. Despite the Scrubs scene being imaginary, it wasn’t changed, and Reyes had to film the dance scene while recovering from her broken hip.

Luckily, Judy Reyes didn’t find the experience as painful as she might have, thanks to Scrubs‘ production team allowing her adequate time to recover. Speaking with TV Guide at the time, Reyes explained, “It took like 10 hours to shoot that, from every angle possible, and the only thing that hurt after that was my feet. My hips didn’t hurt at all, I was having such a blast, but my feet were throbbing to the lyrics by the end of the day.”

According to Judy Reyes, Scrubs‘ team was both incredibly supportive and insistent that she be able to film the scene, and they rearranged schedules to accommodate her surgery and recovery. Reyes said she was “thrilled” and “couldn’t wait” to film the scene, but dancing the tango after a serious hip injury is certainly less than ideal. However, thanks to Reyes’ positive attitude and Scrubs‘ willingness to accommodate for her recovery, the scene is an excellent part of “My Musical”, thanks in part to Reyes’ dancing.

From Scrubs‘ perfect comedy pilot, the show blurred the line between comedy and drama. However, “My Musical” continues to stand out as one of the series’ best episodes, thanks to excellent writing and the cast’s impressively varied talents. While the episode remains as a testament to just how brilliantly Scrubs blended genres, it was also an experience that Judy Reyes will never forget thanks to her unfortunate injury.

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