Scrubs: The Main Characters, Ranked By Likability

There are various medical shows out there, whether they be dramas or comedies, but few of them are as accurate, hilarious, and just as overall great as Scrubs, one of the most underappreciated single-camera comedies of the 21st century thus far. The slew of characters helps make the show what it is, with all of them, good or bad, bringing their unique personality to the nine seasons of the show.

Across the show’s duration, most of the characters grow in different ways, and through their interactions with others and individual arcs, they each have up and downs in terms of popularity with fans. Even though the show is a light-hearted ensemble, there is an evident disparity in just how good of a person the main characters are as individuals throughout the eight/nine seasons.

10 The Todd

Todd Quinlan, a.k.a the Todd, is a regular on Scrubs, appearing in just about every episode with some sort of hilarious cameo, usually cracking sexual jokes or making fairly dumb comments, especially for one of the most skilled surgeons at Sacred Heart.

All in all, though, there is not too much to like about Todd. While he is obviously hilarious as a character in the show, he is also just awful to women, with no end to his sexual harassment, and even though he is a side character, he is the same guy in season nine as he is in season one, having no positive growth.

9 Dr. Bob Kelso

Bob Kelso is a weird case on this list; post-retirement, he would be much lower, even including his season nine shenanigans. However, across the entirety of the show, Kelso does just too much to not get a high spot.

While he develops a lot, showing his more caring side on occasion, the way he acts as Chief of Medicine, his lack of care of patients (for the most part), his treatment of his wife, and overall jerk persona, even though layered, made him pretty much totally unlikable for six/seven seasons, with only moments of sympathy sprinkled in.

8 The Janitor

Far more of a regular and even funnier than Todd is the Janitor, a character who gets the audience laughing in every episode thanks to Neil Flynn and some great writing.

While he is as unique as they come, there are many objectively awful things about the Janitor, such as his abuse of J.D., his capture and killing of animals, general invasion of privacy of everyone at the hospital, and his compulsive liar. What puts him over Todd and Kelsos is the lack of awfulness towards women and the fact he makes audiences sympathetic towards him more often while being nice to a variety of characters consistently.

7 Jordan Sullivan

Jordan is a fairly nasty, judgemental, and ruthless woman throughout Scrubs, but more so than the characters above, she underwent a lot of growth that made her far more likable than she first appeared and led to one of the show’s best romances.

Jordan is pretty much wholly unlikable for the first couple of seasons of the show; it is when she opens up more and shows the love she has for the likes of Dr. Cox and Ben that she becomes a much better character. She and Cox are hilarious together, her love for her family shines through, and while she certainly keeps a level of nastiness, her growth into a loving mother and partner is pretty great.

6 Carla Espinosa

Carla Espinosa is one of the core regulars of the show, and from episode one is shown to be the mother figure, the fierce, level-headed, mature member of the group. While she is undoubtedly a crucial part of the show, this strong personality was not always a good thing.

Carla’s bossiness and controlling temperament led her to do many pretty awful things to Turk, J.D., and Elliot, making her by far the least likable of the four. However, her pride in her job, her independence, and her strength, as well as her complete adoration for her friends and family, is to be commended.

5 Ted Buckland

You really have to feel bad for Sacred Hearts lawyer Ted Buckland, a man clearly unhappy with life, mediocre at his job, with a slew of personal issues, played excellently by the late Sam Lloyd. In terms of likability, the character is pretty inoffensive.

Ted is constantly hilarious, and while he could do with being a little less weird and a little more confident, he is not unlikable. Compared to other of the main seven characters, though, he is not near the top of the likability charts on the show.

4 Dr. Perry Cox

Dr. Cox is one of the harder characters to rank in terms of likability, with the subjective lens in which you watch the show coming into play with Cox more than anyone else in deciphering how likable he is.

On the one hand, he is extremely angry, rude, uncaring, nasty to the likes of Elliot, a bully even, and is constantly getting in his own way. On the other hand, he cares for patients more than anyone, willing to risk everything for their health and safety, even if he is rough around the edges. On top of that, he shows he does have a deep love for his family, growing throughout the show into a much nicer, calmer version of the character we meet at the start of the show, even being more respectful and open to his friends.

3 Elliot Reid

Based on the start of the show, Elliot would be far higher on this list, being very unlikable for a long time with her treatment of others, general attitude, whininess, and selfishness. Over the entire course of the show, though, she grows immensely.

She becomes more mature, more sure of herself, more willing to stand up to people and be independent rather than reliant on others, and then pouty when stuff doesn’t go her way. Every character makes a lot of mistakes in the show, Elliot included, but it is her journey throughout the show and what she brings to it, especially in the final couple of seasons, that makes her one of the more likable characters.

2 J.D.

There is an argument to be had that each of J.D., Elliot, and Cox could be higher or lower than one another; there is not much to separate them given the amount of good and bad aspects of their personalities. Due to his consistency and the fact the audience follows him more and so understands him better, J.D. edges them out.

J.D. is another character whose development and growth as a character, a person, and a doctor helps his likability massively. He never sacrifices his goofy side, but he does mature where it matters, and proves himself time and time again to be a loving, hilarious, and just overall good friend, partner, and person, similar to Elliot and Cox.

1 Turk

Undoubtedly, the most consistently likable character on the show is Turk. While he, of course, makes mistakes, does some bad stuff, and has some traits undesirable to some, he does all this far less than the other characters.

Not only is he a great friend to J.D. and Elliot, but he is also a fantastic partner to Carla, tolerating a lot of her unnecessary toxicity, and going on to be an amazing father, maturing and stepping up to every task given to him. He is consistently nice, hilarious, and is just a great guy.