NEED TO KNOW
John C. McGinley is hoping his Scrubs family can help him pull off a Christmas miracle.
The actor, 66, spoke with PEOPLE in honor of Down Syndrome Awareness month in October. At the time, he shared his family’s love for the holiday season, and noted that his son, Max, who has Down syndrome, is the biggest Christmas fan of all. However, McGinley is no Grinch either.
McGinley and wife Nichole — who share two daughters, Billie, 17, and Kate, 15 — made the decision to only use non-glass ornaments for Max some time ago. “It was a tactile fine motor skill exercise for Maxie at first to get the hook on the branches. Now he can do it in his sleep,” he explains.
“Over a couple of days we put the ornaments on the tree and there’s some ornaments that are 30 years old and there’s some ornaments we got this year,” McGinley, who is on the board of directors at the Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL) nonprofit, adds. “None are made of glass anymore. When the balls drop on the floor, they bounce. No more of the ones we grew up with. There’s no need.”
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Despite the rule, McGinley had a treasured memento from his time on Scrubs that he admits he broke himself. Now that the cast has reunited for the reboot, premiering in February 2026 on ABC, he’s hopeful one of his costars or crew members can help him make a little Christmas magic happen this year.
“We had a Scrubs one [ornament] that I broke. It was perfect,” he explains. “It came in this box and I dropped it. I dropped it and it was made of glass. And I’m going to find somebody on the reboot who’s got, somewhere in the back of their closet, has two or three of these.”
“I’m keeping it [the box] right on the godd— desk. How’s that for a priority? And I’m going to find somebody, I’m like, ‘Do you have any extra Scrubs Christmas balls, Christmas ornaments? Could I pay you for them? Could I have them?’ ” he continues. “I don’t know who that person is, but I’m going to find it, because I know someone has four or five.”
Disney/John Fleenor)
Scrubs is returning to ABC with new episodes 15 years after the series finale. Most of the original cast — including McGinley, Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke and Judy Reyes — are returning. For McGinley, there was zero trepidation about scrubbing up again at Sacred Heart Hospital.
“[Series creator] Bill Lawrence is a dear friend of mine and changed my life,” he says. “He’s my generation’s Norman Lear. And he hired me in January to do a show with Steve Carell that we just finished, 10 episodes for HBO … and Bill had to work backwards from when year two of that will be. And so I was last man in [on the reboot] only because Billy was working backwards.”
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McGinley also shared that his daughters have watched Scrubs, and he credits the younger generation discovering the series for the show’s return. “It felt strange because I had these young adults who come up to me now who are 25 and 30, I’m estimating, and they’ll say, ‘I grew up watching Scrubs,’ ” he says.
The actor adds, “And I’m like, ‘Well, you were a kid.’ And I think the same thing, how it impacted my girls. And they’re like, ‘Yeah, we loved it. We loved it. It was funny.’ Great, great. Because that group has been so fanatical that it’s been the catalyst for a reboot, which is phenomenal.”
Scrubs premieres on Feb. 25, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
