Brendan Fraser Made a Splash in Just Three Episodes of Scrubs, And They’re Still Some of the Best in the Series

When it comes to discussing the best comedy shows of the 2000s, there’s no doubt that Scrubs ranks right near the top. The sitcom centered on John “JD” Dorian as he advanced throughout his medical career at Sacred Heart Hospital. While the series has been praised for being medically accurate, Scrubs also worked so well due to its slapstick comedy, wacky daydream sequences, and ridiculous characters. During its initial run (the show was recently rebooted), Scrubs featured an incredible list of guest stars. Elizabeth Banks, John Ritter, Colin Farrell, Heather Graham, Michael J. Fox, and Matthew Perry are just a handful of the great guest stars who made the show so memorable. With such an impressive list of actors, picking out the best might seem difficult on paper, yet most longtime fans of Scrubs agree that Brendan Fraser is the series’ greatest guest star, even though he’s only in three episodes.

On top of that, Fraser’s first appearances came during Scrubs Season 1 when the show was still trying to find its footing and establish itself. Though it’s a limited role, Fraser’s character is one of the show’s most important outside of the main cast, which led to three of the series’ best installments.

Brendan Fraser’s First Two Episodes Of Scrubs Are Stellar

Brendan Fraser’s debut on Scrubs came in back-to-back episodes titled “My Occurrence” and “My Hero”, which were right before the Season 1 finale. Fraser debuted as Ben Sullivan, the brother of Jordan, Dr. Cox’s ex-wife. Dr. Cox also happened to be good friends with Ben, which made for some great comedic bits because Ben and Dr. Cox were a blast together. Ben immediately became a fan favorite for his plucky attitude, his positive thinking, and his trademark camera that he used to take non-staged photos of everyone, so it hit hard when Dr. Cox and J.D. learned that he had leukemia.

Late in the episode, a montage plays that shows the test was incorrect and that Ben was actually fine. However, in one of the earliest instances of Scrubs’ ability to tug on heartstrings, that was revealed to be a daydream and Ben was legitimately sick. “My Hero” followed things up by showing Ben dealing with the news in his typical positive fashion, while showing how much Dr. Cox was struggling with it. Again, this was an early look at the man behind all the sarcastic comments, which made Dr. Cox such a great and layered character.

“My Hero” allowed Dr. Cox to lay out how afraid he is of one of his only close friends dying while also tackling how J.D. couldn’t handle being a doctor without relying on Dr. Cox as his safety net. The two episodes were met with widespread acclaim and helped solidify that Scrubs was a great show that was here to stay. Ben’s cancer was revealed to be in remission, giving the story the happiest possible ending for the time.

The Final Brendan Fraser Scrubs Episode Might Be The Show’s Best

In Scrubs Season 3, Brendan Fraser was brought back as Ben and the end result was the peak of the series. He returned for his nephew’s birthday party in “My Screw Up” and Dr. Cox advises that he get a screening for his leukemia since he had been neglecting it over time. The episode deals with Ben and Dr. Cox bonding and bickering about Dr. Cox attending his son’s party. When he finally shows up for the event, the episode turns on its head and delivers a devastating blow.

Throughout the story, Dr. Cox blamed J.D. for a patient dying under his care, driving a wedge between them. When Dr. Cox is shown at the “party,” J.D. has to break it to him that he’s not at his son’s birthday party and is actually at Ben’s funeral. Ben was the patient who died under J.D.’s watch and, unable to deal with the grief, Dr. Cox had been imagining Ben’s spirit. The final shot of the installment was Dr. Cox allowing people to comfort him, which he never did, further hammering home what Ben’s death did to him.

Brendan Fraser made an incredible lasting impact on a show despite only appearing three times. It’s hard to think of another guest star on any series who did that. Ben was such a good character that he was the heart of three great episodes, helped Dr. Cox and J.D. grow as characters, and added layers to their relationship. On top of that, “My Screw Up” was nominated for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards, which was the show’s lone writing nod during its run.

Scrubs is available to stream on Hulu, as is the new 2026 iteration.

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