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The popular comedy Scrubs is the latest show to be haunted by its racially insensitive episodes from the past. Deadline has confirmed that Hulu has removed episodes from the series featuring characters in blackface from the streaming platform.
Bill Lawrence, who created the series, responded to a tweet that called for the show to remove blackface episodes from the streamer after NBCUniversal did the same with episodes of 30 Rock. A Twitter user said the same needed to be done with Scrubs and Lawrence replied, “Agreed. Already in the works.”
The three episodes in question include the episode titled “My Fifteen Seconds” from season 3 as well as “My Jiggly Ball” and “My Chopped Liver” from season 5. The episodes feature Zach Braff’s character J.D. and Sarah Chalke’s character Elliot in blackface. Scrubs debuted in 2001 and ran for nine seasons; first on NBC and then migrated to ABC for seasons eight and nine.
The removal of the blackface episodes of 30 Rock and Scrubs comes at a time of reckoning for TV’s embarrassing past with the portrayal and mocking of race. HBO Max removed Gone With the Wind from its newly launched streaming platform but is set to return to the streamer with a disclaimer about historical context. Jimmy Kimmel also recently apologized for his blackface impersonation of NBA star Karl Malone on Comedy Central’s The Man Show.
