1 of 2 | Robert Maschio plays The Todd on “Scrubs,” Wednesdays on ABC. Photo courtesy of Disney
The Scrubs revival, which airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC, is not only about J.D. (Zach Braff) and Turk (Donald Faison) reuniting at Sacred Heart Hospital. Supporting characters like high-fiving surgeon The Todd (Robert Maschio) are back too.
Where 2026 administrative norms stymied Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley), The Todd has adapted. Sibby (Vanessa Bayer) insists Cox “bring it down” when he berates interns, but The Todd gave a “with consent five” after one of his trademark double entendres.
In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Maschio said the 16 years since the original Scrubs series ended hasn’t really changed The Todd. He’s just more of The Todd.
“I think he’s just gotten exponentially more of what he originally was,” Maschio said. “Very innocuous character, harmless and not understanding how other people perceive him. That’s why I think he’s able to get away with all the inappropriateness in the workplace.”
The Todd was always a character who popped in and out of scenes to make a suggestive, immature joke and leave. His high fives were usually the punctuation of the scene.
“He’s just a simpleton,” Maschio explains. “When someone makes a wildly inappropriate joke and just thinks it’s the greatest joke and he doesn’t understand or is able to read anybody else, he becomes the punchline.”
The Todd then and now
Viewers will be treated to another The Todd high five at the beginning of Wednesday’s episode. Maschio did not know which high five ended up in the show.
Maschio said Braff, who is now an executive producer and director of many episodes, encourages him to improvise multiple different high fives. Braff is in Wednesday’s scene so Maschio gave several variations.
“He’s like, ‘Try this, try this, try this,'” Maschio said. “If I’m making him laugh, I know that’s going to make it into the episode.”
The rest of The Todd’s appearances this season will be more one-liner jokes. However, Episode 6 has one that suggests a little more depth to The Todd.
“It’s quite a nice scene with me, J.D. and Turk at the bar,” Maschio said. “Todd was hoping to find his forever five.”
But, Maschio is happy to be what he calls the “joke runner” of Scrubs, meaning any appearance by The Todd is a guaranteed punchline.
Robert Maschio is always in character
The persona, if not the Todd character himself, originated when Maschio was a stand-up comedian in the ’90s. He figured out how to present a male point of view without offending the audience.
Maschio told the crowd, “I’m just a simple guy with itty bitty guy thoughts. Showgirls was my Schindler’s List.”
He met Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence prior to the 1995 release of Showgirls when he performed Lawrence’s play Full Cycle in 1993. They remained friends and Lawrence wrote The Todd for Maschio.
“I just think that The Todd is not necessarily sexist but he’s just a simple guy and he’s just happy to go through life in a very surfacey way,” Maschio said.
Lawrence also gave The Todd a last name. He is technically Todd Quinlan, named after cinematographer Richard Quinlan.
“The DP was the DP on Spin City and that’s where he got the name from,” Maschio said. “Now he’s become The Todd.”
Maschio would remain in character on the set of Scrubs from 2001-2010. In 2020 he joined Cameo where he would get requests for messages as The Todd.
“In the last six years, I’ve recorded 6000 Cameos, which is 1000 a year which is three a day,” adding that he’s adapted to “the PG version, the R version, the NC-17 version of The Todd. It is direct feedback from the audience about what they want from me or what resonated with me.”
When he began filming the Scrubs revival in Vancouver in 2025, The Todd came right back to him because he’d been doing it privately. Some of the Cameo requests were surprisingly poignant for such an immature character.
One request read, “My friend is in hospice and he always loved The Todd and Scrubs. Can you say something without mentioning his condition that will make him laugh for three minutes?”
Maschio took the request seriously and put serious thought into what Cameo he would record for a hospice patient.
“I shut the doors and really searched my soul and came up with what I thought was three minutes of something, without talking about their condition, that would really just put a smile on their face,” he said. “
Life outside The Todd
After Scrubs ended, Maschio continued to act, including guest-starring roles on other Lawrence shows like Cougar Town and Undateable. Prior to the Scrubs revival, his last TV role was a 2015 episode of Bones.
Maschio then became a successful real estate agent in Ocean Park, Santa Monica, Calif.
“My second career, arguably I’m more successful than my first career,” Maschio said. “I’m not returning to acting per se. I’m not going on other auditions.”
Maschio said he makes 10 real estate deals per year and has recently worked with The Oppenheim Group’s Jason Oppenheim of Selling Sunset fame. It was the success of the original Scrubs series that allowed him to buy his own home in Ocean Park and the real estate career grew from there.
“I love where I live so it’s very easy for me to sell it,” Maschio said. ” I’m two blocks from the beach. I love this neighborhood so much.”
Maschio admitted he did have to get back into actor shape after the COVID-19 pandemic. He gave up alcohol and started lifting weights again so he could still wear The Todd’s sleeveless scrubs.
“You can’t look the way you did 20 years ago but I just wanted people to say, ‘Oh, look at him. He aged well’ or ‘He looks good,'” Maschio said. “I was literally playing for one moment and it’s the first moment you see me.”
Maschio said he would be game to sport The Todd’s “banana hammock” Speedo in Season 2 should he be called upon. For Season 1, Maschio was grateful The Todd was still part of Sacred Heart.
“I’m hoping that they’ll return to The Todd a little bit and you’ll see him in scenes more than just walking around giving a quick high five and leaving,” Maschio said. “For this first season, there wasn’t a lot of development for The Todd per se but he’s around giving high fives.”
Scrubs episodes stream Thursdays on Hulu after broadcast.
