There can be no denying the fact that ABC's hit comedy Scrubs featured one of the most bizarre pet situations on TV. Lots of shows have had dogs over the years, sure, even in apartment settings, where pets sometimes aren't allowed. But how many of them have been dead and stuffed? J.D. and Turk's pup Rowdy was a beloved series staple that offered up a lot of signature jokes, and it turns out Braff loved the prop so much that he actually tried to take Rowdy home after the show was finished.
Funny story, I tried to take him home. He was our dead taxidermied dog. The network wouldn't let me have him. And so they put him in a warehouse. I picture him in like Raiders of the Lost Ark where they put the art in the back of that warehouse with all those precious relics, that Rowdy is in the back of some Disney storage space like that.
I'm not sure if this is the kind of thing that PETA goes for, but it seems to me like Zach Braff was doing something good for the dog community by trying to save Rowdy from whatever post-Scrubs existence he was destined for. And that was assumedly before he knew that ABC was going to give the taxidermied mutt a rather undignified new home. Had he known ahead of time, Braff might have figured out a more stealthy and successful way to take the prop away from the set. He was perhaps one J.D. daydream away from figuring it out.
Not that Rowdy (or whatever its "real" name is/was) was destined to stick around a warehouse for all of TV character eternity, far from the reach of Scrubs'lackluster final season. Zach Braff actually did get to meet back up with his former TV pet for his second directorial effort on the big screen. And apparently ABC execs hadn't completely forgotten about the actor's former dognapping attempts, either. Here's what else Braff had to say about the canine cameo while answering fan questions for Buzzfeed.
Although I did ask them if I could put him in my film Wish I Was Here, and have him do a cameo. He's in the background of one of the shoots of Wish I Was Here. The studio literally thought that I was going to steal the dead taxidermy animal, and they sent a security guard with the dog who was his bodyguard for the day. Because they were right, I would have steal-en his ass.
Everyone will be dog-gone with Zach Braff is around. I feel like Rowdy would have liked that one.
While Scrubs sadly won't be coming back to TV for any new hospital-smelling adventures with J.D., Turk, Carla, the Janitor, or Rowdy -- at least, unless someone makes some magic happen -- Braff will likely make his way back to primetime TV for the midseason with ABC's upcoming comedy Alex Inc., based on the Alex Blumberg-created podcast StartUp. To see when everything is popping up on the small screen before then, check out our summer premiere schedule.
