I understand that they were trying to create a spinoff. But to continue with the same name and then teasing us with the previous main characters just destroyed what was the perfect series ending.
Original Scrubs was one of the best shows ever made in my opinion - great cast and chemistry, genuinely funny whilst also bringing in the drama and tragedy of a hospital and it's patients, great writing, kept up momentum until the end (the original end not the crap that come after), great acting, one of the most faultless TV shows ever made.
I actually disagree with this. The spinoff had a lot of potential with some amazing castings (in hindsight).
If it had just been JD returning to Sacred Heart after a few years (let's say Kim died and now he and Blonde Doctor have sole custody) as "The New Dr Cox" it would have actually been a good show. Go back to the first few seasons where the stars of the show are the interns but we can't stop wondering what is going on with that cool ass resident. Cox is still Chief (or whatever Kelso's role was), and so forth.
And honestly? JD and Elliott and Turkleton and Carla needing to come to terms with prioritizing their families over their work would be an interesting arc. Same with Cox trying to reconcile his responsibilities with his need to Heal. All from the perspective of the interns who don't truly understand what they are fighting over.
Instead, it very much hit the reset button with Cox having run the hospital into the ground, everyone lost all their character progression, I think Kelso was back, etc. It actively undid like the last three or four years of the show.
I agree, season 9 gets way too much hate for basically being season 1 of a spinoff. There's a lot to like there and it never really had a chance to find itself before cancelation.
I think Kerry Bishe was already "known" to be good, but she has gone on to be one of those "top tier b-list performers" that make other movies and shows "work". Mosley has consistently been an excellent comedic actor in the years since. Dave Franco got his job because of his abuser brother but is actually a decent actor with good comedic timing. And Eliza Coupe was mostly inherited from the previous season (which makes even less sense in the context of the show...) but has been in a similar "strong supporting actor/actress" vibe.
If the premise hadn't seemed to be built around actively angering the audience of the previous show, this could have become another 4 or 5 season show that people loved.