The seventh season of the American comedy television series Scrubs premiered on NBC on October 25, 2007 and concluded on May 8, 2008 and consists of 11 episodes. This was the final season to air on NBC before it was picked up by ABC.
Season 7 was confirmed to have a reduced number of 18 episodes and was likely to be the final season.[1] Due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, only 11 episodes were finished and six aired before the strike. During the strike, it was unknown if production on the final episodes would resume or that a possible series finale would air due to the actors' contracts expiring if the strike were to last a long time.[2] After the strike was over, the final five episodes aired starting April 10, 2008. Episode 12, titled "My Commitment" was partially completed before the strike, but was never completed or aired. Some material shot for "My Commitment" was later used in the season 8 episode, "My Nah Nah Nah".
Season 7 continues to focus on the fact that J.D. has to grow up. He also has to deal with his newborn son, Sam. Both Elliot and J.D. deal with the fact that they may be with the wrong person (Keith and Kim). Turk tries to grow closer with Carla. Dr. Cox gets a temporary promotion. Dr. Kelso has to deal with the fact that the hospital has a mandatory retirement policy. Also, the Janitor starts dating Lady, who works at the hospital.
After the events in the On-Call room, J.D. and Elliot continue to question their respective commitments to Kim and Keith. Carla tells Turk that due to his diabetes, he can only have one candy bar every six months. Dr. Cox struggles to diagnose a patient. Meanwhile, Janitor may have a new girlfriend.
J.D.'s pregnant girlfriend, Kim (Elizabeth Banks), goes into labour as they begin to question their strength as a couple and as potential parents. Meanwhile, the rest of Sacred Heart team also seem to be having parenting issues, with Cox wondering whether to give his daughter an injection, Turk and Carla attempting to complete a video game so that they can focus on Izzy, and Kelso helping his son Harrison through a breakup. Dr. Cox works with a new group of interns.
When the Janitor watches An Inconvenient Truth, he decides to become an Environmental Officer at Sacred Heart (with peculiar motivational methods). J.D. must deal with an inconvenient truth of his own when Dan returns to town and tells him he has to grow up.
The Janitor learns that J.D. uses nicknames for people in the hospital whose names he does not know, and challenges him to learn the real names of everyone in the hospital, or take over as the Janitor for a day. Also, Dr. Cox's family is away, and he realizes that he is lonely without them. Carla fears that she is losing her Latina heritage.
J.D. tries to stop acting like a child while Turk tries to bring him back. Dr. Cox has an 11-year-old patient, Josh, with leukemia, and has to deal with the child's parents who want to keep the condition a secret from Josh. On Dr. Kelso's birthday, Elliot throws him a party, and finds out that Dr. Kelso is 65 years old. The hospital's board members find out about it and force him to retire. He asks for it to be kept a secret until they find a replacement.
Dr. Kelso signs the hospital up to RateYourDoc.org, a website where patients can evaluate their doctor's level of care online. Turk and Dr. Cox go to great lengths to get J.D. out of the number one spot on the website. Elliot must make a decision when she learns that one of her patients has intentionally overdosed on medication. Meanwhile, Carla cannot figure out what the Janitor's new girlfriend sees in him.
It is the anniversary for Carla and Turk's first date and both work on getting each other the perfect gift. While Turk is excited as his gift is having learned Spanish, he soon realizes that being bilingual can only work to his advantage and is unsure whether to reveal the truth. Meanwhile, J.D. is torn about whether he should allow one of his patients, a burn victim, to attend his graduation and turns to Elliot for advice. Elsewhere, Dr. Cox decides to steal all of Dr. Kelso's food.
J.D. and Turk try to prove their masculinity. Janitor starts a hospital newspaper titled The Janitorial that irks Dr. Cox, and Turk's embarrassing secret is revealed. Meanwhile, Elliot discovers that as a result of her giving him a birthday party a few weeks ago, Kelso is about to lose his job.
Dr. Cox faces a problem diagnosing a patient, and JD and Turk's mistake leads to a result. Elliot and Carla try to convince the hospital board against forcing Dr. Kelso to retire by rallying the staff. They succeed, but Kelso chooses to leave on his own.
Elliot and J.D. seek out a former patient, and Dr. Cox is loving his new title. Meanwhile, the Janitor encourages Ted to be more assertive, but soon finds his own authority being challenged. Carla also approaches Turk about the idea of another baby.
Dr. Cox narrates a day's work at the hospital to his son as a medievalfairy tale. J.D. takes the role of the village idiot, Elliot is a princess, Turk and Carla are a two-headed witch, and Dr. Kelso (still head of the hospital as the episode was supposed to be broadcast before "My Dumb Luck") is a demon.
