Scrubs actor returns to small screen
LOS ANGELES — Playing the oddly optimistic Dr. John Dorian on Scrubs from 2001-2010 gave Zach Braff what he thought would be enough time starring on a network TV show to last him a lifetime. Since then, he’s shown more interest in movies (Oz the Great and Powerful) and guest-starring parts on TV shows (Inside Amy Schumer).
His view about being part of a network TV show changed when he saw the script for Alex, Inc., a family comedy about a successful radio producer who decides to risk everything — including his savings — to start his own business. Armed only with the help of his overenthusiastic producer and his fast-talking, unemployed second cousin, Alex navigates the crazy world of start-ups while trying to keep his marriage and family a priority.
“I had been directing a bunch and I thought if I was to ever go back to television, it would be something edgy on cable,” Braff says. “Then this one came up and I thought ‘I kind of love this.’ There’s so much television, but there isn’t a ton of stuff that parents can watch with their kids.
“This was so entertaining to me and felt a lot like black-ish or Modern Family. It’s the kind of show that a parent can enjoy and a kid can enjoy. They can all watch together.”
Braff is not only the star, but also one of the executive producers, along with Matt Tarses (who was an executive producer on Scrubs). The spark for the series, according to Tarses, was Alex Blumberg, an American entrepreneur and radio journalist who is the co-founder and CEO of the podcast network Gimlet Media. Blumberg left the podcast This American Life because he had the idea that no one had quite yet mastered how to monetize a podcast, which does come mostly from selling short ads within the podcast and having sponsorship, much like television.
The podcast element is in the opening episode of Alex, Inc., as Braff’s character will talk about being a guy with a family who has no idea how to start a business. After that, the majority of the stories will revolve around the family.
Any use of the podcast element will be easy for Braff to handle, because he’s a huge fan. He would love to do a podcast in connection with the television series, but most of his time over the past year has been spent getting the show up and running. A lot of that extra work for Braff came from directing episodes of the show.
“Making this has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. Even with the films I have done, I am not doing post work or helping in the writers’ room for an episode that’s coming up,” Braff says. “If someone else wants to do a behind-the-scenes podcast about the show, I would love to be on it.”
And, if that happens, Braff won’t be a casual participant. He describes himself as the kind of person who once he commits to something, he’ll be part of it with no hesitations. Alex, Inc. has become 100 per cent of his life and because it’s his name that’s at the top of the credits, Braff will fight to make the show as good as it can be.
One similarity between Alex, Inc. and Scrubs is Braff will be doing narration.
“The voice-over always seemed a part of it because the meta-ness of the voice-over kind of becomes the podcast. We always thought of it as, like, a bit of a Doogie Howser, M.D. thing or Sex and the City, sort of how the show is being summed up at the end,” Braff says. “Then something is being turned into, like in the case of Doogie Howser, a journal or her articles.
“So we wanted the voice-over to be, ‘Oh, it actually is the podcast itself.’ So that was always a part of it.”
Tarses is a fan of having a narrator because in a half-hour TV show, it’s a valuable tool for the writers since they can get through some exposition the characters don’t have to say. Scenes can be moved around in the final editing ,and the narration will help make the new transitions.
Alex, Inc. offers Braff a new challenge because in the show, he plays both a husband and father, a sharp contrast to his bachelor days on Scrubs. That means the tone will be different than the rather risqué approach of Scrubs. Braff is hoping fans of Scrubs are now parents and will be drawn to this more paternal role for him that feels very different to play.
“It’s a whole new world just because of the kids,” Braff says. “These kids are so spectacular and I think they may steal the show. This child (Elisha Henig) is a genius. We were shooting the pilot, and we were sitting in the production office prepping the pilot. And I heard someone playing the guitar so incredibly well that I thought, ‘Who in our crew plays the guitar like that?’
“And I came out into the bullpen area, and there was Elisha on the acoustic guitar, playing better than I’ve ever seen most people, let alone a young person. So he truly does play the guitar. And, Matt and I, promptly decided we had to write that into the show.”