Ever since the pilot episode of Scrubs, when he decided to torment J.D. over a penny found in a door, the Janitor (played by Neil Flynn) was one of the show’s most beloved characters. His relentless pranks, along with the slow realization that he basically runs the hospital (even if no one else knows) brought smiles to our faces for years. With that mind, here’s a look at some of the look at some of the Janitor’s best moments to remind everyone he was the show’s best character.
His Alter Ego Dr. Jan Itor
Even though the often mocked the medical staff at Sacred Heart, we get the feeling he was at least a bit envious of their prestigious profession, as we could tell from his alter ego, Dr. Jan Itor. Yeah, as smart as he clearly is, he didn’t seem to put much thought into a creative name for his second persona. No matter, he hardly needed to.
He Made Everyone Believe In ‘Jiggly Ball’
While there were dozens of great pranks on J.D. over the years, this one might be my favorite. The Janitor convinces J.D. that a game called Jiggly Ball exists. More importantly, he convinces everyone at the hospital to go along with it. At a certain point, even the viewer at home thinks it’s a real game. Naturally, it winds up with J.D. on the roof, as the victim of the most brutal game of Red rover in human history.
Convincing Every Asian In The Hospital That J.D. Was Racist
To be fair, this one kind of just fell into the Janitor’s lap, but it’s a fine example of how vindictive he is, and that hell do pretty much anyone. The Janitor uses a crossword puzzle clue to trick J.D. into saying the world “chink” in front of Franklyn, one of the hospital’s Asian doctors. Not only does he not cover for him, he slowly lets every Asian doctor in the hospital believe J.D. is racist. This is one of many things that was never mentioned after the episode was over, but you have to wonder if this was ever cleared up, or if for the rest of the show’s run, J.D. continued to receive the stink-eye from every Asian doctor passing by.
His Epic Revenge On Turk’s Windshield
Sure, JD. was the Janitor’s main target, but it was quite clear that any friend of J.D.’s was an enemy of the Janitor’s. Which is why he played his sure pranks on Dr. Turk over the course of the series, too. Perhaps the most memorable came when Turk leaves a piece of gum on the hospital floor, and the Janitor decides to leave an un-ignorable message on his windshield. Naturally, it was written with chewing gum.
Legal Custodians
Get it?
The Many Many Many Lies He’s Told Over The Years
It would take too much time to cover them all here, but suffice to say, the Janitor is a huge pathological liar who has told many a fib in his day. Among his greatest hits:
-He dated Marg Helgenberger and “it did not end well.”
-His name is Nigel, and he is British.
-His name is Klaus, and he is German.
-His name is Efram, and he has a stutter
-He was once in the “Janitor branch” of the military
When He Had A Bit Part In The Fugitive
But even if the Janitor does exaggerate some of the details of his life, he’s still done some pretty cool things. Like his minor role in The Fugitive, for example. This one borrows a bit from real life; Neil Flynn actually did have a small role in this movie, and the writers evidently decided it would be fun piece of the Janitor’s backstory if the character in the movie actually WAS the Janitor, in his early days, when he still had hopes and dreams, before years of custodial work turned him into the bitter crank he is today. This was one of the rare moments where he and J.D. actually bonded over something, as J.D. respected him a bit more after learning a bit more about his past. Of course, they were right back to hating each other’s guts in the next episode.
