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This 2000s Workplace Comedy Had A Much Funnier Rivalry Than The Office's Jim And Dwight

Published

3 days ago

5th July 2025

When most people think of sitcom rivalries, Jim and Dwight in The Office immediately come to mind. The elaborate pranks, deadpan reactions, and ongoing battles of wit between Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) gave the series some of its most iconic moments. From putting Dwight’s stapler in Jell-O to creating a fake CIA recruitment scenario, Jim’s creative war on his deskmate was a consistently hilarious thread running through the show. For many fans, the duo’s prank battles were the comedic highlight of The Office, and even today, those scenes remain some of the most shared and quoted on social media.

However, as great as Jim and Dwight in The Office were, there’s another workplace rivalry from a 2000s sitcom that deserves just as much (if not more) recognition. It wasn’t just about who could pull the better prank or win the day, but about absurdity, unpredictability, and an almost mythic level of commitment to the bit. What’s more, while it played out in a hospital instead of a paper company, it was just as much a staple of the series it belonged to. That rivalry? JD (Zach Braff) vs. the Janitor (Neil Flynn) in Scrubs.

JD And The Janitor In Scrubs Mastered The Workplace Enemies Trope Years Before The Office

Scrubs Perfected The “Ongoing Prank War” Formula Long Before The Office Made It Iconic

Although Scrubs and The Office aired during a similar era – Scrubs premiered in 2001, while The Office followed in 2005 – Scrubs was already deep into its absurdly funny rivalry between JD and the Janitor by the time Jim and Dwight in The Office began their prank-filled feud.

From the very first episode of Scrubs, the tension between JD and the Janitor was set in motion with a petty misunderstanding: JD stuck a door open with a penny, and the Janitor blamed him for the broken door, refusing to believe otherwise. What started as a minor annoyance quickly escalated into one of TV’s funniest, most surreal workplace rivalries.

While Jim’s pranks on Dwight are often calculated and require planning, the Janitor’s attacks on JD are impulsive, chaotic, and often completely disproportionate to the situation. That unpredictability is what makes the rivalry so compelling.

The result was a uniquely unhinged cat-and-mouse game that never wore out its welcome across all 9 seasons of Scrubs.

One episode he’s gaslighting JD into believing he’s adopted, the next he’s pretending to be the hospital’s legal counsel just to mess with him. The Janitor’s ability to shift from mild annoyance to full-blown chaos gave the show’s comedic tone an extra layer of wild-card energy.

What’s more, it wasn’t just the nature of the pranks in Scrubs that made them so funny – it was the dynamic. JD never quite knew when the Janitor would strike or why, which made their interactions feel fresher and more spontaneous than Jim and Dwight in The Office.

While Jim often had the upper hand and usually got a laugh out of the audience and the characters around him, JD was perpetually confused, terrified, or beaten down by his prankster nemesis. The result was a uniquely unhinged cat-and-mouse game that never wore out its welcome across all 9 seasons of Scrubs.

The “Enemies To Frenemies To Friends” Arc In Scrubs Was More Rewarding

JD And The Janitor’s Chaotic Evolution Felt Less Predictable Than Jim And Dwight’s

Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Jim (John Krasinski) in the stairwell in The Office

Jim and Dwight in The Office were always destined to become unlikely allies. As two top-performing salespeople forced to share a workspace and common goals, their rivalry had obvious limits. Despite Jim’s constant pranking and Dwight’s authoritarian attitude, they showed mutual respect when it counted, especially in later seasons.

Jim and Dwight’s friendship arc, though satisfying, felt inevitable. It’s hard not to see it coming when they’re stuck together at work, have overlapping social circles, and even share bonding moments through Pam (Jenna Fischer).

In contrast, JD and the Janitor in Scrubs had no reason to ever get along. The Janitor wasn’t part of the main medical team. He wasn’t friends with JD’s colleagues, didn’t report to the same boss, and had no professional obligation to be civil. In fact, he often seemed to exist purely to torment JD.

Neil Flynn as the Janitor holding a penny and Zach Braff as JD in Scrubs

Scrubs: What If JD & The Janitor Were Friends?

The dysfunctional relationship between J.D. and the Janitor in Scrubs became one of the show’s core elements – but what if they’d become friends?

That lack of structure made the evolution of JD and the Janitor’s relationship far more surprising and far more rewarding. There was genuine suspense in wondering whether they’d ever move past their grudge. When those rare, sincere interactions did happen – like the Janitor helping JD out during a vulnerable moment – it felt like a payoff.

Not just because the rivalry had been so long-standing, but because Scrubs earned those moments without sacrificing the absurdity of their dynamic. The Janitor didn’t suddenly become warm or sentimental; his soft spots came out in strange, brief flashes, making the emotional beats land even harder. It’s a much riskier way to write a comedic relationship, but one that paid off with big laughs and big feelings.

The Janitor’s Motivations Make His Pranks Funnier Than Jim’s

The Janitor Doesn’t Prank Because He’s Bored – He Does It Because He’s And Agent Of Chaos

Jim and Dwight in The Office had a clear prank hierarchy: Jim was the instigator, Dwight the victim. Jim’s pranks often relied on clever setups or absurd visuals, like encasing Dwight’s desk supplies in Jell-O or impersonating him down to the watch and parted hair. These gags were endlessly creative and undeniably iconic.

However, the Janitor’s pranks on JD in Scrubs hit differently because they weren’t just clever, they were deranged. The Janitor didn’t need a reason to torment JD. He once hit JD’s hand with a wrench just because. His pranks weren’t always setups with a punchline – they were sometimes physical, nonsensical, or borderline surreal.

During Scrubs, the Janitor’s pranks included convincing JD he has rabies, installing a camera in a toilet, or getting JD to believe the Janitor was just a figment of his imagination. The fact that this unhinged campaign of psychological warfare began because of a door and a penny? That’s the kind of comedy gold only Scrubs could pull off.

Unlike Jim, who had to exist within a slightly more grounded office reality, the Janitor lived in a world where logic barely applied – and the writers of Scrubs took full advantage. While Jim needed his pranks to feel (somewhat) plausible in a real-world setting, the Janitor could throw plausibility out the window. That freedom made the rivalry between JD and the Janitor consistently more unpredictable than Dwight and Jim in The Office – and arguably, a lot funnier.