Welcome to the first installment of “The Little People”. What’s that, you say? It’s basically a focus on some of the lesser known yet memorable actors or characters in film and entertainment. The main characters always get too much spotlight, and it’s easy to forget that sometimes the little guys really make or break the show.
The first character to grace our series is “The Janitor” from the series Scrubs. I know to myself, and a lot of people, that the show would be far far less good than it is without this guy. Anyway, on to the show!
The Janitor, aka Doctor Jan Itor, is played by Niel Flynn. I read, though it might not be confirmed, that a lot of his lines are actually just made up on the spot by him, which makes sense when we hear stuff like:
[the janitor is holding a patients legs down]
Janitor: This is easy. Just like drowning someone.
*and*
The Janitor: [Sprays JD in the crotch with a water bottle] Uh-oh. Looks like someone switched to big boy pants a little too soon…
I don’t think there is a screenplay writer than can just make this stuff up. Knife wrenches and new coats for a stuffed squirrel army? Genius. On an interesting note, the Janitor was originally written into the plot of Scrubs as part of JD’s imagination. In fact, if you watch the first season, you’ll see that the Janitor only interacts with J.D. There was speculation that if Scrubs only lasted one season, they would have closed the show out with something to do with JD and his imaginary janitor friend.
The Janitor also had a role in the movie “The Fugitive” - and, in an odd twist of Hollywood reality being put into a created Hollywood world, it was actually featured in an episode of Scrubs - one where J.D. - home watching the Fugitive, realizes that the Janitor was more than he thought to be. While this might raise certain questions, like - what happens if J.D. watches Garden State? - I think it was a good idea to write stuff like this in. Makes for a memorable show.
Some other roles the Janitor has had: a policeman in “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy”, a guy named Stanley in “Magnolia”, a police officer in “Home Alone 3″, the first baseman in the movie “Rookie of the Year” - and last and not least, a cop in “Kung Fu”. Oh, and he’s been in like every T.V. series that involves policework or cops, usually for just one episode.
Back to Scrubs - one of the biggest things revolving around the Janitor are that his real name isn’t known by the hospital staff. While this might seem a bit logistically hard to pull off, it’s made a nice side story and quite a stir on the internet on speculation on what it might be. It’s been said by the Scrubs producers that *if* it’s revealed, it won’t be until the last episode of Scrubs. People have speculated that it could be “Jan Itor”, Neil Flynn (the guys real life name) or “Josh”. We’ll have to wait and see, I suppose. My money is on Neil Flynn or something completely off the wall, ala Cosmo Kramer.
That concludes our small tribute to the Janitor, one of the greatest “little guys” to ever grace the television. Keep up the good work, funny man!
A parting quote:
Janitor: It’s a baby Cage! It’s a good one too. When I was a kid, mine didn’t have these windows. It’s perfect. If you want to go out to dinner, there’s a water bottle in there so you just throw some seater chips in there so the baby can poop, and you’re made in the shade!
[pause]
Janitor: I’m kidding! It’s for when they buy the baby an… er… a puppy!
