 | This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. (September 2023) |
| Janitor | |
|---|---|
| Scrubs and Clone High character | |
| File:Janitor-season-6.webp | |
| First appearance | "My First Day" (2001) |
| Last appearance | "Our First Day of School" (2009) |
| Created by | Bill Lawrence |
| Portrayed by | Neil Flynn |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Glenn Matthews |
| Nickname | Janitor, The Janitor |
| Gender | Male |
| Title | Custodian |
| Occupation | Custodian at Sacred Heart Hospital |
| Family | Unknown parents Ethan (nephew) |
| Spouse | Lady Williams (wife) |
The Janitor is a fictional character and antagonist of the American comedy-drama television series, Scrubs and the American adult animated science fiction sitcom, Clone High.
Portrayed by Neil Flynn, the Janitor is the custodian of Sacred Heart Hospital from seasons one to nine.
The Janitor acts as J.D.'s rival through seasons one to nine. In the season nine episode Our First Day of School, the Janitor asked when J.D. was returning, either oblivious to, or in denial of, J.D.'s departure, and upon coming to the realization that J.D. no longer worked at Sacred Heart, promptly walked off the job and quit. He is not seen for the remainder of the season due to Neil Flynn leaving the show to begin working as a series regular on The Middle.
In Season 8, it was revealed that his full name was Glenn Matthews, though he is referred to immediately afterward by a passerby as "Tommy", leaving his true name ambiguous. However, as part of the bonus features of the complete series DVD release, Bill Lawrence confirmed that Glenn Matthews is definitively the character's name.
He also appeared in Clone High, serving as the school janitor of Clone High High School and the foster father of Ponce
Character background
While the Janitor was intended as a running gag for only the pilot episode, series creator Lawrence stated, "When we watched the pilot, we knew instantly we had to keep this guy around."[1]
Fictional character biography
Personality
In Scrubs, The Janitor can be seen as a mean condescending, rude, and easy to anger custodian who tells lies and always gets J.D. into trouble and likes to pull pranks, but in Clone High, he is a overly happy, virtually unbreakable man, with unbridled respect for others. He is even seen at Ponce's funeral as he is seen crying while giving him his speech.
Work
Janitor took great pleasure in making J.D.'s life as difficult as possible. In My Mentor,He worked at Sacred Heart Hospital for 15 years, and in 2001, he revealed that he was 37 years old. In My Jerks and My Happy Place, He claimed to have been working at the hospital for a "long time" and looked distraught and upset when Dr. Maddox fired him, but he ultimately scammed the hospital into giving him his job back. In My ABC's, The Janitor admittedly hated everybody.
After J.D. left Sacred Heart, Janitor didn't initially believe it. He waited for him to return, but the next day, Turk confirmed to him that J.D. wasn't returning, and Janitor dropped his mop and left the hospital. Nobody heard from him again.
Relationships
Ever since the Janitor saw J.D. put a penny in a door, he devoted half his life to annoying him and playing pranks on him. He tormented J.D. daily, and took anything J.D. said to him as an insult about being nothing but a janitor. The Janitor also sometimes took it upon himself to give J.D. a reality check when he felt that J.D. was being smug, claiming that J.D. "forces him to make his life miserable." J.D. was Janitor's most common victim and was picked on by him nearly every day. Janitor understood J.D.'s profession and didn't get in the way of his job, but merely made things a little more difficult. Despite this, the two shared some unusual bonding moments over the years. For example, after thinking he saw Janitor in The Fugitive, J.D. received confirmation that Janitor had acted in the film: He admitted that he wanted the actor to be the Janitor because it would make him more human and show that he had used to have dreams and ambitions, even if they didn't work out, rather than just being a jerk. Janitor also helped J.D get to Kim's ultrasound, although this could be the result of Janitor's falling out of a fast-moving vehicle. The Janitor was willing to put aside his rivalry with J.D. when it was in the interest of others, such as when they worked together to help Ted get a girl (though this alliance ended when Ted got the girl). He was also willing to be kind to J.D. on occasion, such as when J.D.'s father died. It is discovered the Janitor can speak sign language, the Janitor helps J.D. speak with a deaf patient and his father, J.D. and the Janitor do not fight while they help the patient.
Lady
Janitor married Ladinia Williams, who was referred to as "Lady", the only exception being during their wedding ceremony, when the Justice of the Peace called her by her full name. He wore sweaters, brought her flowers, and lied to her about his peculiarities. He tried to reveal who he was slowly so she would not freak out. They finally got married on vacation in the Bahamas, and she made him happy because she accepted him for who he really was.
Janitor didn't often speak to Turk, but when he did, he treated him much as he did J.D.
Although Janitor rarely spoke to Carla or any other nurses, he could often be found around the reception area with all the nurses, suggesting that he liked being in that area and with them. He did occasionally talk with Carla, however, and as with Elliot, he often helped her out. He also found Carla very scary and rarely confronted her because of her rants, although he once tried to blackmail her into giving him her baby so he could sell it, and got the entire hospital staff to hate her after she refused to grant them favors on Kelso's behalf.
Cleaning Staff
In the custodial society of Sacred Heart, he was seen as a leader, and the other custodians seemed to obey his every command. He also often worked with other hospital employees, such as Troy, to annoy J.D. His original Brain Trust was composed of maintenance staff, but over the years, the membership changed. He rarely did his actual job, but the other cleaning staff never complained, presumably out of fear.
Although Dr. Cox didn't respect Janitor for his profession, they often shared moments together. Janitor was one of the few people who didn't fear Dr. Cox. Both Janitor and Dr. Cox seemed to be annoyed by J.D., with Janitor even helping Dr. Cox catch J.D., and they shared their thoughts sometimes. They didn't talk much inside the hospital, to keep up the Janitor's street cred, but they were bar buddies for a while. They were both experts on "hating people" and seemed to have a mutual respect for this fact. According to Carla, both of them were "borderline psychotics who hate everyone".
Personal Life
Very little about Janitor's family is known, because he told so many different stories about them, any of which could be true. He once joked that he was J.D.'s father. He had a father whom other hospital staff members saw; however, he later claimed that his father had died before he was born. When J.D protested, saying he had met his father, the Janitor replied, "You met a man." Janitor claimed to have grown up believing that his mother was his sister and his father was his brother; he called them "sister-mom" and "brother-dad". He said that his mother once snapped her index finger because his dad was late to church and that when she dented the car, his dad threw himself down the stairs. He had a stepmother who was Inuit. He claimed to have a deaf sister and a brother who was a stripper. He also claimed that he had a stepbrother named Cleet who was older than his parents, hit a mid-life crisis, fought with his father constantly and slept with his mother.
He claimed he was married to a woman with only a pointer finger on one hand and thumb/pinky on the other. He complained that J.D. made him miss his son's (named Timmy) school play by making him work, but later, he said that he did not have any children and didn't want any until medicine was advanced enough to make a child with gills, with whom he would go treasure hunting. Janitor also claimed on several occasions to have gone to China and had a baby with a local. In one of J.D.'s fantasies, he appeared in his son's school room on Career Day, presenting himself as Dr. Ján Ïtor.
In Other Media
He appeared in Clone High in the episode Litter Kills: Litterally and Clone Alone
In Litter Kills: Litterally, he is seen as the school janitor and a different personality. It also revealed that he is also Ponce de León's foster father. He is also seen attending Ponce's funeral. At the end of the episode, Principal Scudworth lays off the janitor, despite his pleads that the janitorial job is all he has left.
In Clone Alone, he is seen signing Joan's yearbook, saying she is a lone wolf.
References
- ^ [https:/ http://www.nbc.com/Last_Comic_Standing/about/scouts-neil-flynn.shtml "Last%20Comic%20Standing%20–%20About%20the%20Show%20–%20Neil%20Flynn:%20Scrubs%20Talent%20Scout,%20Houston%20"]. NBCUniversal%20Media%20LLC%20. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2013-02-05%20.
{{cite web}}: Check|archive-url=value (help); Check date values in:|access-date=(help); Invalid|url-status=dead%20(help)