The reality of a prime-time life

Behind the scenes with the producer of NBC's hit TV show 'Scrubs'

By Carmen Pease

When Randall Winston stuffed his bags and headed for Los Angeles after graduation nearly 15 years ago, he had no idea of the world that awaited him as a budding television producer. Sharing a sublet with a

fellow grad, he soon found himself drenched in the surreal limelight that comes with working behind the scenes on a handful of smart and successful sitcoms.

Winston's journey through the workings of the small screen has taken him from his life as a student juggling work at WOUB-TV and studying telecommunications to his current gig as producer of the spunky, 3-year-old prime-time hit "Scrubs" on NBC, where the juggling has yet to die down. From paperwork and phone calls to stops at the set to make sure everything is running smoothly, Winston's job description as producer is all-encompassing.

Dick Van Dyke, who guest-starred on a 'Scrubs' episode in 2003, takes a moment to pose for a photo with the show's producer, Randall Winston, BSC '89.

For example, when "Spin City" first started its ABC run in 1996, the creators had more in mind for Winston, BSC '89, than just serving as the new show's associate producer. Creators Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, whom Winston had worked with on "Champs," decided to name one character and model another after him. So New York City's fictional mayor took the name Randall Winston, and Carter, a gay, African-American man who was the mayor's special assistant for minority affairs, dished up plenty of Winston-inspired laughs.

Now at "Scrubs," Winston's humor sometimes shines through for the camera. Because the show features an assortment of fantasy sequences, Winston has been spotted on-screen in clever roles in which he is partially or totally obscured -- as the grim reaper, as a patient and as the character with the big hat from the memorable cartoon "Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids."

 "I love that I get to laugh at work a lot and be a part of the creative vision with all these people to take a script that's really funny and turn it into a TV show on a Thursday night," he says. And he's had the opportunity to work with celebrities ranging from Michael J. Fox to the Muppets. "I don't even know what I'd do if I had a 9-to-5 job."

"Scrubs" has raked in a slew of praise, from being nominated for two Emmy Awards and a People's Choice Award to being dubbed a "Future Classic" by the TV Land cable network.

Winston says he more or less stumbled into his producing career.

"I think (the job) found me," he says. "I ended up in producing because my experience and the opportunity came together at the same time. As an associate producer I had been managing people and budgets already, so this was a step forward."

He's full of ideas for the future, as he plans to try his hand at directing and scriptwriting. 

Even in college, Winston had trouble putting his finger on exactly what kind of a career he wanted, though he knew it had to involve entertainment.

"I always knew I wanted to be in L.A. working in television," he says. "I wanted to do everything."

Winston made sure to sample all the University had to offer, from writing his own soap and doing stand-up comedy to learning how to map out a scene in his directing class.

"I got a fair taste of a lot of different things, and any job is about what you bring to it," he says. "You can't be good at (the job) if you don't bring other life experiences to it."

Flash forward to Winston today, and it seems his 15 minutes of fame are far from up.

"I feel very happy and proud of where I am." Not surprisingly, he adds, "I feel like I still have a ton to do."

Carmen Pease, BSJ '04, is a student writer for University Communications and Marketing.