Sitcom legend Michael J. Fox has returned to the small screen six years after his last major on-screen role in The Good Fight.
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The 64-year-old has returned to acting in Season 3 of Shrinking, reuniting him with showrunner Bill Lawrence, who previously worked with the actor on Spin City.
In the new season of the Apple TV+ comedy, which premiered Wednesday, Fox plays Jerry, a patient with Parkinson’s disease. He befriends Harrison Ford’s character, therapist Dr. Paul Rhoades, who also has the same neurodegenerative disease Fox was diagnosed with in 1991.
The two first meet in a doctor’s waiting room. Later, the episode ends with Paul hallucinating Jerry in his home after marrying Dr. Julie Baram (Wendie Malick). This encounter forces Paul to finally confront his diagnosis and treatment. Fox will appear in two more episodes this season.
How Michael J. Fox Landed on Shrinking
The Back to the Future star says his return followed a conversation with Lawrence about the series, which Lawrence co-created with Jason Segel and Brett Goldstein. The show centers on three therapists: Jimmy (Segel), who is grieving the loss of his wife; Paul, who is managing his Parkinson’s diagnosis; and Gaby (Jessica Williams), who is navigating complex personal and professional hurdles.
After the show’s January 2023 premiere, Fox reached out to Lawrence. “I said, ‘You did a show about Parkinson’s, and you didn’t call me?’ And he said, ‘Oh, you want to do it?’ And I said, ‘I’d love to do it,'” Fox told PEOPLE last year. “He said, ‘Let me think about it, see what I can do.’ He worked on it and came up with this concept. It’s really good.”
Meanwhile, Fox described his return to a TV set as a positive one.
“It was the first time ever I got to show up on set, and I didn’t have to worry about am I too tired or coughing or anything,” he admitted. “I just do it. It was really good, because for the moments when I say, ‘I’m not going to be able to do this.’ Then I say, ‘Well, I’ll just deal with how I can’t do it in the scene.’ And you get through it.”
New episodes of Shrinking Season 3 drop on Wednesdays until May 22 on Apple TV+.