Michael J. Fox returns to the screen for the first time in six years in a new clip from Season Three of Shrinking, premiering today exclusively on Rolling Stone.
The short clip comes from the opening episode of the new season, “My Bad,” which arrives tomorrow, Jan. 28, on Apple TV. In it, Harrison Ford’s character Paul — a therapist battling Parkinson’s disease — finds himself in a doctor’s office waiting room, seated next to Jerry, played by Fox.
Jerry, who’s much further along in his Parkinson’s battle, opens the conversation by shaking Paul’s hand and quipping, “Mild tremor — I would kill to have a fucking tremor like that.” Paul replies that he’s suffering from stiffness and pain in his left side, before deadpanning, “I tell my girlfriend that sex helps, but she’s a doctor so she knows I’m full of shit.”
When Paul says he feels “stupid complaining to you,” Jerry brushes him off, “Oh, please. We’re all on the same shit train to sucksville.” A few moments later he adds, “Enough whining, I’m still here. So, fuck Parkinson’s.”
While Paul initially defers Jerry’s request to “say it to me now,” when he’s called in for his appointment, Paul turns back and replies, “Fuck Parkinson’s.” Jerry repeats it, then realizes, “What the fuck? I was here first!”
Fox’s role on Season Three of Shrinking was confirmed last spring. It’s the first time he’s acted onscreen since his retirement in 2020, when he made a two-episode appearance on The Good Fight. After that, he did lend his voice to an animated short, Back Home Again, and appeared in a couple of documentaries, one about his life, and the other about the search for the DeLorean Time Machine used in Back to the Future.
Shrinking also finds Fox reuniting with Bill Lawrence, the series co-creator, who also helmed Spin City, the hit sitcom Fox starred in during the Nineties. Fox also had a small guest role on Lawrence’s other big show, Scrubs.
Along with Fox, Season Three of Shrinking will feature guest appearances from Daniels, Sherry Cola, Candice Bergen, and Isabella Gomez. The main cast boasts Ford, Jason Segel, Christa Miller, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell, and Ted McGinley.