VOD News | On 12, May 2025

Michael J Fox has joined the cast of Shrinking for its third season.

Co-created by Jason Segel, Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, the comedy follows grieving therapist Jimmy (played by Segel), who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics – not to mention his boss, Paul (Harrison Ford) – he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives… including his own.

Alongside Ford and Segel, the ensemble includes Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell and Ted McGinley, with Brett Goldstein making a guest appearance in Season 2. Now, another star face is joining the gang for Season 3: none other than Michael J Fox.

The Emmy-winning actor has been an iconic screen presence for decades, with roles in everything from Back to the Future and The Good Wife. He previously worked with Bill Lawrence on Lawrence’s first series as a creator, Spin City, but ended up leaving the show due to the severity of his Parkinson’s symptoms at the time.

It may or may not be a coincidence that Paul in Shrinking also has Parkinson’s – details of Fox’s character are being kept under wraps for now – but it marks his first time acting since appearing in The Good Fight in 2020, when he reprised a character he played in The Good Wife.

The role also marks a reunion between Fox and Apple TV+, after he featured in the documentary Still: A Michael J Fox Movie.

Fox joins another notable addition to Season 3’s cast, Jeff Daniels, who will guest star as Jimmy’s father.

 

Apple renews Shrinking for Season 3

19th October 2024

Apple TV+ has already booked in more therapy sessions with Harrison Ford, as it renews Shrinking for a third season.

Co-created by Jason Segel, Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, the comedy follows grieving therapist Jimmy (played by Segel), who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives … including his own. The ensemble includes Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell and Ted McGinley, with Brett Goldstein making a guest appearance in Season 2.

In our review, we described the show as “an unlikely workplace comedy, a thoughtful ensemble drama and a strangely uplifting story about learning to move on.”

That sophomore run debuted this week, with the first two episodes arriving on our screens on Wednesday. Now, Apple has confirmed that it had already ordered more from Warner Bros Television, where Lawrence and Goldstein are under overall deals, and Lawrence’s Doozer Productions.

Shrinking marks the third partnership for Apple, Lawrence and Warner Bros Television, following Ted Lasso and Bad Monkey, and the second collaboration for Apple TV+ and Segel, following his starring role in the Apple Original Film The Sky Is Everywhere.

“I’m so lucky to work on ‘Shrinking’ with actors, writers and a crew so talented that they all elevate the material,” said Lawrence. “I’m even luckier that they are people I’d want to spend time with anyway. Huge thanks to Apple TV+ and Warner Bros. for the amazing partnership and support. So grateful we get to keep making this show. Onward!” 

“It has been wonderful to watch audiences around the world fall in love with the memorable characters and rich world that Bill, Brett and Jason have created in Shrinking,” said Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV+. “We are incredibly excited for viewers to see where life takes Jimmy, Paul, Liz, Gabby, Alice, Sean, Brian and Derek next as they continue on their moving, heartwarming and very funny journey.”

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