Shrinking Boss Bill Lawrence Teases Paul's Parkinson's Struggles, Jimmy's Romantic Future In Season 3 (Exclusive First Look)

It's time for Jimmy to move on. 

Apple TV's "Shrinking" returns for Season 3 Wednesday, Jan. 28 with a one-hour premiere, and while it's high-time for Jimmy's life to move forward, he won't be the only character either making big moves or enduring life's many tumultuous waves. Case in point, Paul, whose struggle with Parkinson's disease — as mentioned in last year's finale — is, indeed, about to get worse. Much worse.

According to co-creator and executive producer Bill Lawrence, balancing the characters' heavier moments while maintaining a sense of hope was one of the key goals in crafting the show's third run.

"The important thing to me, especially with having Parkinson's in and around my family, is making sure that it still feels optimistic and hopeful, even though everybody out there is usually a couple degrees separated from someone who's dealing with some real tricky health stuff," he said. "It's an effort watching Paul get through that stuff with the support of this group around him, [but Season 3] vibes off of the finale last year." 

For Jimmy, moving on possibly (hopefully?) means entering the dating world once again, and with the confirmed return of Cobie Smulders (aka, Sofi, the woman he bought Alice's car from), is it time to start 'shipping a Jimmy/Sofi romance?

"We always joke on the set that if this show hit the fourth season and Jimmy was still like, 'I've been thinking about [dating] and I'm still really sad about my wife,' people would be like, 'They gotta come up with something else,'" says Lawrence. "I hope we've earned people kind of rooting for these [characters] to move forward in their lives, whether that means Jimmy embracing the idea of having a love in his life again or his daughter feeling confident about going off to college. We like to do these themes you can almost attach to every character. Sean, Luke Tennie's character... I don't think it'd be a victory if that guy lived in the pool house behind his therapist's house his whole life." 

Some new and very famous faces will also be entering the "Shrinking" crew's lives. First, Michael J. Fox is on board as a "full-fledged character" (meaning, he's not playing himself), someone who Paul will meet at the top of the season. According to Lawrence — who first worked with Fox on ABC's "Spin City" — "Mike's just the best dude." 

"He made the mistake of saying out loud in front of me at a social event over the summer that he kind of missed acting," says Lawrence. "Unsurprisingly, we live in a world dealing with Parkinson's, and for Mike to be able to play a full-fledged character with that condition, I just thought it was fascinating and super cool to watch. He still has ridiculous comic timing, and people will see that as soon as the trailer comes out." 

The mostly retired Fox will appear in a multi-episode arc this season.

Jeff Daniels is another new addition who "definitely fits the theme" in Season 3. He'll pop up as Jimmy's dad, and it's safe to say their relationship is a bumpy one. 

"I think the people that are fans of the show are savvy enough to realize that if Jimmy is so aggressively looking at Paul as a father figure, that his relationship with his own father is, at the very least, complicated," teases Lawrence. 

The EP adds that Daniels' character is a charming father/grandfather we'd all love to have... "but there's always a story beneath that."

Here are a few more teases about what's in store for the rest of Jimmy and Paul's found family.

Gaby and Derrick No. 2's relationship appears to be working at the top of the new episodes, but Lawrence doesn't hesitate to bring up her "issues in the past of white knighting and being married to an addict and always doubting it," he says. "On the personal front, people I'm sure will anticipate [those issues resurfacing], though I'm not sure if they know how it'll play out."

Sean is heading toward some personal friction himself after he comes face-to-face with someone from his past (played by Isabella Gomez) with whom he has unresolved conflict. "We all have that person from our past that has a question mark next to them of what could have been," Lawrence says. "For Sean, that question mark has always existed because of how much he changed emotionally and whether or not you can ever go back to those kind of childhood feelings."

As for Liz helping Brian and Charlie out with their newborn: "Where does help end and meddling begin?" Lawrence poses. "[But] the trials and tribulations of being first-time fathers is definitely a comedic strength of the season."

Are you looking forward to the return of "Shrinking"? See one more exclusive photo from Season 3 below, then sound off in the comments! 

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