Add Candice Bergen to the list of icons appearing on Apple TV+’s “Shrinking,” co-creator Bill Lawrence revealed Saturday night during a panel at Austin’s ATX TV Festival. During the “Bill Lawrence and Friends” event at the Paramount Theatre, Lawrence let it slip that the “Murphy Brown” star would appear on the series, which is now shooting its Season 3, opposite series regular Harrison Ford and previously announced guest star Michael J. Fox.
Lawrence let Bergen’s casting slip while talking about working again with Fox, the star of Lawrence’s first-ever sitcom, “Spin City.”
“He’s one of the greatest people I’ve ever met,” Lawrence said of Fox. “He’s one of my mentors. And man, what an inspiring dude, the way he’s living his life. So to get to have him back, working with him… I didn’t expect to have career highlights at this point in my career and I was on set about 10 days ago watching Harrison Ford and Mike Fox and Candice Bergen — oh a spoiler!”
Lawrence didn’t elaborate on Bergen’s “Shrinking” role beyond that slip. Lawrence co-created “Shrinking” with Brett Goldstein and Jason Segel, who stars as Jimmy, a therapist whose grief about his late wife pushes him to start breaking the rules and making big changes in the lives of his patients, friends, family and self. The cast also includes Harrison Ford, Christa Miller, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell, Ted McGinley.
Besides Fox and Bergen, new cast members in Season 3 will include Jeff Daniels, Sherry Cola and Isabella Gomez. Bergen’s other recent guest stints include “And Just Like Us” and “The Conners.”
Lawrence shared more about his experience working with Fox on “Spin City,” which he created and executive produced with Gary David Goldberg in his 20s. Fox departed “Spin City” after four seasons in 2000 due to Parkinson’s symptoms. Fox also had a two-episode arc in Lawrence’s NBC sitcom “Scrubs,” in which he played a genius doctor with severe OCD.
“I was lucky enough to had a mentor, and I created ‘Spin City’ when I was 25 years old,” Lawrence said. “Mike Fox was saying things that I wrote, and I was so scared. I couldn’t give him notes, and I couldn’t do other things. And what broke the ice finally, and I think he did this on purpose. ‘Spin City’ was in front of a live audience, and people would line up in New York because it wasn’t LA, there was only one live sitcom. It was Michael J Fox’s show… [there was] a joke that I was convinced was gonna be fucking funny. And Mike’s like, ‘dude, not funny.’ This the first time I took a stand. I’m like, ‘I think it’s gonna be funny, Mike, this is the first scene. And he goes, I don’t think so. And I’m like, ‘I think it’s be funny.’ He’s like, ‘All right, I’ll do it.’ And the first scene with a huge audience that’s crackling with electricity. We get to that first joke. He says it, and it’s fucking crickets. Instead of going on with the scene, he just looked over in front of me. He goes, ‘you fucking happy now?’
“There’s two lessons. One is he, by the way, had a smile on his face. So he was letting me know that it was okay, and it gave me so much confidence,” Lawrence added. “But he was also letting me know that those of us that write don’t have to have that kind of egg on our face, if it goes south. So one of the things that we always tell everybody, is you do something silly and big and bold and go for it, and if it doesn’t work, I promise it won’t be on the show. I hope you guys like seeing Mike on TV again. He’s my hero.”
The Lawrence panel also included Zach Braff (“Scrubs”), Brett Goldstein (“Shrinking,” “Ted Lasso”), Josh Hopkins (“Cougar Town,” “Shrinking”), Phil Dunster (“Ted Lasso”) and Charly Clive, who stars in Lawrence’s upcoming HBO series as the daughter of Steve Carell’s character. (Dunster is also in that show.)
Braff is on board Lawrence’s potential “Scrubs” revival in development at ABC. “We’re all still friends,” Braff said. “People think this is like a lie, and we tell people we all really hang out. Donald and I are legitimately best friends. He’s staying in my apartment as we speak in New York. We’re all really, really close and and so when this, when it came up that ABC, Disney, wanted to do it. It just felt like a great the right time. And the idea of going and laughing all day long with this group of people that I love so much again this time felt like a really good time.”
Braff is also directing an episode of Lawrence’s HBO series starring Carell, Dunster, Clive and John C. McGinley.
Asked about the Apple TV+ “Ted Lasso” revival, Lawrence deferred to creator/star Jason Sudeikis. (Who wasn’t in Austin.) “He is Ted Lasso, but he’s also the voice the show,” Lawrence said. “And more than a creative partner, I was kind of riding on his coattails on that one.”
Added Goldstein, who joked at Lawrence’s Bergen slip: “Unlike Bill, who breaks embargoes, I’m not allowed to say anything, because Apple has a sniper on the roof driving an eye on me right now. All I can say is, it is delightful to be back in the right through with everyone.”
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