Michael J. Fox couldn't resist the lure of television comedy or an executive producer's pleas. The actor, who leftSpin Cityin 2000 after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, guest stars as an inspiring physician in two episodes of the NBC sitcom "Scrubs" beginning this week.

He's reunited with Spin City executive producer Bill Lawrence, who admitted to shameless begging to get Fox. "I told him if he came back to TV and it wasn't Scrubs, I'd kill myself," said Lawrence, executive producer of the NBC series.

When Fox told Lawrence he was feeling good and thinking about series work, he asked if Scrubs would be interested in having him. He didn't presume there would be a job for him, Lawrence said. "That's the kind of guy he is," he said.

Fox, 42, has devoted much of the last few years to raising money and lobbying for research into his disease, which was diagnosed in 1991 and resulted in symptoms including tremors, stiffness and loss of balance.

The symptoms were not apparent during filming and no accommodation was required for him during production, according to Lawrence and NBC.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research has provided $35 million for studies and expects to raise $10 million to $15 million more by spring.

"It's looking good," Fox, interviewed by NBC, said of research efforts. The work done on Parkinson's overlap with other diseases including Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis, he said.