This Is Us Is About to Make You Cry Again, Thanks to Dr. K

Exclusive: Dr. K makes his return and takes center stage in the NBC hit's Jan. 17 episode and E! News has your first look

Gerald McRaney, start making room on your mantel now 'cause the Emmy for best guest star is all yours.

Since This Is Us' very first episode, Dr. K, the doc who stepped in to deliver the Big Three, has been the surprise fan-favorite, making a handful of small-but-oh-so-important appearances that brought us to laughs and tears. And in the NBC breakout hit's Jan. 17 episode, Dr. K finally gets his chance in the spotlight and spoiler alert: you will probably definitely cry.

In the episode, titled "The Big Day," viewers will get the backstory on the lovable doctor right around the time of the triplets birth date, during which he was coping with the loss of his wife, and E! News has your exclusive first look at Dr. K's struggle to move on. 

In the sneak peek above, Dr. K's son and daughter-in-law are visiting him and trying to make small talk ("Did you see the new Stars Wars film yet, the Empire Strikes Back?"), before asking him about his dating life since the passing of his wife. "Is there anybody out there you might like to take to a movie?" Peter cautiously asks. 

Dr. K? Well, he's not having it...in the most Dr. K-way that will break your heart a little bit and make you chuckle. Oh, the power of Gerald McRaney.

And Dr. K's backstory isn't the only one fans will be treated to, as we'll learn more about Joe, the firefighter who was the one to deliver baby Randall (Sterling K. Brown) to the hospital on that fateful day, and his fight to save his marriage. 

Our advice? Stock up on ALL the tissues now, as star Chrissy Metz recently told E! News, "There's a lot of really emotional stuff happening. A lot of decisions to be made, a lot of choices. And you have to really just expect the unexpected, as cliché as that might sound." 

This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC. 

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)