Shrinking (TV series)

Shrinking is an American comedy-drama television series created by Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel and Brett Goldstein. The series stars Segel as a grieving therapist who decides to become drastically more involved in his patients' lives. Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Michael Urie, Luke Tennie, and Lukita Maxwell also star.

The series premiered on January 27, 2023, on Apple TV+. It has received positive reviews, with praise for its performances, writing, humor, and examination of grief. It was renewed for a second season in March 2023.

The first season received two nominations at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Segel and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Williams. The first season also received three nominations from both the Critics' Choice Awards and the TCA Awards, with Ford being recognized by both groups for his performance.

Premise
A therapist, Jimmy Laird, dealing with severe grief after his wife's death, begins to breach ethical barriers by telling his patients what he really thinks, resulting in massive changes to his and their lives.

Main

 * Jason Segel as Jimmy Laird, a therapist who works at the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center, and is grieving the death of his wife
 * Jessica Williams as Gaby, a fellow therapist working with Jimmy at the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center
 * Luke Tennie as Sean, a patient suffering from anger management issues who has sessions with Jimmy
 * Michael Urie as Brian, Jimmy's best friend who is a lawyer
 * Lukita Maxwell as Alice, Jimmy's teenage daughter with whom he shares a strained relationship
 * Christa Miller as Liz, Jimmy's next-door neighbor who also helps with looking after Alice
 * Harrison Ford as Dr. Paul Rhoades, a senior therapist and colleague of Jimmy's at the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center who has Parkinson's disease.

Recurring

 * Ted McGinley as Derek, Liz's husband
 * Heidi Gardner as Grace, one of Jimmy's patients
 * Lilan Bowden as Tia, Jimmy's wife and Alice's mother who died in a car accident
 * Kimberly Condict as Wally, one of Jimmy's patients who has obsessive–compulsive disorder
 * Devin Kawaoka as Charlie, Brian's fiancé
 * Rachel Stubington as Summer, Alice's best friend at school
 * Lily Rabe as Meg, Paul's daughter
 * Wendie Malick as Dr. Julie Baram, a neurologist treating Paul's Parkinson's disease with whom he eventually begins a romance
 * Tilky Jones as Donny, Grace's abusive husband

Guest

 * Asif Ali as Alan, one of Jimmy's patients
 * Miriam Flynn as Pam, Jimmy and Liz's heavily disliked neighbor
 * Gavin Lewis as Connor, a son of neighbors Liz and Derek, and friend of Alice
 * Neil Flynn as Raymond, one of Paul's patients
 * Brian Howe as Kip, Brian's father
 * Brett Goldstein (season 2)

Production
It was announced in October 2021 that Apple TV+ had ordered a ten-episode season for the series, which would star Jason Segel, who co-created alongside Brett Goldstein and Bill Lawrence.

In April 2022, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Michael Urie, Luke Tennie, and Lukita Maxwell joined the cast, with James Ponsoldt joining the production as a director and executive producer. During a 2023 interview with Harrison Ford for The Hollywood Reporter, author James Hibberd reminded Ford that he had said in 2002 that he was content to work only once per year and asked him why he had accepted the offer to play Dr. Paul Rhoades. Ford replied that he wanted to try new things after a period of not doing as much work as he wished due to the COVID-19 pandemic and his commitments to the titular role of the long-delayed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. As with his role in 1923, Ford accepted the Shrinking role despite there not being a script at the time, trusting that Segel, Goldstein, Lawrence and Brian Gallivan would deliver him a good script.

Production began in April 2022. The series was released on January 27, 2023, with the first two episodes premiering together and the rest releasing on a weekly basis. It has a total of ten episodes in the first season.

The series theme song "Frightening Fishes" was written by Ben Gibbard and Tom Howe.

In March 2023, Apple TV+ renewed the series for a second season. In June 2024, Ashley Nicole Black joined the second season as a writer and a cast member in an undisclosed capacity.

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating with an average rating of 7.65/10, based on 92 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Shrinking has darker ideas on its mind than its earnest approach can often translate, but Jason Segel and Harrison Ford's sparkling turns make these characters worth close analysis." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly gave the series a B+ and described the series as "a funny, brainy grief-com about the power—and dangers—of radical honesty." Chicago Sun-Times's Richard Roeper gave a rating of 3.5 out of 4 stars and said, "You never know what goes on behind the scenes, but one gets the feeling Ford is having a great time on this show. We're sure having a great time watching it." Writing for The Wall Street Journal, John Anderson stated, "The overall sense is a little like laughing at a funeral; the human impulses are familiar, a little perverse and somehow comforting."