Copyright © 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.Jason Segel is the perfect mess in the new ten-episode Apple TV+ original comedy series Shrinking, where he plays a grieving therapist at his wits’ end who begins telling his patients exactly what he really thinks. His newfound love of brutal honesty is extremely entertaining for the audience, but clearly there is trouble looming, as he starts to walk on such thin ice in terms of legal and moral obligations to the practice that he puts not only his own license at risk but potentially the entire business, which is run by an ailing curmudgeonly therapist played by Harrison Ford.
The comedy comes naturally as Jimmy (Segel) is constantly surrounded by a slew of oddballs, including not only his curmudgeonly boss but also his nosy and domineering neighbor Liza (The Drew Carey Show’s Christa Miller), and his patient-turned-housemate with a temper Sean (Luke Tennie). Each of these characters is also going through major life upheavals as well, and part of the series’ message seems to be that one should never narrow their focus too much on their own tragedies, because everyone else is going through something, too.
Though there are enough funny moments to call it a comedy, the show is not lacking in depth, and Segel’s often-haunting portrayal of someone grieving a spouse while still having to juggle the responsibility of being a good doctor, father, and neighbor, while simultaneously being so emotionally scatterbrained that he does not act how he wishes he could act, is what makes the series great, because being an imperfect human is so relatable.
Shrinking premieres its first two episodes Friday, Jan. 27, on Apple TV+, with new episodes airing every Friday thereafter.
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