'Shrinking' With Harrison Ford and Jason Segel Has Fate Revealed Early at Apple TV+
Harrison Ford and Jason Segel will be heading back to work at the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center. Apple TV+ has renewed its hit comedy-drama series Shrinking for a second season. The series, which hails from Ted Lasso producers Warner Bros. TV, was handed the Season 2 renewal just before the debut of its eighth episode Friday.
"We have loved the engaging, touching and hilarious world of Shrinking since the beginning, and it has been wonderful to watch as audiences around the world continue to connect with these big-hearted characters," Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV+, said. "We can't wait for viewers to experience what the cast and creative team have for season two."
Co-created by Segel, Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, Shrinking stars Segel as Jimmy, a grieving therapist who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. As he ignores his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people's lives. Ford stars as Dr. Paul Rhoades, one of Jimmy's colleagues at the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center, who has Parkinson's disease. Roudning out the cast is Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Lukita Maxwell, Michael Urie, and Luke Tenni. Heidi Gardner and Ted McGinley recurred in the first season.
The first season of the Apple TV+ comedy has been met with rave reviews from critics and fans alike, being hailed as "one of 2023's funniest shows," as well as the "most charming and life-affirming show about grieving ever made." The series currently holds an 81% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, where a 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." The show holds an 84% audience score. Viewership data for the series is unavailable, as Apple, like other streamers, opting to keep such data private.
Shrinking is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Lawrence's Doozer Productions. Lawrence, Goldstein, Segel, Neil Goldman, James Ponsoldt, Randall Winston, Jeff Ingold, and Liza Katzer executive produce. Lawrence, Segel and Goldstein wrote the first episode, which was directed by Ponsoldt. The series joins the growing list Apple Original series that have earned renewals, with Acapulco, Tehran, Bad Sisters, Surface, Trying, Physical, Loot, Slow Horses, For All Mankind, Pachinko, The Afterparty, Schmigadoon!, Swagger, and Severance having also received renewals.