Shrinking centers on Jimmy Baird (co-creator Jason Segel), who struggles to move on after his wife dies in a car crash, spending months buried in booze and drugs instead of taking care of his teen daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell). Thankfully, he has a slightly overbearing community to rely on, who help pull him out of his misery so that he can begin to heal. As serious as all of this sounds, it’s a surprisingly breezy and fun hangout series, largely thanks to a delightful ensemble that also includes 2025 Critics’ Choice winner Michael Urie, Christa Miller, Luke Tennie, and Wendie Malick.
In season three, Jimmy will decide if it’s time to pursue another relationship, possibly with Sofi (played by Segel’s former How I Met Your Mother co-star Cobie Smulders). Meanwhile, Alice has to decide whether she wants to move to Connecticut for college, and whether it’ll leave her dad in a place of despair again. Mostly, though, the new episodes focus on Paul’s (Ford) health worsening as his Parkinson’s symptoms threaten to derail his career. This season also features the return of series co-creator Brett Goldstein as the drunk driver who killed Jimmy’s wife, and boasts appearances from Michael J. Fox, Jeff Daniels, Candice Bergen, Isabella Gomez, and Sherry Cola.
Bill Lawrence, who co-created the series with Segel and Goldstein, seems to have benefited from his foray into Apple TV. The partnership began with Ted Lasso in 2020, with the Jason Sudeikis-starred series turning into an Emmys favorite before losing some steam (although get ready for more of Coach Lasso in the upcoming season four). In 2024, he had the crime caper Bad Monkey, which will return for another round soon. And then there’s Shrinking, which was pitched as a three-season story, per Lawrence. Hopefully, it’ll be a good thing that they found a way past that initial plan.
Shrinking season three premieres on Jan 28, with the finale set to air on April 8.
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