Shrinking is a live-action dramedy series created by Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein and Jason Segel for Apple TV+. It stars Segel, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Michael Urie and Christa Miller.
The recently widowed Jimmy Laird (Segel) is juggling his work as a therapist, his new role as a single father and his unprocessed grief. The series follows Jimmy as he tries to rebuild his personal and professional life, as well as the adventures of his friends and colleagues, like fellow therapists Paul (Ford) and Gaby (Williams).
The series contains examples of:
- "Angry Black Man" Stereotype: Discussed by Gaby, who is horrified that Jimmy introduced Sean, a Black patient with anger issues, to MMA fighting, given she is more familiar with how society treats Black rage with more unease than with other groups.
- Brutal Honesty: Jimmy's new approach to helping his patients is to tell them exactly what he is thinking while they discuss their issues.
- The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes:
- The basic premise of the show is Jimmy being a therapist while he himself hasn't yet figured out how to cope with the loss of his wife.
- Also true for Paul, who is a grandfather figure to Alice but has issues reconnecting with his own daughter, and Gaby, who struggles with relationships after she gets a divorce.
- Cool Old Guy: Paul. He's a mentor to Jimmy and Gaby, and a secret confidante to Alice. Of course, it's Harrison Ford. There's no way he wouldn't be this.
- Dance Party Ending: The first season finale ends with the main characters all dancing together at Brian and Charlie's wedding.
- Deadpan Snarker: Everyone has their moments but Paul easily reigns supreme in terms of snark. Natural considering who plays him.
- The Dog Bites Back: At the end of the finale, Jimmy's patient Grace pushes her abusive husband off the edge of a cliff after he starts berating and threatening her during a hike.
- Domestic Abuse: Grace is dealing with this with her husband who is controlling, manipulative and occasionally violent and Jimmy is trying his best to get her to just leave him.
- Everyone Can See It: Liz and Gaby both pick up on Alice's crush on Sean before she unwittingly admits to it in front of her father.
- Happily Married: Liz and Derek have been together long enough to have college-aged children and are still genuinely affectionate with each other and communicate their differences far better than any mental health professionals on the show.
- Intergenerational Friendship:
- Technically, all of Paul's relationships fall under this, as he's a generation removed from the rest of the adult cast and two from Alice.
- Alice's relationship with Gaby qualifies, and she gradually warns Up to Sean before developing a crush on him.
- Limited Social Circle: Whilst the show is focused on Jimmy, his neighbours, coworkers, best friend and daughter all have their own relationships with one another independent of him - for example, Brian is Jimmy's best friend, but is also friends with Gaby and Liz, and works for Paul as his estate lawyer.
- Moving Beyond Bereavement: The premise of the show, as Jimmy works to put his life back together after losing his wife.
- The Pollyanna: Jimmy's friend Brian has an almost aggressively upbeat attitude and outlook. Part of the rift between them was due to Jimmy "needing to hit bottom" after he lost his wife, while Brian wanted to pull him out of his funk before he was ready.
- Parental Substitute: Neighbour Liz has been one to Alice since her mother's death, taking over meetings with Alice's guidance counselor, rides to school and soccer practice, and general caretaking when Jimmy is occupied.
- Parents as People: Jimmy has clearly been struggling with severe depression in the year since his wife's death, leading him to unintentionally neglect his teenage daughter Alice. He's portrayed sympathetically, but she's clearly struggling with he fact that she couldn't rely on him when she needed him most.
- Parting-Words Regret: One of the things that gets to Jimmy was how much he and his wife were fighting before she died.
- Silver Fox: Paul describes himself as this, and Gaby agrees with him. He is played by Harrison Ford, after all.
- The Shrink: Jimmy is competent, but his newfound Brutal Honesty shtick is hit or miss. His colleagues Gaby and Paul have more straightforward, no-nonsense approaches to their work.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: After Grace's estranged husband tracks Jimmy down and attacks him for telling Grace to leave him, Sean attacks him to defend Jimmy. When he subsequently tries to sue Jimmy and Sean, Brian is able to get him to drop all charges by pointing out that he has 30 witnesses that all saw him walk across a soccer field to attack a respected therapist unprovoked before Sean stepped in.
