Jason Segel to continue Shrinking as Apple TV+ series gets second-season renewal

Jason Segel’s journey as a therapist in desperate and ongoing need of therapy is set to continue on streaming TV, turns out, as Variety reports that Segel’s Apple TV+ comedy series Shrinking has now been renewed for a second season. Created by Segel, plus Ted Lasso’s Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, the series stars Segel as Jimmy Laird, a professional therapist whose life descends into chaos in the aftermath of his wife’s death. Harrison Ford co-stars as a senior colleague watching Jimmy’s life fall apart, while Jessica Williams also appears as a colleague watching his radical “Tell patients what I’m really thinking” approach to therapy from the sidelines.

Shrinking, which is set to wrap up its eight-episode first season on Friday, has been a moderate critical success over its initial run, drawing praise for well-observed dramedy beats from both Ford and Williams, while also catching heat for sometimes falling into the rhythms of a more conventional TV show than its premise might suggest. Nevertheless, the series has apparently done well enough at Apple TV+—not that they’d ever give us the actual numbers—to continue onward, allowing Lawrence to keep his small-scale streaming TV empire going. (Ted Lasso’s back on March 15, which doesn’t feel entirely coincidental to the timing here.)

Apple TV+’s Matt Cherniss gave the renewal his blessing with the standard “We like this show we already agreed to give more money to” press paragraph, telling Variety that, “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. We can’t wait for viewers to experience what the cast and creative team have for Season 2.”