Dreamed up by a Ted Lasso front runner and one of that show’s stars, Shrinking is a jiggly comedy about a grieving therapist’s attempts to radically reinvent his psychological methods. Chaos ensues and a chaotic social circle around the therapist provides drama and fun. Jason Segel is wonderful as Jimmy the therapist, and the supporting cast is fine, including a fine turn by Harrison Ford as Jimmy’s grouchy therapist boss. The comedy flows endlessly and while not all of it is laugh-out-aloud hilarious, one scene in particular, a barfing one, had me shaking with laughter. The quality of the first nine episodes varies a little, a couple falling rather flat, but overall Shrinking, with its half an hour per episode, is an engaging concoction with loads of intelligence. Until, that is, the tenth and final episode that wraps it all up, which is a disaster of lame unoriginality. It is rare these days to see otherwise savvy scriptwriters fall down so badly, but this is not a fall but a plummet. So feel free to watch Shrinking for a mostly engaging tale; just don’t expect to leave the show delighted.
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