15 TV Shows To Watch If You Like Shrinking

The rakish and bold gunslinger Han Solo. The adventurous and noble archeologist Indiana Jones. And now... the cranky and ailing therapist Paul Rhoades?

Seeing Harrison Ford manipulate his well-established persona for the sake of a light dramedy is just one of the many pleasures available in "Shrinking," an Apple TV show created by Brett Goldstein, Bill Lawrence, and Jason Segel. Segel's Jimmy Laird is an admirable foil to Ford's Paul, with the two working together at the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center while reckoning with different forms of grief and enormous life changes.

If you love the show's blending of character-driven comedy and gut-punching drama, you may be seeking some extra therapy sessions in the form of similar TV shows. And while we're not authorized to write you actual prescriptions, we can certainly give you some new stuff to watch.

Check out these 15 TV shows to watch if you like "Shrinking," shows that have lovely, genre-blending tones made by multi-talented TV creators interested in examining all facets of life, death, and everything in between.

In co-creating the original "Office," Ricky Gervais changed comedy TV forever. He helped pave the way for a slower, quieter, and even sadder style of comedy while still preserving dysfunctional character dynamics and pervasive humor. In other words, "The Office" gives room for a tonally complicated show like "Shrinking" to exist. And in his 2019 three-season Netflix dramedy, Gervais recaptured some of his original magic.

"After Life" — created, written, and directed by, as well as starring Gervais — follows Tony Johnson, a journalist made despondent after the death of his wife (Kerry Godliman). While he considers suicide, he opts instead to treat his life like there's no tomorrow, behaving exactly how he wants to without any consideration for consequences or other people's emotional well-being. But when he starts realizing he cares for others more than he lets on, his mission statement begins to change and grow.

Yes, Gervais' trademark brand of acerbic, intellectual superiority occasionally surfaces in the script. But by and large, this is a lovely program that plays, at its best, like a combination of the Jason Segel and Harrison Ford characters from "Shrinking."

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Another great Netflix black comedy, though one with an increasingly sinister edge, "Dead to Me" stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini as two women who develop a curious relationship forged in trauma — and lies.

Applegate is Jen Harding, whose husband, Ted, is killed in a hit-and-run accident at the beginning of the series. Jen tries various ways to channel her grief, but can't shake her anger and pain. At a grief support group, she meets Judy (Cardellini), a fellow member who strikes up a friendship. But as their bond deepens, Jen finds out some truths about Judy, and their lives begin taking increasingly unexpected turns.

Liz Feldman's series is sharper and pricklier than the generally warmer "Shrinking," but there's a catharsis to its approach to heavy topics like grief. Plus, when the three-season series begins to turn the screws, it starts to evoke shows like "Search Party" and "Killing Eve," giving "Shrinking" fans something different to go with something familiar.

A one-season wonder ahead of its time, "Freaks and Geeks" gave many people in front of and behind the camera their breakout positions. Linda Cardellini, Seth Rogen, Paul Feig, Judd Apatow, and, of course, one Mr. Jason Segel all got major career boosts from this cult hit. In other words, without "Freaks and Geeks," there is no "Shrinking." So come pay your respects, why don't you?

Segel plays high-schooler Nick Andopolis, one of the titular "freaks." A generally soft-spoken musician, Nick harbors resentment toward his father (Kevin Tighe) while developing a relationship with the bookish Lindsay Weir (Cardellini), the show's lead. Lindsay's family has all the usual cookie-cutter suburban aspirations, making her decision to join this socially maligned friend group one of the best things that could happen to her. And all of this is before we even get into the "geeks"!

Beyond the Segel of it all, the 1980s period piece has similar tonal qualities and empathy to "Shrinking." It's funny, sad, touching, and utterly human. You'll be bummed they didn't make any more seasons — but, honestly, how could they?

An unjustly canceled one-season show, "Go On" was Matthew Perry's finest post-"Friends" vehicle, giving him the opportunity to hone his lovably sarcastic comic chops while deepening his emotional core. 

Perry plays Ryan King, a loudmouthed sports talk radio host whose world is shaken when his wife (Christine Woods) dies in a texting-while-driving accident. As Ryan tries his best to move on (sorry, to go on), his boss (John Cho) forces him to attend grief counseling, where he meets a group of people who will change his life forever.

Ryan and Jimmy might be friends, were they to meet in an alternate TV crossover universe. They're both charming mavericks with a deep sadness at their core, and they both grow thanks to the love and eccentricities of the people around them. "Go On" also moves at a quicker, network-TV pace and packs in more jokes per second for those who want their "Shrinking" comedy fix to grow.

And now, Jason Segel's second TV breakthrough!

The hit CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother," which ran for nine seasons and over 200 episodes, revolves around Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) recounting the winding story behind the show's title to his children (the present-day voiceover narrated by Bob Saget). Alongside a tight-knit group of friends, the show stars Segel as Marshall Eriksen, a law student navigating adulthood alongside his college sweetheart Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), a kindergarten teacher.

Their relationship evolves through highs and lows, with creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas allowing both characters room to experience ample silliness, seriousness, and genuine emotional struggles. Segel is particularly great at juggling these multiple tones, even within the same scene; while his comic timing is perfectly suited to the multicam format, his knack for pathos, not sappiness, shines through. 

If you're daunted by jumping into such a long, lore-driven series like "HIMYM," try the middle of season six, where Segel and Hannigan play through some emotionally raw material that culminates in a charged scene of grief. It might be Segel's best performance to date — apart from "Shrinking," of course.

If your favorite part of "Shrinking" is the therapy sessions between Jimmy and his clients, "In Treatment" will more than scratch the itch of such direct human drama.

The great HBO series is one of television's rare half-hour dramas, though that's far from its only unique quality. It originally aired four to five times a week, with each episode showing just one session of the therapist protagonist (Gabriel Byrne's Paul in the first three seasons, Uzo Aduba's Brooke in the fourth). It offers a chance for a murderer's row of talented actors — Blair Underwood, Alison Pill, Amy Ryan, and Anthony Ramos, among others — to spar deeply with Byrne or Aduba, wrestling with complex material that dives headfirst into some of the harder things a human can deal with.

And then, the therapist sees their own therapist! Dianne Wiest plays Paul's therapist/mentor, a complicated figure who tries her best to guide him toward healthier choices without crossing professional boundaries. In the fourth season, this device is retooled slightly, with Brooke seeing an AA sponsor played by Liza Colón-Zayas.

Television is often the best medium for small-scale stories, and "In Treatment" demonstrates that beautifully.

A dark and deep comedy, "Kidding" takes the oft-manic impulses of Jim Carrey and producer/director Michel Gondry and reshapes them into complicated, even prickly weapons of emotional warfare. In other words, it's not just for "Shrinking" fans; it's also the spiritual sequel to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."

Carrey plays Jeff Piccirillo, aka Mr. Pickles, a long-beloved children's television host. One year after the tragic death of his son, Phil (Cole Allen), Jeff struggles to maintain the Mr. Pickles persona despite pressure from his executive producer and father, Seb (Frank Langella), and the adoration of audiences worldwide. Plus, his off-camera existence is an absolute mess.

So Jeff starts making changes both on the show and in his everyday life. These changes ruffle plenty of feathers, but they also become Jeff's way of channeling grief into something active or constructive. Carrey plays the material sensitively even as things go haywire around him — and because of him.

Amy Schumer, the mastermind behind the great Comedy Central series "Inside Amy Schumer," created and stars in "Life & Beth," a two-season Hulu dramedy about how death causes us all to reevaluate our lives. She also frequently wrote and directed episodes of the series.

Schumer is, of course, Beth, a New Yorker who works in the wine industry. When her mom dies, everything about her routine life changes. She wants and needs something more, and part of this involves interrogating her relationship with her sister, Ann (Susannah Flood). It also involves a burgeoning relationship with a farmhand named John, played by the inimitable Michael Cera, who shares ample chemistry with Schumer.

The show also flashes back to Beth's past experiences with her mother, played by Laura Benanti, with Violet Young playing a younger Beth. These sequences are packed with revelatory moments of pathos that will ring true to anyone who has had to revisit their inner child.

Plus, Schumer rounds out the ensemble with a litany of interesting New York comedians, including Gary Gulman, Jon Glaser, and Rosebud Baker. Think of it as an East Coast remix of the very Californian "Shrinking."

Much of "Loudermilk" is directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly, the brothers responsible for vulgar masterpieces like "Dumb & Dumber" and "There's Something About Mary." But the three-season dramedy isn't interested in broad belly laughs. It's an honest, acerbic, and unflinching look at addiction and the kinds of people who suffer through the disease.

Ron Livingston stars as Sam Loudermilk. Loudermilk used to be a music critic, but his alcoholism eroded that career path. Now in recovery, he runs an unorthodox Seattle support group for fellow addicts, giving out hard truths and barely veiled contempt to those in his orbit, including his new sponsee, Claire Wilkes (Anja Savcic). Under the tutelage of his own sponsor, Ben Burns (Will Sasso), Loudermilk does his best to tackle his clients' needs head-on, while keeping his own demons at bay.

The show is harder-edged than "Shrinking" and many of the other shows on this list. But it has a huge heart underneath the grit, trusting that its audience wants a kind of unvarnished truth about such life-changing circumstances. Isn't that what great TV is for?

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Jessica Williams is another wonderful component of "Shrinking." You may know her from her work as a correspondent on "The Daily Show," but if you'd like to see her in another narrative comedy with a similarly sensitive tone, check out Season 2 of the anthology series "Love Life" (and hey, Season 1 is pretty rad, too, for any Anna Kendrick fans).

The romantic dramedy from creator Sam Boyd stars William Jackson Harper as Marcus Watkins, a mild-mannered (and very married) book editor. He meets and hits it off with the passionate and charismatic Mia Hines, played by Williams. As the season jumps through time, their relationship goes through all kinds of twists, turns, and evolutions.

Evoking some of Richard Linklater's work, but with a decidedly literary, East Coast flavor, the second season of "Love Life" is a great piece of sociological, romantic drama. You will get invested to the point of screaming at your TV.

"Scrubs" might be "Shrinking" co-creator Bill Lawrence's magnum opus. The original run, from 2001 through 2010, codified and expanded many of Lawrence's most recognizable impulses, from its expansion of the single-cam form to its blending of absurdity, tragedy, and heart. And its new revival season brilliantly captures the same energy that made the early seasons so beloved.

The show stars Zach Braff as J.D., who begins the series as an intern at Sacred Heart Hospital. J.D. is naive, romantic, bumbling, endearing, and annoying — a generation-defining character (though Braff's work in "Garden State" might have something to do with that definition). Alongside his best friend Turk (Donald Faison), a surgical intern, and his fellow intern and on-again-off-again love interest Elliot (Sarah Chalke), J.D. learns a lot about life, love, and medicine.

Of particular interest to "Shrinking" fans may be J.D.'s relationship with Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley), a mentor figure who's grouchy, berating, manipulative, and has a great heart underneath it all. It plays like a proto-version of the relationship between Jason Segel and Harrison Ford on "Shrinking," and it makes for an engaging watch throughout the series.

Bridget Everett is a high-octane comedian, a live performer who traffics in vulgarity and volume to elicit reaction. But in "Somebody Somewhere," a dramedy adapted from her life by creators Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen, Everett turns down the volume and finds wide-reverberating emotional truths and nuances.

Everett plays Sam Miller, who has moved back to her hometown in Kansas to take care of her dying sister. At the series' start, her sister has already passed, leaving Sam to pick up the pieces of her already fragile emotional state. Helping her process this grief and navigate small-town life is her best friend Joel (the Emmy-winning Jeff Hiller). Together, they muddle through somehow, finding glimmers of light in an often dark set of circumstances.

"Somebody Somewhere" might be the quietest, lowest-concept show on this list, but that doesn't make it any less worth your while. With three seasons and 21 episodes, it's a binge that will enrich your life and make you start preaching its underseen qualities to anyone who will listen.

"Shrinking" is an Apple TV dramedy developed by Bill Lawrence and writer/actor/comedian Jason Segel. But this isn't the first iteration of this streaming-genre-Lawrence-hyphenate formula. And if you didn't Believe before, you'd best start now.

"Ted Lasso," based on a series of short comedy videos made for NBC Sports, shares a streaming platform and a sense of hard-fought hope with "Shrinking." But while the "Jason" anchoring "Shrinking" (Segel) begins his journey worn down and grieving, the "Jason" leading "Ted Lasso" (Sudeikis) starts with plucky optimism. In both cases, viewers are moved as their philosophies are tempered and changed by the circumstances around them. 

The titular lead is an American college football coach who heads to England to coach a maligned football (i.e., soccer) team. He's initially faced with opposition all along the way, from a gruff veteran player (Brett Goldstein, feeling just a little Harrison Ford-y) to a new owner with an ulterior motive (Hannah Waddingham). But dagnabbit, his folksy charm and hard-fought optimism change the hearts and minds of his colleagues in ways that are always authentic, never saccharine.

A prickly, honest, and deeply felt British dramedy from writer/star Aisling Bea, "This Way Up" will satisfy fans of "Shrinking," "Fleabag," and "Catastrophe." Heck, it even boasts Sharon Horgan as an actor, executive producer, and story consultant.

Bea plays Áine, a young Irish woman recovering after a mental health crisis. Newly checked out of a rehabilitation center with the help of her sister Shona (Horgan), Áine tries to rebuild her life, working as an instructor for an English as a second language class, flinging herself into (often unrequited) sexual relationships, and navigating a litany of personal tragedies.

While "Shrinking" and many American shows exploring similarly fraught topics have a tonal warmth to soften some of the edges, "This Way Up" can feel downright chilly, much to its benefit. It gives it ample verisimilitude and visceral impact, never sacrificing a sense of humor for empty bleakness, but instead blending the two to suggest that life is always simultaneously light and dark, even (or especially) on the way up.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

The multi-talented Sutton Foster leads "Younger," a seven-season dramedy about the newly single 40-something Liza, who cons her way back into a workforce now dominated by the, well, younger generation. It also features Michael Urie from "Shrinking" in a recurring role as Redmond, a social media guru and literary agent who oscillates between a professional rival and an occasional ally.

As for the con, well, after her contentious divorce and lack of success getting back out there, Liza decides to pass herself off as someone in her mid-20s, figuring it will help in her professional and romantic life. The short-term gains are readily apparent, but it proves increasingly difficult to keep her new life and her truer, "older" life separated.

While this sounds like the kind of high concept that would motivate a broadly-pitched farce, "Younger" finds quite a bit of poignant authenticity throughout its run. Adapted from a Pamela Redmond Satran novel by veteran TV creator Darren Star ("Emily in Paris," "Sex and the City," and many others), the show ultimately tells a tale of self-acceptance and growth, no matter the age.