Jason Segel Is Playing The Anti-Ted Lasso In New Comedy Series Shrinking
Between "Ted Lasso" and "Shrinking," I'm starting to think that Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein are trying to tell us something. Is it that anybody — no matter how optimistic or professionally inclined to healthy behavior — can be going through an emotional crisis? Or is it that therapy is a crucial service we should all be seeking out? Maybe it's both. All I know for sure is that while they are quite different on the surface, these two series seem to have a lot in common. In Lawrence and Goldstein, "Shrinking" shares both a creator and writer with "Ted Lasso," but also a very human approach to its characters. Set to premiere on Apple TV+ later this month, the series will pull back the curtain on the lives of therapists (or shrinks), as one of their own lives through a tragedy that radically changes his approach to the job.
The prospect of something coming from the creators of "Ted Lasso" might prompt you to expect the warm optimism of the show's titular character but evidently, this comedy will be a bit different. The series is co-created by star Jason Segel, who discussed those differences for the March 2023 issue of Empire Magazine. "'Ted Lasso' felt like exactly what we needed at the time, because we were deep in the thick of it and we needed a shot of hope," Segel said, highlighting the timely mid-pandemic arrival of the series.
With everything so terrible, the warm-hearted show was a much-needed comfort. But in the aftermath, the time has come to process all the trauma that Ted helped us suppress. That's where "Shrinking" comes in. As Segel explained, "We're a little bit after that now, where we're grieving the last few years in a lot of ways — whether it was an actual loved one or just the years of our lives that were hijacked."
Jimmy Laird is no Ted Lasso
In "Shrinking," Jason Segel plays grieving therapist Jimmy Laird, who is struggling to cope a year after the death of his wife. Not only is he unable to connect with his teenage daughter, but suddenly his primary daily constant — his work and patients — has stopped making sense. And then he decides to start breaking some rules. Ignoring his training and ethics, he realizes that he can help people by pushing further into their lives (aka overstepping professional boundaries). And it works! The results are huge and positive, with his patients making major progress and Jimmy himself starting to feel like he's moving forward. But eventually, throwing therapeutic norms to the wind is bound to have some less-than-desirable effects.
All in all, Jimmy is obviously a mess and his impulsive solution to his grief might not be the most stable move. And that messiness is exactly why Segel hopes audiences will connect with him. "We wanted to acknowledge that a lot of people are feeling unwell — there's a sense of disease about what's in the air," Segel said. "I've dealt a lot with anxiety and depression, and I've taken great comfort and humor from when people go, 'Yeah, welcome to the club, man. We're all in this together, trying to find our way out.'"
That's not a coping skill
In that way, Jason Segel's approach to Jimmy sounds like the opposite of Ted Lasso's approach to life. The football coach himself would probably give Jimmy a dandy smile, a pink box of shortbread cookies, and a warm hug. But the second season proved that his endless optimism wasn't always the healthiest solution. Ironically, this lesson was learned only when Ted opened himself up to therapy and confronted the fact that his sunshine and rainbows approach was unsustainable and draining, especially if he refused to actually work through his anxieties.
As much as "Shrinking" is exploring different aspects of mental wellness, the two shows do share a similar vein of thinking. Ted's joyful optimism was revealed to be toxic positivity. In place of endless kindness, Jimmy seems to be putting radical empathy to use. Sounds like a perfectly good idea, no? But I expect that just as Ted's kindness was a way to take care of others instead of himself (and eventually backfired in the form of Nate the Great), Jimmy will learn that getting actively involved in the lives of his patients isn't the healthiest way to cope with his own grief.
Don't let that messiness scare you away though. It might be painful, but coming to terms with his flawed coping skill will surely do some good for Jimmy. Or, to quote the series tagline, "Sometimes you have to break down to have a breakthrough."
"Shrinking" debuts its first two episodes on Apple TV+ on January 27, 2023.