Shrinking creators Bill Lawrence and Jason Segel talk to Den of Geek about balancing the humor and drama of season 2.
At first glance, a mid-October release date seems like an odd choice for the sunny second season of Apple TV+'s feel-good dramedy Shrinking. Indeed, there's nary a cobweb nor jack-o'-lantern to be found in season 2's first two episodes that premiered on October 16. As a certain coach in another Apple TV+ feel-good dramedy could tell you, however: it's not only about how you start, but how you finish. And Shrinking season 2 is scheduled to finish its 12-episode run on Christmas Day, December 25.
"It is not just a happy coincidence," co-creator Bill Lawrence tells Den of Geek about season 2's finale date. "Shrinking [season 2] does, in fact, end on a major winter holiday. But it's not Christmas. A show that's often about found family ends with Thanksgiving."
Shrinking actress, music supervisor, and Lawrence's better half Christa Miller even adds that they have the perfect song picked out for the occasion: "There's a song in the first episode that we have a reprise of in the finale, which is being written to the song. That's always great."
A Thanksgiving episode on Christmas is the perfect way for Shrinking to conclude the second chapter of its ongoing story. Created by Ted Lasso's Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein (who joins the cast in season 2) alongside comedy star Jason Segel, Shrinking follows grieving therapist Jimmy Laird's (Segel) road to recovery following his wife's death. Like many other Lawrence-produced sitcoms - Scrubs, Cougar Town, and the aforementioned Ted Lasso - Shrinking finds both laughter and pathos in the warmth of the communal experience. The show may have begun with Jimmy on an emotional island, just emerging from a lengthy bender, but it doesn't take long for him to find refuge in his Southern California community of neighbors, friends, co-workers, and even several of his patients.