Forget ‘Ted Lasso,’ Apple TV’s 3-Part Sitcom Is the Weekend Binge You’ve Been Looking For

It’s going to be a huge summer for Ted Lasso fans, with Season 4 premiering on August 5 on Apple TV over three years after the series wrapped up. There’s also the real-life FIFA World Cup 2026 starting next month to get everyone back in the soccer spirit, and plenty of other great projects from the show’s cast and creators to keep up with. One closely related series, Apple TV’s Shrinking, makes for the perfect companion to Ted Lasso and a perfect weekend binge for those building anticipation. Shrinking Season 3 just wrapped up last month, and if you’re a Ted Lasso fan who hasn’t watched it yet or hasn’t kept up, now is the perfect time to give it a chance.

Shrinking was co-created by Ted Lasso‘s Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, along with actor Jason Segel. It premiered on Apple TV in 2023 at the height of Ted Lasso‘s success, and while many fans followed Roy Kent to this other comedy at the time, it has never quite reached the fever pitch that Ted Lasso did. That’s a shame, as Shrinking tackles many of the same issues and themes, but from a much different angle that allows for completely different nuances in storytelling. It is also following Ted Lasso‘s lead by expanding its original plan to include a fourth season, and it may be the key to keeping this unique brand of hope on TV for years to come.

‘Shrinking’ Tackles ‘The Richmond Way’ in a Clinical Setting

Image via Apple TV

Shrinking centers around a therapist named Jimmy Laird (Segel), who has become jaded and self-destructive since the death of his wife in a drunk driving accident. In an effort to shake off the grief and become helpful again, Jimmy begins crossing some questionable lines with his patients — intervening in their lives in ways that therapists would usually call unprofessional and eschewing a lot of the usual trappings of a clinical setting. The results are messy from the start, yet the hope and humanity they bring back into Jimmy’s life are always framed as positive for the audience.

At a glance, the similarities to Ted Lasso are abstract, but over time, it becomes clear that these shows work perfectly together at every level. Even superficially, Ted Lasso taught many American viewers about soccer and European sports fandom in a way they’d never understood before, while Shrinking gives viewers a closer look at what talk therapy is and how it works that they might never have had before. It’s an interesting progression for Lawrence and Goldstein, and the emotional nerves these two topics touch on are surprisingly close.

From there, the parallels between these two stories are less practical, but they’re the things that make both shows special. Both emphasize open communication and community as the essential ingredients for a fulfilling life, but both put their characters through the wringer again and again to achieve that. Both leave space for the characters and the audience to consider nihilism as a valid escape, only to bombard them with hope from the last place they expected it.

For most fans, these are the pillars that really hold up Ted Lasso as one of the best TV shows of the last decade, and they’re exactly the reasons those fans should watch or catch up on Shrinking. There may be some who are truly in it for the soccer, but for most, these shows go hand in hand.

Ted Lasso and Jimmy Laird Are Both Underdogs

Image via Apple TV

Ted Lasso is framed as a classic sports underdog story from the beginning, which means it’s easy to believe that Richmond will succeed in the end despite how bleak things look at the start. Shrinking presents an interesting twist on this formula because it’s never clear to the audience that Jimmy’s unique style of therapy can or should succeed. Spoiler alert: that’s true in every episode, and it’s likely to remain true even as the series moves forward.

That may sound like it would take away from the warm fuzzy feelings you’ve come to expect from Ted Lasso, but it’s actually the show’s secret strength. Jimmy’s work is Sisyphean and often thankless, with no scoreboard to validate it. It allows Shrinking to continually reexamine its premise without feeling repetitive or melodramatic, which is an issue that Ted Lasso‘s showrunners have worried about out loud in many interviews. Jimmy and his friends and family will struggle endlessly to keep themselves and their community healthy and happy, and unlike Ted’s tenure at Richmond, there will be no natural stopping point to the story. The fact that it will go on forever is what makes it so real and relatable.

What’s Next for ‘Shrinking’ on Apple TV?

Shrinking also mirrored Ted Lasso in its pacing and flexibility — Lawrence, Segel, and Goldstein initially said they hoped to tell Jimmy’s story in three seasons, but the show has been renewed for a fourth season that is filming now. Star Harrison Ford recently told Variety that the new season will have 12 episodes, while Lawrence told the outlet that the season will kick off a new storyline beyond the one he and his colleagues originally plotted.

After a heartrending third season, Shrinking has set itself apart in many ways, but it’s still the perfect companion to Ted Lasso for those that need a reminder to “BELIEVE.” The series is streaming now on Apple TV. Ted Lasso is there as well, and Season 4 premieres on August 5, airing week-to-week through October 7.

Shrinking

Release Date

January 27, 2023

Network

Apple TV

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