Apple is expanding its relationship with Jason Segel, Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein.
The tech giant/streamer has handed out a straight-to-series order for Shrinking, a 10-episode scripted comedy starring Segel, who will write and exec produce the show alongside Ted Lasso showrunner Lawrence and Emmy-winner Goldstein.
Shrinking revolves around a grieving therapist (Segel) who begins to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge changes to people’s lives — including his own.
The comedy hails from Warner Bros. TV, where Lawrence is under a longtime overall deal and is currently renegotiating for a new pact that reflects the success of Emmy-winning comedy Ted Lasso as well as his rapidly growing streaming roster that also includes Apple’s Bad Monkey, HBO Max’s Head of the Class and Clone High. Lawrence’s Doozer Productions topper Jeff Ingold also exec produces Shrinking with the company’s Liza Katzer on board as a co-EP. Lawrence is with ICM Partners and attorney Jared Levine.
Goldstein, who scored an Emmy for his role as Roy Kent in Ted Lasso, also recently renegotiated his deal with Warners and secured a sizable pay bump both for his acting services and work as a writer on the Jason Sudeikis-led comedy. He started in the Ted Lasso writers room before being tapped to play Roy. (Goldstein detailed that journey during a July interview with TV’s Top 5.) Goldstein, a longtime friend of Lawrence and who shares a love of The Muppets with Segel, also counts creating and writing duties on AMC’s Soulmates. Goldstein is not currently expected to star in Shrinking, though if Ted Lasso ends with season three, it wouldn’t be a surprise for that to change. He’s repped by Mosaic, B-Side Management and LARK.
Segel, meanwhile, also has Apple’s feature film The Sky Is Everywhere, based on the best-selling YA novel of the same name. Known for his roles in Freaks and Geeks and How I Met Your Mother, he recently starred in, created, wrote and directed AMC’s Dispatches From Elsewhere. He also next appears in HBO’s untitled Lakers drama.He’s repped by WME and Sloane Offer.
At Apple, Shrinking should not be confused with the Paul Rudd-Will Ferrell limited dark comedy series The Shrink Next Door. The company’s roster of scripted originals also includes the final season of Dickinson as well as Mythic Quest, Physical, Schmigadoon and animated comedy Central Park, among others.
