The Shrink Next Door (2021)

It's hard to get a read on Apple TV's dramedy series The Shrink Next Door, which premiered on the streaming service in the late fall of 2021. Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, and Kathryn Hahn, three fantastically funny people, are all in the show together wearing comically funny wigs, with Rudd and Ferrell sporting the patented Robin Williams drama beards. Why, then, is it so hard to gauge the tone of the show which seems to function more as a drama than a comedy? The series follows the real-life 1981 story of therapist Dr. Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf (Rudd) and his patient, Marty Markowitz (Ferrell), who becomes acquainted with the doctor after his parents pass away and leave him their multi-million dollar fabric business. His sister (Hahn) is convinced that he needs psychiatric help to overcome the death of their parents, leading him to seek out Dr. Ike. After only a few sessions together, Ike and Marty are fast friends and begin hanging out together outside of the office doctor/patient space. The show is based on a podcast, so you may know where it goes from there, but the twists and turns and surprises are worth preserving if you're unfamiliar with the source material or the real life case. The show took a while to get cooking, but in episode seven, Will Ferrell tries to check himself out of a hospital while wearing nothing but a hospital gown, which is open at the back, showing off his bare ass! Forget the Shrink, you'll grow when you catch a load of Ferrell's fanny!