12 Best TV Shows Like Shrinking

This article contains discussions of mental health and sexual assault.

In January of 2023, Apple TV+ introduced a thoughtful and heartfelt new series: “Shrinking,” created by Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein, and Jason Segel. Segel, whom you may recognize from projects like “How I Met Your Mother,” “Dispatches From Elsewhere,” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” stars on the show as Jimmy Laird, a therapist who breaks his own rules by taking very unconventional approaches to his job (sometimes, this is as simple as just telling a patient to leave a crappy partner, and other times, it’s more complicated). Jimmy, who’s grieving the loss of his own wife and struggling to be a good single father to his only child Alice (Lukita Maxwell), is flanked by some friends and colleagues who help him sort out his own feelings, including fellow therapists Paul Rhoades (Harrison Ford) and Gaby Evans (Jessica Williams), his next door neighbor Liz (Christa Miller), and his best friend Brian (Michael Urie), just to name a few.

If you love “Shrinking” and you’re looking for something with the same energy and vibes, Looper’s got you covered. A handful of these shows were made by the same creative team, some focus on mental health, and some just have the same general feel as “Shrinking,” but you can’t miss with any of these. (Still, for some of the ones focusing on mental health, make sure to check any trigger warnings.)

Bill Lawrence’s first big TV hit was “Spin City,” but in the years since he got his start on the small screen, he’s probably best known as the creator of “Scrubs.” The series is led by Zach Braff’s Dr. John Dorian, who goes by J.D., but the good doctor is nothing without his best friends — Dr. Christopher Turk (Donald Faison), Dr. Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke), and nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes) — and his unwilling mentor Dr. Perry Cox, played by “Platoon” and “Office Space” star John C. McGinley. (Christa Miller appears on “Scrubs” as Perry’s on-again, off-again wife Jordan, and this is going to be a recurring theme; as it happens, Miller and Lawrence have been married since 1999.)

Throughout “Scrubs,” J.D. and his friends and colleagues try and help patients while also handling their chaotic personal lives, and just to add a touch of whimsy to the proceedings, J.D. is prone to daydreams that are always vividly depicted on-screen. Still, “Scrubs” is a deeply thoughtful and heartfelt show that just so happens to be extremely funny to boot, showing off Lawrence’s skill for balancing humor and heart years before “Shrinking” premiered.

Speaking of whimsy, “Ted Lasso” doesn’t have a “touch of whimsy” so much as it has a storage unit full of the stuff. Based on a silly and seemingly one-off character star Jason Sudeikis created for NBC Sports that jokingly covered England’s Premier League, “Ted Lasso” was created by Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly and dropped on Apple TV+ in August of 2020, back when literally everybody needed to be cheered up by a happy, sweet show. When the series opens, the titular Ted (Sudeikis) and his right-hand man Coach Beard (Hunt) arrive in England to coach a down-and-out soccer team, AFC Richmond; unbeknownst to both Ted and Coach Beard, they’ve only been hired because the team’s owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) won the team from her vile ex-husband in their bitter divorce, and she hopes Ted’s leadership will run them into the ground.

Ted charms everyone so effectively that even Rebecca ends up rooting for Richmond, and the team starts doing unexpectedly well despite his unorthodox tactics. Though “Ted Lasso” produced diminishing returns as the seasons continued — with the third and potentially final season proving to be the weakest of the bunch — an incredible supporting cast that includes Brett Goldstein, Juno Temple, Phil Dunster, and Nick Mohammed kept fans tuning in regardless, and it’s possible that we wouldn’t even have “Shrinking” if Lawrence and Goldstein hadn’t teamed up for “Ted Lasso.”

If you’re really doing a deep dive on Bill Lawrence’s small-screen work — and you want to get the most out of your Apple TV+ subscription — consider trying “Bad Monkey,” which premiered on the streamer in August 2024. Based on Carl Hiassen’s 2013 novel of the same name, “Bad Monkey” focuses on Andrew Yancy (series lead Vince Vaughn), who works as a restaurant inspector in the Florida Keys … but his past as a detective comes in handy when a severed arm washes up on the Sunshine State’s shores. Drawn into a murder investigation, Andrew finds himself working alongside medical examiner Rosa Campesino (Natalie Martinez) to solve the case. Comedic actors Rob Delaney, Meredith Hagner, and Alex Moffat round out the supporting cast nicely, giving Vaughn a lot to work with as Andrew.

“Bad Monkey” is a slight departure from Lawrence’s other work — he doesn’t usually tackle anything as grim as murder or severed limbs — but it’s nice to see the showrunner flex his creative muscles, and the show is a delight thanks to its excellent performances and sharp wit. If you just finished “Shrinking,” add “Bad Monkey” to your watchlist for a change of pace with the same sense of humor.

A really funny show saddled with an awkward name, “Cougar Town” was Bill Lawrence’s follow-up to “Scrubs” — and it got Courteney Cox back on the small screen to boot. The show, which ran from 2009 to 2015 across both ABC and TBS (the latter picked it up after Season 4 and saw it through to Season 6), stars Cox as Jules Cobb, a divorcée and single mother struggling to date and get by after splitting up with her husband Bobby (Brian Van Holt). The reason the show is even called “Cougar Town” is that, during the first season, Jules almost exclusively dates much younger men, leaning into the “cougar” stereotype … but after that, she starts seeing men closer to her own age and even remarries when she falls in love with her friend and neighbor Grayson Ellis (Josh Hopkins). Christa Miller is also part of “Cougar Town” and plays Jules’ best friend and neighbor Ellie, a stay-at-home mom who used to be a high-flying lawyer, and the always funny Busy Philipps is on hand as Jules’ coworker at her real estate firm, Laurie Keller.

Despite its unfortunate title, “Cougar Town” is filled with incredibly funny running gags — like Jules’ beloved oversized wine glasses, all of which she names — and the cast works perfectly in tandem. Like Lawrence’s other shows, it’s warm, funny, and full of heart, and it’s definitely worth revisiting even if the name is, again, sort of icky (and also not representative of the show as a whole).

At first glance, Netflix’s hit 2024 series “Nobody Wants This” doesn’t have a lot in common with “Shrinking,” until you consider that both shows are about people finding connections and love despite their own internal and mental hurdles. When popular podcast host Joanne (Kristen Bell) has a chance meeting with a cute guy at a dinner party, she’s immediately drawn to him … and when the guy in question, Noah Roklov (Adam Brody) reveals that he’s a rabbi, things get a little more complicated. Joanne, who is decidedly not Jewish, is both overwhelmed by Noah’s kindness — after dating a string of genuinely awful guys and talking about them on the podcast she hosts with her sister Morgan (“Succession” veteran Justine Lupe) — and experiences culture shock when Noah’s family is horrified to find out about his non-Jewish girlfriend.

There’s a particularly touching scene in “Nobody Wants This” where Noah tells Joanne that he can “handle” her after she says she’s too difficult to be in a relationship … and that scene wouldn’t feel out of place on a show like “Shrinking.” If you’re looking for a more romance-based show similar to “Shrinking,” this one is a great choice.

Created by Jason Keller for Apple TV+, “Stick” premiered in 2025 and brings Owen Wilson back to television after his two-season stint on the Disney+ series “Loki.” Wilson stars as Pryce Cahill, once a major professional golfer who’s now stuck working at a store selling golf clubs and other wares; when he sees a young man named Santi Wheeler (Peter Dager) on the golf course and immediately spots how talented the kid is, he decides to take the young man on tour. Joined by his old friend and former caddy Mitts (Marc Maron) and determined to prove to his ex-wife Amber-Linn Sobeck (Judy Greer) that they don’t have to sell their former house, Pryce is a man on a mentoring mission, and it’s pretty delightful to watch him try to transform the inexperienced but talented Santi into a star.

“Stick” trafficks in the same easy-breezy, feel-good humor as Bill Lawrence’s shows, and on “Shrinking,” Paul is a mentor to Jimmy, just as Pryce is to Santi. Plus, it’s also on Apple TV+, so it’s easy to queue up after “Shrinking.”

If Jason Segel’s central performance is what sells you on “Shrinking,” definitely try the show he created for AMC, “Dispatches from Elsewhere.” Based on the documentary film “The Institute” directed by Spencer McCall — which is about an immersive alternate reality game The Jejune Institute that ran in San Francisco in 2008 — “Dispatches from Elsewhere” stars Segel as Peter, a data worker who’s growing tired of his humdrum life. Everything changes when Peter and total strangers Fredwynn (OutKast’s Andre Benjamin), Simone (Eve Lindley), and Janice Foster (Sally Field) are drawn into a mystery surrounding the Jejune Institute (Segel uses the same name), and when they meet the institute’s leader Octavio Coleman, Esq. (Richard E. Grant), the plot thickens.

Segel set and filmed the show in Philadelphia, using the art-filled city to wonderful effect as the characters pick apart more and more of the show’s central mystery … and because this is a one-season miniseries, there is closure at the end of the story. “Shrinking” and “Dispatches from Elsewhere” don’t have a lot in common in terms of content, but it proves just how versatile of a performer Segel is — and reminds you that he’s still a strong writer and visionary in the industry to boot.

There are a lot of hidden gems on Apple TV+, including “Shrinking” — but you might not know about the big-hearted comedy “Platonic,” which also airs on the streamer and was created by Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller. (There’s a few loose connections to “Shrinking” here, including the fact that Stoller often collaborates with Jason Segel — Stoller directed Segel’s romantic comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” — and star Seth Rogen once starred on “Freaks & Geeks” with Segel). Rogen reunites with his “Neighbors” co-star Rose Byrne, and the show casts the pair as platonic best friends Will and Sylvia, whose longtime, non-romantic relationship often confuses the people around them.

After Sylvia and Will rekindle their years-old friendship in the aftermath of Will’s divorce, they navigate the complications of their connection, particularly when it comes to Sylvia’s husband Charlie (Luke Macfarlane) and Will’s inappropriately younger girlfriend Peyton (Emily Kimball). On “Shrinking,” we watch platonic best friends Liz and Jimmy get through life together, and it’s a similar dynamic between Will and Sylvia on “Platonic.”

“Shrinking” often handles difficult topics like mental health, grief, death, and chronic illness — Paul’s struggles with Parkinson’s disease are a big part of the series, in fact — but approaches all of that with humor and kindness, which is also true of Hulu’s 2025 miniseries “Dying for Sex.” Based on the experiences of the late Los Angeles podcaster Molly Kochan and created by Elizabeth Meriwether (“New Girl,” “The Dropout”) and Kim Rosenstock, the show stars Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Michelle Williams as Molly, a woman dealing with serious sexual trauma from her childhood who also happens to be in an unhappy marriage with Steve, played by Jay Duplass. When Molly finds out that she has Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, she leaves Steve and embarks on a journey of sexual self-discovery — aided by her best friend Nikki Boyer, played winningly by Jenny Slate — after realizing that she spent her life sexually unfulfilled with Steve.

“Dying for Sex” is an astoundingly beautiful show about making the most of the time one has left, and Williams and Slate anchor it stunningly as two best friends exploring new kinks and inclinations even as the specter of death looms large. “Shrinking” is funny but ultimately about a serious topic, and so is “Dying for Sex.”

Adapted from “Wild” author Cheryl Strayed’s book of the same name, “Tiny Beautiful Things,” a miniseries that aired on Hulu in 2023, is led by Kathryn Hahn — who genuinely makes every single project better — as Clare Pierce, who ends up becoming an advice columnist despite the fact that her own life is in shambles most of the time. With her husband Danny Kincade (Quentin Plair), daughter Rae (Tanzyn Crawford), and best friend Amy Adler (Michaela Watkins) by her side, Clare tries to give good advice to those who need it even as she deals with her own personal demons … and more often than not, Claire uses her own experiences and struggles to connect with her readers.

“Tiny Beautiful Things,” like “Shrinking,” centers around a person who makes a career out of telling others what they should do while often not knowing how to handle their own life in the first place — but that conflict makes for great television. Plus, it’s led by Hahn! What more could you want from a miniseries?

An acerbic love story that puts a huge and welcome focus on mental illness, “You’re the Worst,” created by Stephen Falk, started its run on FX in 2014 before moving to its sister network FXX the following year and running until 2019. As the series opens, we meet misanthropic British writer Jimmy Shive-Overly (Chris Geere) and Gretchen Cutler (Aya Cash), who are both attending the same wedding and cross paths while Jimmy enjoys a cigarette and Gretchen tries to steal a gift. (She’s dismayed to find out that it’s a toaster, because she was hoping for a blender.) The pair spend the night together but then realize that, even though they both hate most stuff, they don’t hate each other, and against all odds, they start a dysfunctional relationship as Jimmy’s roommate and friend Edgar Quintero (Desmond Borges) and Gretchen’s wonderfully insane best friend Lindsay Jillian (Kether Donohue) try to keep them together.

The mental health aspect enters the chat, so to speak, in season 2, when Gretchen has a breakdown while the gang is trapped at Jimmy’s house during the Los Angeles Marathon. The show’s approach to Gretchen’s clinical depression is serious but straightforward: even though it takes a while for Jimmy to believe this, when Gretchen tells Jimmy he can’t “fix” her depression, it rings true for anyone with the same diagnosis. “You’re the Worst” is mean, gross, and sometimes bitter, but it’s also sweet and, against all odds, romantic … and like “Shrinking,” it portrays mental health in a true and honest light.

“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is, without question, the funniest show that’s also about severe struggles with mental illness. Created by Rachel Bloom, who also stars on the series as Rebecca Bunch, the show opens with an incredible opening number making fun of its own title (as Rebecca interjects in the middle, “it’s a little more nuanced than that”) before introducing us properly to Rebecca, an overworked and overmedicated lawyer living in New York City. Right as she’s about to become a partner in her firm, she runs into Josh Chan (Vincent Rodriguez III), her short-lived summer camp flame from her childhood, and develops an obsession that results in her moving to West Covina, California, where Josh lives. (As everyone there keeps repeating, it’s “only two hours from the beach!”)

As “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” continues, though, it does become a lot more nuanced than that. Rebecca deals with some incredibly serious mental health challenges, and with the help of her support system — especially and including her girlfriends Paula Proctor (Donna Lynne Champlin), Heather Davis (Vella Lovell), and Valencia Perez (Gabriella Ruiz) — she’s able to navigate her diagnoses and come out on the other side with a renewed sense of self. Oh, also, this show is a musical — and the songs, like “The Sexy Getting Ready Song” or “Heavy Boobs,” help keep everything light even in the darkness.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).