Apple TV’s The Shrink Next Door is based on a podcast by the same name; and details the 27-year relationship of a therapist named Ike Herschkopf and his patient, a meek man named Marty Markowitz who is struggling with anxiety, the death of his parents, and a recent break-up.  Throughout their 27-year relationship, Ike takes advantage of Marty, resulting in an eventual lawsuit to revoke his license.  I wanted to like Apple TV’s Shrink Next Door.  I did.  Even with an all-star cast, great directors, great writers, and an exciting story, it fell short for me personally.

Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell

Something That It Isn’t – The Shrink Next Door

This show was billed as a dark comedy, but that is not what they delivered. Even though the casting choices support that billing.  Will Ferrell plays Marty Markowitz, our neurotic, catastrophizing business owner, alongside Paul Rudd’s. They are joined by Kathryn Hahn playing Phyllis, Marty’s overprotective, divorced sister. Rounding out the cast is Casey Wilson (Happy Endings, Atypical, Bride Wars playing Ike’s wife, Bonnie. 

With this cast of stellar comedic actors, I expected to be holding my sides at some point over the eight episodes, but that did not come to fruition.  For the majority of the show, the characters are either so bland that you don’t care what happens or such ridiculous caricatures of stereotypes that you want them to go away.  Hahn came the closest to being a character that I found palatable, but even that was a stretch.  This powerhouse cast was directed by Michael Showalter and Jesse Peretz.  Again, I don’t understand how the sum of these parts was so….meh.

Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd

This series suffered from misbilling, characters that I had difficulty caring about, and pacing that was either glacial or dizzying as it skipped years at a time.  By the time I got to the end of the series, I didn’t care if Ike lost his license or not.  I feel like this might have been more successful if they took a page from Dopesick’s pacing and jumped back and forth from the hearing to the transgressions to keep me invested, but the bottom line is, there is a lot that would need to be fixed to make this a worthwhile watch.  If you are bored, give it a look. But honestly, I would pass.