The Shrink Next Door is an American psychological black comedy-drama miniseries developed by Georgia Pritchett based on the podcast of the same title by Joe Nocera. The miniseries premiered on Apple TV+ on November 12, 2021. The podcast and TV series are both based on the real life story of psychologist Isaac Herschkopf, who in 2021 was determined by New York's Department of Health to have violated "minimal acceptable standards of care in the psychotherapeutic relationship".
Contents
Premise
Psychiatrist Dr. Ike Herschkopf inserts himself into the life of one of his patients, Marty Markowitz.
Cast
Main
Will Ferrell as Martin "Marty" Markowitz
Paul Rudd as Dr. Isaac "Ike" Herschkopf
Kathryn Hahn as Phyllis Shapiro
Casey Wilson as Bonnie Herschkopf
Cornell Womack as Bruce
Recurring
Sarayu Blue as Miriam
Robin Bartlett as Cathy
Gable Swanlund as Nancy
Richard Aaron Anderson as Joel
Allan Wasserman as Rabbi Sherman
Christina Vidal as Hannah
Guest
Lindsey Kraft as Deborah
Lisa Rinna as herself
Carlos Lacámara as Benny
Annie Korzen as Esther
Mindy Sterling as Mrs. Zicherman
Production
It was announced in February 2020 that a television adaptation of the podcast The Shrink Next Door was in development, in which Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd would star. The series was greenlit and ordered by Apple TV+ in April. Kathryn Hahn and Casey Wilson were added as leads in November, with Sarayu Blue cast in a recurring role in February 2021.
Filming began in November 2020 in Los Angeles, and finished in March 2021 amid the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the series has an approval rating of 58% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads: The Shrink Next Door is a cookie full of perhaps too much arsenic, but Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd prove they're as capable of conjuring disquiet as they are laughs. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 61 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".