Shrinking review: Harrison Ford is hilarious in this comedy about psychiatry

In the Apple TV+ comedy series Shrinking, a therapist advises those who grieve to spend 15 minutes a day listening to a truly sad song. This is Ford’s first comedy series and the legend brings that sarcastic, no-nonsense style we have seen on talk shows—on The Graham Norton Show, for instance, he pretended to forget co-star Ryan Gosling’s name—to this sitcom. Segel’s Jimmy is well-intentioned but too oafish to really like, especially over the first three uneven episodes, but Ford is immensely entertaining right from the get-go, gorging on junk food, wearing fedoras others don’t appreciate, and basically doing his own thing—even if his thing is distributing potatoes in office. “No Paul, I’m a strong black potato woman.” Played by Jessica Williams, Gabby is an instantly great character, casually making Shrinking less saccharine and more dirty, giving the show edge and sharpness. Shrinking starts off shaky but smartly written women like Gabby—and Jimmy’s neighbour Liz, played by Christa Miller—make sticking around easy.