A brainwashingly brilliant dark comedy with superstar power
It’s hard to believe, but new Apple TV + show The Shrink Next Door is inspired by true events. GEORGIA HUMPHREYS learns more
WITH comedic giants Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd at the helm, it’s no wonder The Shrink Next Door is one of the most highly anticipated new TV shows.
It follows the unorthodox relationship Dr Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf (Rudd) – a psychiatrist to the stars – builds up with his long-time patient, Martin “Marty” Markowitz (Ferrell).
After first seeking help at a vulnerable time, to cope with the loss of his parents, Marty finds the charming Ike inserts himself into his life, over several years. Not only does the doctor move into his patient’s Hamptons home, but he even manipulates his way into being named president of the family business.
Based on the podcast of the same name, The Shrink Next Door is inspired by true events – which only makes it all the more gripping.
Paul and Will, who worked together on Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and its sequel, were delighted to reunite for the show.
“Anybody would love to work with Will. And there’s a reason why he’s America’s sweetheart,” Paul says.
Will also praised his co-star, telling the US People TV show: “The biggest takeaway for me was just how great an actor Paul is. To get to kind of thread the needle between this character who is, at first, very loving and sincere as a therapist, who’s really helping Marty stand up for himself and become a stronger person. And then to slowly peel that away and realise that he’s got ulterior motives that are less than honourable, that’s a hard performance to give. And he does it masterfully.”
Wanda-Vision star Kathryn Hahn, 48, plays Marty’s sister, Phyllis. She says: “I was able to meet and Zoom with the actual Phyllis, hear her story. So that was the most attractive part to me, to be able to put myself in that person’s shoes.
“She was always on my mind. You are playing somebody and giving their experience breath, and so you want to honour that.”
Essentially, The Shrink Next Door is a story of someone being brainwashed. Director Michael Showalter, 51, suggests this is “something that happens in our society quite often, where people in a position of power convince other people to make decisions against their own best interest”.
“I think humans are so easily manipulated, for sure through social media,” offers Kathryn. “We keep hearing these stories of cults. If you just follow down a rabbit hole on a computer, you can all of a sudden think in a different way or have an opinion on something that you didn’t yesterday – and that opinion could be very, very strong.”
Behind the scripts is Georgia Pritchett, who has risen to fame thanks to working on a multitude of shows (the most notable recently is HBO comedy-drama Succession).
The 53-year-old Brit says: “When I listened to the podcast, and I talked to people about it, everyone was saying, ‘This is a crazy story, Marty’s an idiot, Ike’s evil’, and I just thought, ‘No, that’s not right.’
“It’s an unusual story, but I felt it was something we could all relate to, particularly after the last 18 months.
“I felt like it was a story about a human relationship, and that Marty was feeling isolated and confused and scared, which we’ve all felt in the last 18 months, and that this relationship started off well.
“And we’ve all had relationships that have started well and then, for whatever reason, have gone wrong.”
■ The first three episodes of The Shrink Next Door debut on Apple TV+ on Friday, followed by a new episode weekly every Friday