Shrinking concluded another emotional season with a finale that showcased Harrison Ford’s talent, depicted Gaby (Jessica Williams) hosting a Thanksgiving feast for her family, and featured Jimmy (Jason Segel) opening up to Alice (Luktia Maxwell) and Louis (Brett Goldstein).
As Season 2, Episode 12, “The Last Thanksgiving,” comes to an end, viewers will experience a satisfying sense of resolution following the suspenseful Season 1 finale. Despite this closure, the creators Bill Lawrence, Goldstein, and Segel have more stories to share in their popular Apple TV+ series. So, could Season 3 be on the horizon?
Will there be a Season 3 of Shrinking on Apple TV+? Has the show been renewed or canceled? What can fans expect from Season 3 of Shrinking? And could there be a Season 4 in the works? Let’s explore these questions.
Here’s everything to know about Shrinking Season 3 and the future of the Emmy-nominated Apple TV+ series, including comments from the creators and cast members. Be warned, spoilers lie ahead.
Yes! Back in October, just one day after its Season 2 premiere, Apple TV+ announced Shrinking’s early Season 3 renewal.
“I’m so lucky to work on Shrinking with actors, writers and a crew so talented that they all elevate the material,” co-creator and executive producer Bill Lawrence said in a press release. “I’m even luckier that they are people I’d want to spend time with anyway. Huge thanks to Apple TV+ and Warner Bros. for the amazing partnership and support. So grateful we get to keep making this show. Onward!”
Lawrence has been incredibly open about pitching Shrinking as a three-season arc, so between his success with the streamer (Ted Lasso and Bad Monkey), his original vision, and Shrinking‘s popularity (in addition to numerous awards and nominations, the series has a 94% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes) the renewal doesn’t come as a surprise. The question now is what will Shrinking Season 3 look like?
From the start of Shrinking, Lawrence said that each season would explore a central theme. “It’s grief, forgiveness, and moving forward,” the showrunner told Decider via Zoom. So fans can expect Shrinking Season 3 to follow core characters as they move on from the grief they worked hard to navigate and heal from in the first two installments.
Based on Season 2’s storylines and the sophomore season’s finale, Season 3 would show Jimmy continuing to strengthen his relationship with Alice (and possibly Louis should Shrinking bring Goldstein’s character back). There’s also potential for Jimmy to have a romantic arc with Cobie Smulders’ Sofi, but more on that in a bit.
We’d also see more of Paul (Ford) and Julie’s relationship (Wendie Malick) as well as the progression of his Parkinson’s disease. We’d see Gaby (Jessica Williams) hopefully get another shot with Derrick (Damon Wayan’s Jr.) while continuing to strengthen bonds with her mom (Vernee Watson) and sister (Courtney Taylor). And Season 3 will show Brian (Michael Urie), Charlie (Devin Kawaoka), and Head Nanny Liz (Christa Miller) becoming parents. Sean (Luke Tennie) and Alice (Maxwell) will continue their personal growth journeys, with college in Alice’s future and a business for Sean to grow. And here’s hoping Shrinking continues to find substantial storylines for National Treasure Derek (Ted McGinley).
Shrinking‘s writers have been hard at work on Season 3, and filming for the third season is reportedly set to being in January 2025. Season 1 premiered in January 2023 and Season 2 premiered in October 2024, so even with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the series maintained an annual release. Here’s hoping Season 3 follows the trend and drops new episodes by Fall 2025. Stay tuned for more updates and read on to learn more about Shrinking‘s future.
Shrinking Season 2 crushed the guest star game, but when Season 2 concludes, fans will be wondering if two stars in particular are set to return in Season 3: Cobie Smulders and Damon Wayans Jr.
Smulders told Decider that she adored the show and loved working with Segel again. Though she claimed she didn’t know anything about a Season 3 return, she did say, “I would always jump at the opportunity to work with Jason and the entire cast again for sure.” Lawrence also told Decider that Smulders’ character Sofi “represents moving on” for Jimmy, so it sounds like she’d fit in perfectly with Season 3’s theme.
As for Damon Wayans Jr’s return, Derrick and Gaby’s relationship was on the rocks at the start of Season 2’s finale, but by the end, Derrick showed up to Thanksgiving dinner with Gaby’s mom and Shrinking opened the door for his Season 3 return — something that Wayans Jr. and McGinley are rooting for.
In an interview with Decider, McGinley said, ” I’ve been texting [Damon] back and forth a little bit this week, and he is desperately hoping to come back. He’s got his own show. He doesn’t need us. But he likes the space and he likes the people, and I think he’s really fun. I told him, ‘We’ve got to come up with a handshake.’ That’s our next step. He’s just he’s always funny, always quick, always on. And he’s sweet, and kind, and modest. I’m a huge fan.”
It’s also likely that Shrinking Season 3 will welcome exciting new guest stars to the show, with Michael J. Fox, Mark Hamill, and Judith Light on the dream list.
Though Lawrence originally envisioned Shrinking as a three-season arc, after seeing the warm reception to the show and having such a great time making it, he, his fellow creators, and the cast sound open to a Season 4 should the perfect story arise.
“Business-wise, when you go to Harrison Ford or Jessica Williams or even my own wife, who should say yes to anything and she still doesn’t, even if it’s mine — so annoying having a talented wife — you go to actors and actresses and say you don’t have to give up the next eight years of your life, we just need three seasons,” Lawrence told Decider. “Then at the end of the third season, you can say, ‘Hey, are we having fun? Do you want to keep doing this?’ And the cool thing about streaming television is if you go on, it doesn’t mean you’re telling the same story and just beating a dead horse. You can come up with a whole other exciting journey in a different way. I’m having so much fun on this show. I would keep doing it if they let us.”
For Segel, who spent nine seasons on How I Met Your Mother, the shorter envisioned run-time was definitely an incentive to sign onto Shrinking. That said, when asked about a potential Season 4, Segel told Decider, “I’m open to anything in my life that feels fun and creatively fulfilling. I’m just trying to do good work — so as long as the work is good. I’m really happy to be there. I feel very, very lucky in my life, about this show, and about my teammates on the show. So, yeah.”
Fellow cast members, including Williams and McGinley, are also down for a Season 4, with Williams telling Decider, “Absolutely.” and McGinley saying, “That is one thing I definitely want.” Even Goldstein entertained the idea of Shrinking beyond Season 3, saying, “Listen — we could. I always think if there’s enough great characters and it’s a great environment you could always add more.”
Whether Shrinking continues beyond its original scope or not, fans have Season 3 confirmed, so the show’s future looks bright. We can’t wait to see what this talented team has in store.
Shrinking Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV+.
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