Shrinking's initial 3 seasons concluded earlier this year on Apple TV with Jason Segel's character, Jimmy, choosing to take a leap of faith at another relationship after his wife's death. This ended the initial storyline creator Bill Lawrence had planned for Shrinking, but, as with many successful television series, the audience wanted more, and Season 4 was greenlit.
One of the first Shrinking Season 4 details we learned was that there would be a time jump, but we didn't know until recently that it would be two years. At the Newport Beach TV Fest, The Direct caught up with the cast of Shrinking on the red carpet, where star Michael Urie, who plays Brian, confirmed how long the Season 4 time jump will be.
"We've jumped two years," the actor said, explaining that "Brian [now] has a toddler instead of a baby, which is a very different thing." The fact that Brian has "spent two years as a father really shows on him [and] you can really see his growth changes."
Shrinking star and executive producer Jason Segel, who we also spoke to for his latest horror movie Over Your Dead Body, also teased the main concept behind Season 4 being the exploration of when someone grieving "get[s] to the point where you feel like [they're] ready to move forward and be happy," but that "doesn't mean that that's going to be easy."
The star specifically posed the scenario of jumping back into the dating scene and how you might feel ready, but then the reality hits you, a situation that Segel plans to explore with Jimmy.
This two-year time jump is likely longer than most Shrinking fans anticipated, as it means we missed many major plotlines set up at the end of Season 3.
For starters, a two-year time jump means Gaby and Derek's wedding has passed. Additionally, Jimmy and Sofi's relationship might either be well into it or long finished by the time Season 4 begins. Most importantly, a two-year time jump means that Paul's Parkinson's disease will be affecting him more. Michael J. Fox and his character Gerry, who both have Parkinson's, are confirmed to return in Season 4, indicating Paul's progressing disease will be a focal point of the season.
The entire list of Shrinking cast members that The Direct spoke with includes Jason Segel (Jimmy), Michael Urie (Brian), The Pitt's Luke Tennie (Sean), Lukita Maxwell (Alice), and Ted McGinley (Derek).
Shrinking Season 4 Time Jump Length Confirmed & New Details Teased
"So We've Jumped 30 Years—Just Kidding."
- The Direct: "Now, Season 4 is on its way [and]there's gonna be a time jump. I know everyone can't say too much, but from what you know, what can you tease about your character that's going to be like new, fresh, and what kind of new sides might audiences be able to see that they've never witnessed before?"
Michael Urie: Brian, so we've jumped 30 years—just kidding. It's two years, we've jumped two years, and so now Brian has a toddler instead of a baby, which is a very different thing, and there's so many ways in which I think at the end of Season 3 Brian was at the beginning of something, even though it was the end of—it was a three season arc, and now we're sort of resetting, and I feel like Brian was ready to start something new, then, which is the first time you see in those three seasons where you finally see, oh, he's starting to get it.
The star also said that in those two years, his time "as a father really shows on him:"
Urie: And when we pick up in Season 4, I can't say much, and I don't know much, but that he spent two years as a father really shows on him [and] you can really see his growth changes. First, it changes the person, and I'm really excited to see where that goes, and as we learn what those two years were like for him, what that means for him, and his relationships with all of his chosen family.
Shrinking star and executive producer Jason Segel noted that Season 4 will not only enter a new era but also offer audiences storytelling they have not yet seen from the series:
Jason Segel: I think it's an interesting thing that just because you get to the point where you feel like you're ready to move forward and be happy, it doesn't mean that that's going to be easy. It's a little like when someone has a divorce and they go through their grieving and they're like, 'Okay, I'm ready to start dating,' and then they try to start dating and they're like, 'Oh no, I wasn't, this was easier in front of the mirror, wait a second,' yeah, so I think that I think that at least for Jimmy, we will explore that a bit, of like, yeah, it's great to be ready, and then life's still really weird, you know?
Luke Tennie (Sean) didn't have many details to share, but he said that the "show really comes alive when we're all in some sort of weird hodgepodge group:"
Luke Tennie: I can tell you it's 'Shrinking,' and like, for me, this show really comes alive when we're all in some sort of weird hodgepodge group. You can expect odd couple dynamics, you can expect us to all get together, half of us be on one side, half of us be on the other, some people in the middle randomly flipping, you know how it is. That's a Bill Lawrence show. Be ready for more ha-ha's and be ready for more tears.
Lukita Maxwell, who plays Alice in the Apple TV series, teased that since her character is now 20, she's happy to be closer in age to her, as the gap has grown as the show has gone on:
Lukita Maxwell: I've been thinking about this quite a bit, but it's nicer to be closer in age with her again, because I started off season one closer in age with her, and then, like, through the years gotten more separated from her, and now I feel like I'm at a good place. I feel like I have some perceptivity to play a 20-year-old. She's 20 now, so yeah.
Ted McGinley joked that he doesn't know much of anything about Season 4. In fact, the actor claimed that despite having to film the next day as Derek, he just got the script at 4 am the morning of our conversation:
Ted McGinley: Just so you know, we don't know anything. We don't see the script. In fact, I just got the script [and] I'm filming tomorrow. I have four scenes with [Luke Tennie], and I got it this morning at 4am so we have no idea what the story lines are, and I have no idea what is going to happen the rest of the season. I can promise you, you will laugh and you will cry.
