Is ‘Shrink Next Door’ Comedy or Drama? Kathryn Hahn & Casey Wilson Weigh In (VIDEO)
Apple TV+’s new podcast-based series The Shrink Next Door centers on the relationship between an anxiety-ridden businessman in the 1980s named Marty Markowitz (Will Ferrell), who seeks help from a psychiatrist, Ike Herschkopf (Paul Rudd). Initially, Dr. Ike does help Marty but he also slowly begins to take over his life in virtually every aspect and you can expect things to get pretty dark as the series goes on.
Behind the two men are the women in their lives — Marty’s controlling sister, Phyllis (Kathryn Hahn), who initially gets Marty to seek therapy, and Dr. Ike’s in-the-dark wife, Bonnie (Casey Wilson). In the case of Phyllis, says Hahn, “She is a little bit overprotective and does need to let him go a little bit, and [she] hasn’t given him really the breathing room to try something on his own two feet.”
As the audience realizes that maybe Dr. Ike isn’t working in Marty’s best interest, the question arises as to whether Bonnie is aware of what her husband is doing. “I think she really does start off as [Dr. Ike’s] biggest fan and she’s almost like his first cult member,” says Wilson, who adds that over time, Bonnie starts to see some of Dr. Ike’s behavior is wrong. But when that behavior is benefiting her, will she still speak up?
Watch the interview above, where Hahn and Wilson also discuss the series toeing the line between comedy and drama, with “some true-crime added in.”
The Shrink Next Door, Series Premiere, Friday, November 12, Apple TV+
