Is Harrison Ford Leaving ‘Shrinking’? Creator Teases Big Changes in Season 4

Shrinking Season 3 has come to a close, and so has the show’s original three-season arc about grief, forgiveness, and moving forward. But there’s more story to be told. Shrinking was renewed for Season 4 before the Season 3 premiere in January 2026, and creator Bill Lawrence says it’s going to be a brand new show when it returns. With Harrison Ford‘s character, Paul Rhoades, retiring and moving to Connecticut, fans have wondered if Ford is leaving Shrinking. Lawrence cleared everything up in some tweets and finale interviews. Warning: Shrinking Season 3 finale spoilers ahead.

Lawrence tweeted about making a brand new Shrinking on April 4 ahead of the April 8 finale.

“Season finale and end of this three-season story next week. Hope you dig it. (Excited to start [a] completely new story next year. Feels scary/risky/fun),” the Scrubs creator tweeted. In the replies, fans asked if Paul’s move means that Ford is leaving the show, and if a “completely new story” also means a completely new cast.

“Same EXACT cast next year,” Lawrence clarified, adding in another tweet, “He’s not going anywhere. Not an accident that Alice goes to college in Connecticut.”

More follow-up tweets made it clear that the show’s original story is complete with Season 3, but now it’s getting a fresh start with the same characters in Season 4. He also revealed that there will be a time jump next season.

Lawrence said at a PaleyFest event in Los Angeles on April 7 that Shrinking Season 4 can’t show Jimmy (Jason Segel) still stuck in grief for his late wife, Tia, not when the entire first three seasons showed his story of processing grief and moving forward.

“If the fourth season of this show came on and Jimmy was like, ‘I’ve been thinking about it. I’m still super sad about my wife,’ I’d be like, ‘Turn the TV off.’ You can’t do that again,” Lawrence said, per Variety. “So we’re hoping people feel it’s an incredibly optimistic and happy ending.”

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Next season, Shrinking is going to chart new territory as Jimmy creates a new life for himself with Alice (Lukita Maxwell) in Connecticut for college and a second chance at love with Sofi (Cobie Smulders) brewing.

In the finale, Paul returned to California from his new home in Connecticut to help assure the struggling Jimmy that it was OK to move on. He tricked Jimmy into having breakfast with Sofi to give him the push he needed to find love again. This exploration will continue in Season 4.

With father-figure Paul across the country, Jimmy will have to face his relationship with his actual father, Randy (Jeff Daniels), again. Lawrence said that Daniels and Smulders will both likely be back in Season 4. Wendie Malick will be back as Paul’s doctor-turned-wife, Julie. And just because they’ve moved across the country doesn’t mean we’ll be seeing less of them in the show.

“It’s obviously with great intent that Harrison’s character is moving to a state where Alice goes to college,” Lawrence noted.

Gaby (Jessica Williams) is taking over Paul’s therapy practice and creating a new crisis clinic, inspired by the loss of her patient, Maya (Sherry Cola), in Season 3, who died by suicide.

“What’s it look like for a character like Gaby to have lost a patient in a fairly straightforward practice, and then, for whatever reason, be diving into treating people that are only dealing with stuff like that?” Lawrence said. “There’s the trauma of losing a patient that you may have crossed some boundaries and gotten too close to going directly into that world. Also, there’s still some tension between Gaby, her mom, and her sister.”

Liz (Christa Miller, who’s married to Lawrence) and Derek (Ted McGinley) will explore becoming grandparents in Season 4. Sean (Luke Tennie) was pursuing becoming a chef in Season 3 and got back together with his ex, Marisol (Isabella Gomez). And Brian (Michael Urie) will continue to navigate life as a new parent while contending with difficult childhood memories that having a kid brings up. Brian’s mom might also be introduced.

“Sometimes people feel like Brian was somebody that entered, at least reluctantly, into building and having a family, and what is like that look like? We know that Brian’s childhood was tumultuous in terms of where he grew up, and their attitude towards his sexuality, but we still haven’t met his mom,” Lawrence shared. “That’s with great intent.”

Lawrence assured that Shrinking will still feel and look the same even with its time jump and other changes. At the same Paley event, Michael J. Fox expressed interest in coming back as Gerry: “I would love to do it – it would be my honor.”

Shrinking, Season 4 Premiere, TBA, Apple TV