"My one hint would be that I don't think you can ever get away from where the show started, which is with Jason Segel and Harrison Ford, who both have very distinct things we know we have to service," says co-creator Bill Lawrence about where 'Shrinking' goes after the season three finale.

Apple TV

Logo text

[This story contains MAJOR spoilers from the season three finale of Shrinking, “And That’s Our Time.”]

If you are wondering if Shrinking just ended after that season three finale, don’t worry — the show isn’t over. It’s coming back for season four.

But the season three finale, titled “And That’s Our Time,” did feel like it could have been a series finale, and there’s a reason for that: It was initially going to be the end of the show. The hit Apple series co-created by Bill Lawrence with stars Jason Segel and Brett Goldstein was pitched with a three-season plan, and Lawrence tells The Hollywood Reporter now that when they decided to continue on while writing season three, they wanted to stay true to that original vision.

Related Stories

The AI Issue

The Emmys Tried to Get a Handle on AI. The Writers Had Notes.

Napa Valley StreamFest: 'Shrinking' Showrunner Bill Lawrence Set for Live 'Awards Chatter' Podcast Taping

“We’ve told the story of whether or not Jason Segel’s Jimmy is going to make it through the death of his wife and come out the other side as someone who might be able to find joy and happiness in his life again,” says Lawrence of season three ending with Jimmy being ready to pursue a relationship with Sofi (played by Cobie Smulders). “This is the finale of that three-season story. And I hope that people will dig it that when we come back — whether there’s a time jump or not — that it’ll feel like we’re telling a completely different story.”

The episode felt like it could have been the end-end because everyone left Jimmy — albeit, most of them temporarily. After getting engaged, Gaby and Derrick No. 2 (Damon Wayans Jr.) decided to celebrate their impending nuptials by joining Liz (Christa Miller) and Derek (Ted McGinley) on their extended trip to Barcelona; Brian (Michael Urie) and husband Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) are heading to Tennessee; and Sean (Luke Tennie) is moving out of Jimmy’s pool house. Jimmy’s daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell American) is also gone — she’s off to college in Connecticut — and so is Jimmy’s surrogate father Paul, played by Harrison Ford, who moved away with wife Julie (Wendie Malick), also to Connecticut.

But don’t worry — Lawrence says everyone, including Ford, will be back for season four, and a likely season five. And there will be a time jump when the gang gets back together.

“It’s not an accident that Alice goes to school at Wesleyan University and that in the end of the finale, she’s going by to have dinner at Paul’s house,” he teases. “Time passage changes a lot of things — as to where people are, where they’re living and how things have progressed. So, yes, Harrison’s back on the show.”

Below, prolific TV creator Lawrence answers more burning finale questions — including what Jimmy’s second chance will look like when the show jumps ahead to season four — as he talks more about what the next era of Shrinking will be like when it returns.

***

This season finale felt like it could have been a series finale.

I can explain that. This is the ending of the three-season story we pitched. This is a narrative that I’m trying to get out there. Here’s what I love about doing streaming television. When I used to do Spin City and Scrubs and Cougar Town stuff, they would be like, “We want you to do this for 900 episodes, and nobody should ever change.” Someone asked Zach Braff in the seventh year of Scrubs, “How much has J.D. changed since the first year?” And he’s like, “I think I have a beard now?” (Laughs.)

But now when you go to streaming, you pitch a beginning, middle and end. At least, I do. I went, “The first year of Shrinking is about grief and the second year is about forgiveness, and the third year is about moving forward through it.”

We’re lucky enough that we all like each other. The actors love the gig; Harrison’s been cool and like, “I don’t care if this is my last gig ever,” and Apple loves doing the show. But we decided as a staff that we are not going to veer from our three-season story. And that’s because we’re fans of the show. Everybody likes their own shit, but we’re nerdy fans of the show and the actors and actresses — and if we turned on the fourth season and Jimmy was just sitting around saying to Paul, “You know, I’ve bee

'Shrinking' Finale: Everyone Will Return for Time Jump in Season 4