‘The Shrink Next Door’: Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd to Reunite For Small Screen Dark Comedy
While it won’t be for a third “Anchorman” movie — at least, not as of yet — Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd will be back together again. Only this time around, it will be on the small screen, with MRC Television’s dark comedy limited series “The Shrink Next Door.”
Based on the 2019 Wondery and Bloomberg Media podcast of the same name — which was inspired by true events — “The Shrink Next Door” focuses on the bizarre relationship between a psychiatrist to the stars, Dr. Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf, and his longterm patient, Martin “Marty” Markowitz. What starts as a normal doctor-patient dynamic slowly turns into the all-too-charming Ike (Rudd) taking over Marty’s (Ferrell) life. From moving into Marty’s home to take over his family business, “The Shrink Next Door” is a tale of dysfunction and manipulation.
Though both men are more known for their film work, Rudd recently starred on the small screen in Netflix’s Living With Yourself. In an appearance on IndieWire’s Millions of Screens podcast, Rudd and creators Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris discussed the series, which was the first time any of them signed on to a full-time TV gig. Released back in September, Netflix has yet to announce if the series will be returning for a second season.
As for Ferrell, his last television role was in last year’s “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” performance of “The Jeffersons.”
Georgia Pritchett (“Succession,” “Avenue 5”) will write the series, with Rudd’s “Wet Hot American Summer” castmate Michael Showalter (“Hello, My Name Is Doris,” “The Big Sick,” “Search Party”) set to direct. While “The Shrink Next Door” does not have a network home yet, MRC TV will be shopping it around to premium cable networks and streamers.
Rudd and Pritchett will serve as executive producers, with Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum, and Brittney Segal serving as executive producers for Gloria Sanchez Productions and Showalter and Jordana Mollick executive producing on behalf of Semi-Formal Productions. Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy for Wondery and Jared Sandberg, Katie Boyce, and Francesca Levy for Bloomberg Media will serve as executive producers, with Joe Nocera as co-executive producer. “The Shrink Next Door” is a Civic Center Media project in association with MRC Television.
