Shrinking returns with its final chapter, set to premiere on Apple TV on Jan. 28. Fans can expect a new arc that moves from forgiveness to forward momentum, with 11 episodes dropping weekly until the finale on April 8.
At a Glance
- Season 3 premieres Jan. 28 on Apple TV.
- The season features 11 episodes, a slight cut from the 12-episode season two.
- Episodes stream every Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.
- The first episode runs a full hour, longer than previous installments.
- Why it matters: Viewers will see beloved characters navigate new life chapters while the series concludes its Emmy-nominated story.
Release Schedule
Apple TV will stream the first, one-hour episode of Shrinking season 3 on Jan. 28. After that, episodes will drop every week on Wednesday until the season finale on April 8.
| Date | Episode | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 28 | 1 | “My Bad” |
| Feb. 4 | 2 | “Happiness Mission” |
| Feb. 11 | 3 | Episode 3 |
| Feb. 18 | 4 | Episode 4 |
| Feb. 25 | 5 | Episode 5 |
| Mar. 4 | 6 | Episode 6 |
| Mar. 11 | 7 | Episode 7 |
| Mar. 18 | 8 | Episode 8 |
| Mar. 25 | 9 | Episode 9 |
| Apr. 1 | 10 | Episode 10 |
| Apr. 8 | 11 | Episode 11 |
Episodes are expected to launch at 9 p.m. ET on the Tuesday before the official premiere date, following Apple TV’s typical release pattern.
Episode Count and Length
Season 3 will include 11 episodes. While season 2 expanded to 12 episodes from the first season’s 10, the new installment is slightly shorter. The premiere episode will run a full hour-longer than most installments of the series-introducing a new patient with Parkinson’s played by Michael J. Fox.
Bill Lawrence joked to News Of Los Angeles in November 2025 that the Family Ties alum made the mistake of saying he’d “do it again” after filming the first episode. He explained, “It’s not a simple, preachy role. He’s a wise-ass and as acerbic as he’s always been, and he’s kind of a really key part of the first episode, and he had so much fun and we had so much – he made the mistake.” Lawrence added, “He said, ‘That was so much fun. I’d do it again.’ And around me, if he ever says anything like that out loud, I’m like, ‘Oh, then come back in two weeks.’ So he had to come back again.”
Season Arc and Themes
Co-creator Bill Lawrence has said the series was pitched as a three-season arc: beginning, middle, and end. He told Variety in March 2023, “We pitched three seasons – the beginning, middle and end.” The first season focused on grief, with viewers meeting Jason Segel’s Jimmy after he recently lost his wife in a car crash. Lawrence explained that “the second year is about forgiveness, and the third year is about moving forward.”
“Forgiveness wasn’t just Jimmy’s story,” Lawrence told TVLine in June 2025. “It was Alice’s story, and Derek and Liz’s story, and Sean with his dad, and Gaby and her mom and sister, so this sense of moving forward exists for everybody, and we consider Brett’s character to be a major one after the second year.”
Goldstein, who co-created the series with Lawrence, was introduced in season 2 as Louis, the drunk driver responsible for killing Jimmy’s wife. In the final episode, the therapist confronts him just before he throws himself in front of a moving train.
Character Highlights
- Jason Segel as Jimmy: “He’s gotten himself back to zero, but the entire framework of the life that he had planned was sort of taken away from him,” the actor said during a January 2026 interview with The Knockturnal. “His wife is gone. His daughter is going off to college. Things are really changing at work. So I think Jimmy is at this moment of ‘What now?'”
- Harrison Ford as Paul: returns to work after learning he has up to a year before his Parkinson medication stops taking effect.
- Jessica Williams as Gaby: navigates her romance with Derrick No. 2, played by Damon Wayans Jr.
- Lukita Maxwell as Alice: officially off to college.
- Cobie Smulders: potential love interest for Jimmy.
- Michael J. Fox: guest star as a new Parkinson’s patient in the hour-long premiere.
Viewing Details
The first two seasons of Shrinking are available to stream on Apple TV, where new episodes will also be releasing. Fans can catch the series on the platform and follow the weekly Wednesday releases.
Key Takeaways
- Season 3 premieres Jan. 28 on Apple TV, concluding on April 8.
- The season contains 11 episodes, with a longer hour-long premiere.
- Themes shift from grief to forgiveness to moving forward, affecting all main characters.
- New guest star Michael J. Fox appears in the first episode.
- Episodes stream at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesdays, following Apple TV’s release pattern.
