Why ‘Shrinking’ is about to go big at the 2025 Emmys

As therapist Jimmy Laird might tell one of his patients, "All good things come to those who wait."

Well, Shrinking has been waiting patiently ... for some major Emmy love. Apple TV+'s hit comedy series only received a pair of nominations for its first season in 2023: Best Comedy Actor for Jason Segel (as Jimmy) and Best Comedy Supporting Actress for Jessica Williams (as Gaby). That's right — even Hollywood heavyweight Harrison Ford (as Paul) was snubbed. But for Season 2, Gold Derby is predicting that Shrinking will be supersized at the 2025 Emmys.

Sometimes it takes a year for Television Academy members to discover a project, particularly in this era of Peak TV when there are so many shows vying for attention. Just look at historic examples like Will & Grace, Fleabag, and Succession — all were virtually ignored for their first at bats, but then exploded with noms and wins for their second cycles. Shrinking took a year off after Season 1 thanks in part to the Hollywood strikes, so voters who missed it the first time around had ample time to catch up for Season 2.

According to our Emmy odds, Shrinking is in sixth place for a nomination in Best Comedy Series, and the category will again have eight slots. Bill Lawrence and the producing team behind the feel-good show were previously recognized for Scrubs and Ted Lasso (which won in 2021 and 2022). With Ted Lasso off the air (at least for now), Shrinking is Apple TV+'s biggest comedy push, and the streamer has been campaigning it all around Hollywood at various FYC events, including a one-of-a-kind set visit for Emmy voters.

As of this writing, three performers are predicted to receive bids. Williams is in fifth place for Best Comedy Supporting Actress, while Ford and Michael Urie are in second and sixth place, respectively, for Best Comedy Supporting Actor. Both supporting contests will have seven slots this year. Urie recently won the Critics Choice Award for his role as Brian, Jimmy's narcissistic best friend.

Those currently just outside the nomination favorites are Segel (he's in sixth place for Best Comedy Actor, which will have five slots this year due to a smaller number of entries) and Brett Goldstein (he's in ninth place for Best Comedy Supporting Actor). The ensemble cast is rounded out by Luke Tennie, Lukita Maxwell, Christa Miller, and Ted McGinley.

Showrunner Lawrence previously earned a Best Comedy Writing nomination for the pilot of Ted Lasso, and he could easily return to that category this year. Shrinking savvily submitted just one episode for consideration in writing, so as not to split the vote: the Season 2 finale, "The Last Thanksgiving," which was penned by Lawrence, Goldstein, and Neil Goldman.

For Best Comedy Directing, four directors are on the Emmy ballot: Randall Keenan Winston for "Jimmying," Zach Braff for "Made You Look," James Ponsoldt for "Last Drink," and Lawrence for "The Last Thanksgiving." It would be the first directing nominations for Winston, Ponsoldt, and Lawrence; Braff was nominated as a director for Ted Lasso's "Biscuits" episode.

Shrinking could also explode below-the-line, as it's officially submitted for Emmy consideration in the following races: casting, cinematography, costumes, hairstyling, makeup, music, picture editing, production design, sound editing, and sound mixing. Production designer Cabot McMullen and set decorator Andrea Mae Fenton recently made an impact on voters at the aforementioned set visit, where they showed off the production's therapy offices.

Season 3 of Shrinking is filming now, and Lawrence has teased that it will be all about "moving forward." He said, "This show is about being stuck. I don't know how long this show is going to go on, but I know we're going to finish the three-season story that we're trying to tell. If the show came back a fourth year and Jason's character was going, 'I'm still really sad about my wife,' I'd be in trouble. Hopefully you'll get to see these characters take steps forward in their lives, and some work out, and some do not."

The first two seasons of Shrinking are available to stream on Apple TV+.

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