Shrink

Nowadays, everyone is making half hour dramas and calling them "comedies" just because of their length. Looking at you, Transparent. Shrink, however, is a dramedy with heart, meaning, and most importantly, big laughs. Tim Baltz and Mary Holland are incredible.

I don't normally review things, but feel this needs more attention. This show is very good. I rarely actually laugh out loud at TV any more, and some of this actually got me laughing. I think it's because a lot of his patients are actually improv comics, so they are very talented at being awkwardly funny. His family are some of the best characters, with Barry being my favorite. It's a quick binge and you won't regret it if you can find it (I think it's on seeso?).

This show is excellent. For people who have dealt with mental health on either side of the fence this show is better than any antidepressant out there! With so many different characters, watching it is like being in a hilarious support group. I just fell in love with it and I cannot wait for season 2!

This show is fantastic. The humor is spot-on and a cross between observational and satirical humor. And just when you think it's about to tumble over the line from satirical to truly mean -- about the main lead, or his clients, or especially his dysfunctional family and friends -- it feints and slides over to poignant and very real.

The main character is a sympathetic millennial everyman whose situation is very relatable (for certain demographics, anyway). But he's not generic or predictable. In fact, nothing about this show or its writing is predictable. Which is probably why it is so funny. Yet, at moments (not *too* often, fortunately; it's a dramedy, not a soap or melodrama), it also pulls off "heartwarming." And not in a hokey, smarmy way, but genuine.

The Chicago locations are authentic (and I could swear David's parents' house is a bungalow in Cicero, actually, but hey - Capone had a hotel in Cicero, so it's kind of an extension of the city, heh)... either that, or they've done an amazing job recreating these locations on a sound stage somewhere in LA... or, hell, maybe here in Chicago. It's obviously not a super high budget show, but the production quality is actually quite high -- nothing about it looks or seems low budget.

The ensemble acting is superlative, and the minor characters are a major part of some of the funniest bits. I often laugh more times than I can count with each episode... yet... I get these people, I know these people, I've taken care of these people, I'm friends with and related to these people, and sometimes I am one of these people.

And underneath it all, with their/our bad behavior, poor boundaries, repeated button-pushing, messed up histories, defensiveness (and offensiveness), we're all schlepping through life doing the best we can, however dysfunctionally, fearfully, a$$holish-ly, half-a$$ed-ly, and hilariously that may be.

I'm pretty bummed there apparently won't be any more episodes. It's a real shame. This show belongs on Netflix or Amazon (or should be continued there - please?). It's truly right up there with those networks' best original programming.

I'm a bit late on this one having just watched the first season. There are some genuine fall out of your seat laughs to be had. Their meeting in the porn store had me dying. I can't seem to find any news on a second season but one can only hope. Judging by the small amount of exposure this show seems to have I find it unlikely.