A true story that's incredibly interesting on its own can still be elevated to new emotional heights with a compelling screen adaptation. This is true of "The Shrink Next Door," the Apple TV+ limited series that covers a lengthy real-life tale in a satisfying fashion.
Based on a true-crime podcast of the same name, "The Shrink Next Door" follows Marty Markowitz (Will Ferrell), a timid man who is struggling to cope with the loss of his parents and his newfound responsibility for their successful fabrics company. When he goes to Dr. Ike Herschkopf (Paul Rudd) for therapy, he initially becomes a more confident and relaxed person; however, the relationship turns toxic, and Marty is subjected to 30 years of his psychiatrist's relentless manipulation and exploitation.
"The Shrink Next Door" takes what could be a one-note affair and instead offers two nuanced performances that teeter on the edge of satire and overwhelming darkness.
Based on a true-crime podcast of the same name, "The Shrink Next Door" follows Marty Markowitz (Will Ferrell), a timid man who is struggling to cope with the loss of his parents and his newfound responsibility for their successful fabrics company. When he goes to Dr. Ike Herschkopf (Paul Rudd) for therapy, he initially becomes a more confident and relaxed person; however, the relationship turns toxic, and Marty is subjected to 30 years of his psychiatrist's relentless manipulation and exploitation.
"The Shrink Next Door" takes what could be a one-note affair and instead offers two nuanced performances that teeter on the edge of satire and overwhelming darkness.
- 8/17/2022
- by Marcos Melendez
- Slash Film
Turns out a lot of us love a good murder show. It might be a bit weird, but there you go. So if you have found yourself hooked on The Staircase, the dramatization of the documentary of the same name, which followed the case of Michael Peterson, who either did or did not kill his wife Kathleen, you’re not alone.
The show is landing weekly so if you find yourself starved of glossy true crime drama with an A-list cast while you wait for new episodes to drop, well, we’ve got your back. Here are the must-watch dramas based on real life cases to get your teeth into next.
Dirty John (Netflix)
True crime nuts who are also Podcast people may well have first heard about the case of conman ‘Dirty’ John Meehan in the Podcast of the same name. This dramatization follows the events that occurred involving...
The show is landing weekly so if you find yourself starved of glossy true crime drama with an A-list cast while you wait for new episodes to drop, well, we’ve got your back. Here are the must-watch dramas based on real life cases to get your teeth into next.
Dirty John (Netflix)
True crime nuts who are also Podcast people may well have first heard about the case of conman ‘Dirty’ John Meehan in the Podcast of the same name. This dramatization follows the events that occurred involving...
- 5/19/2022
- by Rosie Fletcher
- Den of Geek
TV creators are constantly searching for inspiration for their next projects, and in the past, books, comics and movies provided the source material for many series. In the past few years, podcasts have become a fertile source of ideas for documentary series and dramatic shows as well as comedies and talkshows. The episodic nature of podcasts lends itself perfectly to TV, where six to 10 episodes lets the viewer really dive into complicated stories like “Dirty John” or “The Shrink Next Door.”
For faithful podcast listeners, it’s fun to see which actors were cast to bring the real people to life and which elements of the story are emphasized. If you started out by watching the TV series, you’ll get a deeper understanding of the story by going back to the podcast to listen to all the supporting details. With “The Thing About Pam,” “The Dropout” and “WeCrashed” all coming to TV in March,...
For faithful podcast listeners, it’s fun to see which actors were cast to bring the real people to life and which elements of the story are emphasized. If you started out by watching the TV series, you’ll get a deeper understanding of the story by going back to the podcast to listen to all the supporting details. With “The Thing About Pam,” “The Dropout” and “WeCrashed” all coming to TV in March,...
- 3/4/2022
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Forty years ago, Marty Markowitz was a sad sack. Everything was going wrong for the mild-mannered New Yorker. He was divorced. He was having a hard time coping with the death of his parents. And some members of his relatives didn’t think he had the stuff to run his family’s fabric business. Enter New York-based therapist Ike Herschkopf who first presented himself as Marty’s knight in shining armor. But over the next three decades, their relationship turned dark and twisted as Ike took over Marty’s life and finances and caused major rift in his family.
Three years ago, their dark, twisted and sad story was developed into the popular podcast ‘The Shrink Next Door,’ and last November Apple TV + premiered a new eight-part series starring Will Ferrell as Marty Markowitz and the People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive Paul Rudd as Ike. The two previously appeared together in the “Anchorman” comedies.
Three years ago, their dark, twisted and sad story was developed into the popular podcast ‘The Shrink Next Door,’ and last November Apple TV + premiered a new eight-part series starring Will Ferrell as Marty Markowitz and the People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive Paul Rudd as Ike. The two previously appeared together in the “Anchorman” comedies.
- 1/29/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
It’s been a bumpy three decades for The Shrink Next Door‘s Marty Markowitz.
As a result of the emotional warfare he suffered at the hands of Dr. Ike, Marty feels more alone than ever. He’s completely separated from his family, and has few connections to the outside world. But in the series finale of the Apple TV+ minseries (now streaming), the former patient finally tries to reclaim his life and fight back against the predatory doctor who took everything from him. How does it all end up? Read on for a recap.
More from TVLineThe TVLine Performers...
As a result of the emotional warfare he suffered at the hands of Dr. Ike, Marty feels more alone than ever. He’s completely separated from his family, and has few connections to the outside world. But in the series finale of the Apple TV+ minseries (now streaming), the former patient finally tries to reclaim his life and fight back against the predatory doctor who took everything from him. How does it all end up? Read on for a recap.
More from TVLineThe TVLine Performers...
- 12/18/2021
- by Nick Caruso
- TVLine.com
Warning: This post contains spoilers from the first three episodes of The Shrink Next Door.
In Apple TV+’s new dark dramedy The Shrink Next Door, psychiatric ethics are thrown entirely out the window.
More from TVLineKathryn Hahn: The Shrink Next Door and His 'Breaches of Confidentiality' Upend a Sibling Dynamic — 'He's Not Right!'The Shrink Next Door Review: Therapy Turns Toxic in Apple's Creepy DramedyJennifer Garner Replaces Julia Roberts in Apple's The Last Thing He Told Me
In the series premiere (three episodes are now available to stream), Marty Markowitz (Will Ferrell) — a naïve, grieving New...
In Apple TV+’s new dark dramedy The Shrink Next Door, psychiatric ethics are thrown entirely out the window.
More from TVLineKathryn Hahn: The Shrink Next Door and His 'Breaches of Confidentiality' Upend a Sibling Dynamic — 'He's Not Right!'The Shrink Next Door Review: Therapy Turns Toxic in Apple's Creepy DramedyJennifer Garner Replaces Julia Roberts in Apple's The Last Thing He Told Me
In the series premiere (three episodes are now available to stream), Marty Markowitz (Will Ferrell) — a naïve, grieving New...
- 11/12/2021
- by Nick Caruso
- TVLine.com
You can’t top A-list casting like Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell, two hugely likable actors who can clown around with the best of them, teaming up as a psychiatrist and his neediest patient. Sounds like the best buddy comedy ever. Think again. The true story behind The Shrink Next Door, which began as a podcast before being adapted into an entertaining but deeply unsettling dramedy for Apple TV+, depicts a melancholy mensch taken cruel advantage of by a toxic narcissist who sees his client as a rung on his aggressive social-climbing ladder. Now I’ve made it sound like a downer, which thanks to the innate appeal of its stars this is anything but. It all starts seemingly innocently enough, way back in the early 1980s, when anxious family-business heir and all-around “too nice” guy Marty Markowitz is urged by his devoted but hypercritical sister Phyllis (the ever-fabulous Kathryn Hahn...
- 11/12/2021
- TV Insider
What do you do when your therapist takes over your life? Well, we're about to find out. In this exclusive sneak peek from Apple TV+ new dark comedy, The Shrink Next Door, a struggling man named Marty Markowitz (Will Ferrell) finds solace in his inspiring new therapist, Dr. Isaac "Ike" Herschkopf (Paul Rudd). Though Marty praises Dr. Ike for being a "miracle worker," his sister Phyllis (Kathryn Hahn) isn't so sold. "What is he doing here?" Phyllis asks her brother as Dr. Ike makes himself at home at their place of work. After Marty reveals that he thought Dr. Ike could help them all, Phyllis hits back with another question: "Is he even allowed to do...
- 11/11/2021
- E! Online
Apple TV+’s new podcast-based series The Shrink Next Door centers on the relationship between an anxiety-ridden businessman in the 1980s named Marty Markowitz (Will Ferrell), who seeks help from a psychiatrist, Ike Herschkopf (Paul Rudd). Initially, Dr. Ike does help Marty but he also slowly begins to take over his life in virtually every aspect and you can expect things to get pretty dark as the series goes on. Behind the two men are the women in their lives — Marty’s controlling sister, Phyllis (Kathryn Hahn), who initially gets Marty to seek therapy, and Dr. Ike’s in-the-dark wife, Bonnie (Casey Wilson). In the case of Phyllis, says Hahn, “She is a little bit overprotective and does need to let him go a little bit, and [she] hasn’t given him really the breathing room to try something on his own two feet.” As the audience realizes that maybe Dr.
- 11/11/2021
- TV Insider
The intimacy of psychiatry was made for drama. The most renowned TV series of the modern era was, at first, centered on its antihero’s talk-therapy sessions — exploring both what was troubling Tony Soprano and the ways in which his monstrousness, seen at close range, compelled and seduced the professional trying to help him.
“The Shrink Next Door,” directed by Michael Showalter and Jesse Peretz and written by Georgia Pritchett, reverses the manipulation. On Apple TV Plus’ new limited series (based on the true-crime podcast of the same name), it’s the doctor (Paul Rudd) who’s absent a moral compass, squeezing fealty out of his patient (Will Ferrell). But, leaving unfair comparisons with “The Sopranos” aside, “The Shrink Next Door” simply lacks the vibrant give-and-take that its subject matter suggests. Its characters feel unknowable, a problem for a show that concerns the emotional and intellectual tug-of-war in the therapist’s office.
“The Shrink Next Door,” directed by Michael Showalter and Jesse Peretz and written by Georgia Pritchett, reverses the manipulation. On Apple TV Plus’ new limited series (based on the true-crime podcast of the same name), it’s the doctor (Paul Rudd) who’s absent a moral compass, squeezing fealty out of his patient (Will Ferrell). But, leaving unfair comparisons with “The Sopranos” aside, “The Shrink Next Door” simply lacks the vibrant give-and-take that its subject matter suggests. Its characters feel unknowable, a problem for a show that concerns the emotional and intellectual tug-of-war in the therapist’s office.
- 11/8/2021
- by Daniel D'Addario
- Variety Film + TV
“The Shrink Next Door” gets its title from the 2019 Wondery/Bloomberg podcast hosted by Joe Nocera, but whether you listened to the business reporter’s investigation into Dr. Isaac Herschkopf and his fraudulent manipulations of patient Marty Markowitz, what’s peculiar about the Apple TV+ adaptation is that there is no next-door neighbor. In the podcast, Nocera discovers this doomed pairing because they’re living on the other side of his fence, and the idea that such a twisted tale could be taking place one house over is part of what gives the strange-but-true story such an eerie wallop. Shattering the normalcy of a relatable neighborly relationship is a provocative entry-point for this bonkers, private debacle.
The show, developed by Georgia Pritchett (a writer on “Succession” and “Veep”), jettisons that perspective in favor of fully investing in its two main characters, as well as the two movie stars playing them.
The show, developed by Georgia Pritchett (a writer on “Succession” and “Veep”), jettisons that perspective in favor of fully investing in its two main characters, as well as the two movie stars playing them.
- 11/8/2021
- by Ben Travers
- Indiewire
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.