Apple TV+ lands ‘The Shrink Next Door’ series, starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd

In a highly competitive situation, Apple has given a straight-to-series order to “The Shrink Next Door,” a new, eight-episode limited series starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd, based on the No. 1 new podcast of 2019 by Wondery and Bloomberg Media, hailing from Civic Center Media in association with MRC Television.

Directed by Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick,” “The Lovebirds”) and based on the script by Emmy, Golden Globe, BAFTA, WGA Award winner Georgia Pritchett (“Succession,” “Veep”), “The Shrink Next Door” is a dark comedy inspired by true events that detail the bizarre relationship between psychiatrist to the stars Dr. Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf, played by Paul Rudd, and his longtime patient Martin “Marty” Markowitz, played by Will Ferrell. Over the course of their relationship, the all-too-charming Ike slowly takes over Marty’s life, even moving into Marty’s Hamptons home and taking over his family business. The series explores how a seemingly normal doctor-patient dynamic morphs into an unprecedentedly exploitative relationship filled with manipulation, power grabs and dysfunction at its finest.

The project will bring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd on screen together for the first time since “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.”

“The Shrink Next Door” is produced by Civic Center Media in association with MRC Television, Gloria Sanchez Productions, Semi-Formal Productions, Wondery and Bloomberg Media. Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum and Brittney Segal will executive produce for Gloria Sanchez Productions. Rudd and Pritchett will also serve as executive producers. Showalter and Jordana Mollick will executive produce on behalf of Semi-Formal Productions. Marshall Lewy for Wondery and Jared Sandberg, Katie Boyce and Francesca Levy for Bloomberg Media will serve as executive producers, with the podcast’s host Joe Nocera as co-executive producer.

MacDailyNews Take: Interestingly, a young Will Ferrell once starred in Apple’s “Switch” campaign. (“My name is Will Ferrell and I’m a porn actor.”) And, from the Strange Bedfellows Department, none other than Steve Jobs once called the co-executive producer of “The Shrink Next Door,” Joe Nocera, a “slime bucket.”