Apple TV’s Shrinking Season 4 Hits Major Filming Milestone As New Era Begins

Published Oct 19, 2026, 7:35 PM EDT

Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025. 

The new era of Shrinking hits a major milestone.

Apple TV's Shrinking season 3 finale served as the conclusion to the show's original story for Jimmy (Jason Segel) and the rest of the core characters. However, the series was renewed for a fourth season, with co-creator and co-showrunner Bill Lawrence teasing that it would be "a completely new story" but with "the EXACT same cast." Michael Urie, who plays Brian, later revealed that there would be a two-year time-jump for season 4's narrative.

On Instagram, Jessica Williams, who plays Gaby, shared that Shrinking season 4 has wrapped filming. She shared behind-the-scenes photos of herself, a video of her getting makeup applied, and the following caption: "And that’s a wrappy poo on season 4!!! So thankful for this amazing cast and crew🫶🏽 love you shrinking!!" Check out the post below:

With production wrapping now, the series will likely be able to return in 2027, although probably not as early in the year as season 3, which premiered in January 2026. Debuting in 2027 would mean that Shrinking has released four seasons in five years, a feat that is impressive given the long hiatuses for other hit streaming shows, many of which do not even get to a season 4.

Harrison Ford, who plays Paul, previously shared that season 4 contains 12 episodes. This is the same number of episodes as Shrinking season 2, and only one more than season 3, which essentially combined two episodes in order to have a 65-minute premiere. Season 4 will presumably go back to each episode having an approximate runtime of 30-35 minutes.

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With the original Shrinking cast returning, the story will pick up two years after Jimmy, Brian, Gaby, Paul, and the other characters were last seen. Jimmy was turning over a new leaf as he went on a date with Sofi (Cobie Smulders), Brian was still in his early days as a father, Gaby was getting her trauma center underway, and Paul had retired and moved to Connecticut in order to be closer to his daughter, Meg (Lily Rabe), and her family.

Unless Paul has moved back to California, the geographical distance is something season 4 will have to account for, especially since Jimmy's daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell), also went to Connecticut in order to attend Wesleyan University and play soccer there. With a two-year time jump, she is expected to be halfway through her college experience. The new season will also need to follow up on Sean (Luke Tennie) after he became a sous-chef at a high-profile restaurant, along with Liz (Christa Miller) and Derek (Ted McGinley) being grandparents.

Despite following the same characters, the two-year time jump and start of a new story means Shrinking season 4 is the beginning of a new era. It is also another opportunity for the show to secure its first Emmy Award after previously receiving 18 nominations but never winning, including in the following categories: Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Segel), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Urie and Ford), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Williams), and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (Brett Goldstein and Michael J. Fox).