Co-creator of 'the best show on television' thought it was a 'practical joke' when Hollywood veteran signed on

TV show creator Bill Lawrence says he thought it was a 'practical joke' when Harrison Ford signed on to Shrinking.

Lawrence, the man behind hit TV shows like Scrubs, Ted Lasso and Cougar Town, teamed up with Jason Segel and Brett Goldstein to create Shrinking.

The first season of the AppleTV+ show dropped on the streaming platform in January 2023 - and now, the highly anticipated second season is here.

Shrinking has quickly gone on to become a fan favorite, with some fans on Twitter even going as far as hailing it as 'the best show on television'.

Backing these claims, it boasts an impressive 90 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

As well as writing the show, Segel stars as its lead of Jimmy Laird, a bereaved therapist who is known for using unconventional methods to help his patients all while dealing with the death of his wife.

Road House star Jessica James also stars as fellow therapist Gaby, while Hollywood veteran Harrison Ford plays Dr. Paul Rhoades.

Elsewhere in the all-star cast is Christa Miller, Ugly Betty favorite Michael Urie, and Wendie Mallick.

While there's a bus-load of talent on Shrinking, Lawrence hailed it a 'career highlight' when he got the news that Ford wanted to be on the show.

When asked by UNILAD if he was pleasantly surprised about Ford coming on to the project, Lawrence said: "I thought it was a practical joke, right? Come on, it's nuts. If you'd have told 20-year-old me that I'm going to be making Indiana Jones sing Sugar Ray in a car... it's insane."

Harrison Ford stars as Dr. Paul Rhoades in Shrinking (AppleTV+)

He added of Ford: "He's so funny, he's so game, he's so inspiring. It's really cool."

Lawrence went on to explain that while Ford inspired the character of Paul in Shrinking, he, Goldstein and Segel never expected the star himself to play the role.

The TV legend explained: "We wrote a Harrison Ford-type in the script, and then Brett Goldstein and Jason Segel were like, 'What if he'll do it?' - it was just crazy."

"I still remember when he called me up," Lawrence went on.

Harrison Ford, Calista Flockhart and Bill Lawrence seen at the Shrinking season two premiere (Eric Charbonneau/AppleTV+ via Getty Images)

"I was in Florida doing Bad Monkey, and I'm like, this is weird, I've got a cell phone call from Harrison Ford.

"He goes, 'Hey, I really like the pilot. I'm not really in it that much. Would I be in the other episodes more?'.

"I was like, 'Yo, man. You can be in it as much as you want. You're dumb enough to come do this. You can be in every scene'."

Lawrence continued: "He's lovely and inspiring. It's a career highlight for me."

Shrinking season two premieres globally with the first two episodes landing today (Wednesday, October 16) on Apple TV+, followed by one new episode weekly, every Wednesday until December 25, 2024.