Shows Like
Shows Like Shrinking: Dramedy Therapies
By Jordan A. · · 7 min read
If you've been watching Shrinking and fell in love with how it balances genuine therapy breakthroughs with laugh-out-loud comedy, you're probably looking for more shows that nail that tricky combination. Bill Lawrence and Jason Segel created something special here - a dramedy about a grieving therapist who starts breaking all the rules to help his clients, mixing emotional vulnerability with real humor. The show's genius is that it never feels like it's choosing between being funny or being heartfelt; it's doing both simultaneously. Finding shows like Shrinking that capture this same blend of personal growth, healing, and comedy is harder than you'd think.
What makes Shrinking work so well is its commitment to showing people actually changing and growing through their relationships and self-reflection. It's not cynical. It genuinely believes in therapy, connection, and the possibility of becoming a better person. The shows I'm recommending below all share that optimistic but grounded approach - they're funny without being dismissive, and they take emotional growth seriously without getting preachy about it.
Dramedies About Unconventional Therapy
Ted Lasso hits the same sweet spot as Shrinking, except instead of a therapist, you've got a clueless American football coach trying to help an entire team heal from their trauma and dysfunction. Jason Sudeikis brings warmth and humor to a character who could easily be insufferable, and the show's belief in kindness and therapy feels equally sincere. The later seasons lean harder into the dramedy aspects, but the first two are pure magic.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is technically a musical comedy, but it's honestly more of a therapy simulator than anything else. Rebecca's journey through real mental health issues - depression, anxiety, obsessive behaviors - unfolds with actual nuance, and the show uses comedy and songs to explore what makes us self-sabotage. It's weird and wonderful, and it treats therapy as a legitimate path to understanding yourself.
Russian Doll (especially season 1) is a dark, deadpan dramedy about a woman stuck in a time loop who gradually realizes that her real problem isn't the supernatural situation - it's her relationship with herself and others. Natasha Lyonne delivers incredible comedic timing while the show explores genuine trauma, addiction, and the slow work of healing. Season 2 shifts gears, but the first season is pristine.
Undone is a rotoscoped animated series that somehow feels more honest about mental health than most live-action dramas. It follows a woman navigating what might be a mental breakdown or might be something else entirely, and it refuses to be cute or reductive about her experience. The animation style lets it move between comedy and heavy emotional moments seamlessly.
Character-Driven Dramedies With Heart
Schitt's Creek is the go-to if you want that blend of humor and vulnerability. A wealthy family loses everything and has to rebuild their lives in a small town they once bought as a joke. It starts as a sitcom and gradually transforms into something genuinely emotional, with character growth that feels earned and real. The final season will destroy you in the best way.
Atypical gives you a coming-of-age dramedy centered on Sam, an 18-year-old with autism, navigating relationships, independence, and self-discovery. The show gets his character right without being patronizing, and the ensemble cast (especially his parents) brings both comedy and real emotional stakes. It's a show about growth and acceptance that actually understands what those things mean.
BoJack Horseman is animated, but don't let that fool you. It's a devastatingly intelligent dramedy about a washed-up actor dealing with depression, addiction, and his own inability to change his behavior patterns. It's hilarious in that absurdist way, but the emotional weight accumulates as you watch this character repeatedly fail at getting better. It's the anti-"everything works out" show, but in a way that feels true.
PEN15 is a half-hour comedy that centers on Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle playing their teenage selves, dealing with friendship, romance, and the humiliation of adolescence. It's funny and cringey but also genuinely sweet, capturing that specific feeling of becoming a person and not knowing who that person is yet.
Shows About People Actually Changing
Halt and Catch Fire is a drama about the rise of the computer industry told through a found family of misfits. What makes it similar to Shrinking is how seriously it takes character development - every season, these people surprise you by becoming more self-aware and more capable. The final season especially focuses on legacy and what you leave behind when you grow up.
Severance is a wild sci-fi premise, but beneath it is a story about people trying to understand themselves and reclaim agency in their lives. Adam Scott's character Mark is slowly unraveling the truth about his job, his trauma, and what separation from his work actually means. It's tense and unsettling, but it fundamentally asks: how do you heal when you can't remember what hurt you?
Fleabag (especially season 2) is a perfect dramedy that uses comedy as a defense mechanism while showing a deeply flawed woman gradually opening up to real connection. The fourth-wall breaking and frantic energy hide genuine vulnerability, and by the end, you realize the whole show was about a person slowly learning to let people love her.
Enlightened starred Laura Dern as a woman returning to work after a mental breakdown, determined to become a better person and fix everything around her. It's uncomfortable in that way where you cringe because you recognize the character's pathologies, but the show never stops believing that she's trying. Only two seasons, and wildly underrated.
Comedy-Forward Shows With Real Emotional Beats
Never Have I Ever is a Netflix comedy about Devi, an Indian-American teenage girl navigating grief after her father's death, complicated friendships, and romance. It's quick and funny, but the grief is real, and watching her work through anger and confusion feels genuine. The show respects that healing isn't linear.
Superstore is a workplace comedy that gradually reveals itself to be about a group of misfits creating family and community within a system that doesn't value them. It's funny about the absurdity of working retail, but it's also tender about the relationships these people form with each other.
Community has a very Shrinking-adjacent premise in that it's fundamentally about a group of broken people finding healing through connection with each other. Jeff Winger is a morally compromised character who slowly becomes less selfish through his friendships, and the show balances rapid-fire comedy with surprisingly genuine character moments.
Scrubs is the OG dramedy for a reason. Yes, it's a hospital sitcom with slapstick comedy, but the show never stops exploring how trauma, mortality, and human connection shape us. J.D.'s internal monologue and fantasy sequences give you access to his vulnerability even when he's cracking jokes.
Heavier Character Studies That Earn Their Laughs
Master of None (especially season 3) is Aziz Ansari's deeply personal comedy-drama about love, ambition, race, and identity. Season 3, which focuses on his relationship, is quietly one of the best things on television about how two people actually navigate vulnerability and change together.
Transparent is a difficult, necessary show about a family navigating the coming out of their parent as transgender. It's heavy and sometimes painful to watch, but it's deeply compassionate about how transformation affects everyone involved. The musical finale is unlike anything else on television.
Ginny & Georgia is probably lighter than the others on this list, but it captures something true about mothers and daughters, secrets, and the way people hurt each other trying to protect each other. It's soapy and fun, but the emotional core is solid.
What all these shows understand is that healing isn't a destination - it's a continuous process of showing up for yourself and other people. Shrinking works because it shows therapy as both comic and sacred, and that's the thread running through all of these recommendations.
If you want to explore more shows in this vein, check out BingeNext's mood-based recommendations. You can filter for dramedies, character-driven stories, and shows about personal growth - basically, all the things that make Shrinking special.
The best part about these shows is that they'll make you laugh and cry, sometimes in the same scene. They remind you that getting better is hard and messy and ongoing, but it's also worth it. Now go find something that helps you feel a little less alone.
If you want something matched to exactly how you feel right now, try BingeNext's mood-based picks. Tell it your mood, get a shortlist, skip the browsing.
Topics covered: dramedy, comedy, mental-health, contemporary, character-driven, apple-tv
About the author
Jordan A., Founder, BingeNext
Jordan A. is the founder of BingeNext and writes every guide on this site. He built the recommendation engine after one too many nights lost to the streaming menu, and he still tests every pick the hard way: by watching it.