Paul Rudd often plays characters who share his ageless look and affable persona—who wouldn’t want a guy like him as a neighbor? Will Ferrell’s character in the upcoming Apple TV+ dark comedy The Shrink Next Door, that’s who. Watch the new trailer for the intriguing new series above.
The Shrink Next Door is—remarkably—based on the true story of psychiatrist Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf (Rudd) and his insidious relationships with patients like Ferrell‘s character, Martin “Marty” Markowitz. The TV show is based on Joe Nocera’s addictive hit podcast of the same name, which was Apple’s number one podcast for weeks.
The Sun published an account of the true-life tale behind the series in June 2021, and just two paragraphs from that article give us a great idea as to what we’re in for:
The grand home in the Hamptons, America’s playground of the rich, had Herschkopf’s name on the postbox. Inside, there were countless photographs of the psychiatrist with famous people including Gwyneth Paltrow, Brooke Shields, OJ Simpson and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
But the luxurious home didn’t belong to 69-year-old Herschkopf — it was owned by Martin, who was another of the therapist’s “clients” rather than one of his domestic staff.
The millionaire, who was being controlled by the man he was paying to help him, had been persuaded to hand over his house and was relegated to a guest compound at the back of the property.
Read that again: Dr. Herschkopf literally got his patient, Marty Markowitz, to hand over his life and fade into the background to the point where guests attending one of the psychiatrist’s parties thought Markowitz was a servant.
In the trailer we see a series of quick scenes that illustrate how Herschkopf slowly took over Markowitz’s life, at first seeming to change things for the better before manipulating his patient, telling him to reject people in his life as they began to question the pair’s unorthodox doctor-patient relationship.
Despite the actors making it clear the series isn’t shying away from the dark humor in the story, Ferrell and Rudd did make it a point to spend time with the real Martin Markowitz to get a deeper understanding of the story. As for Herschkopf, whose clients once included Courtney Love in addition to the celebs named in the excerpt from The Sun, he lost his ability to practice medicine in April 2021.
The Shrink Next Door was directed by Michael Showalter (The State, Wet Hot American Summer) and also stars Kathryn Hahn and Casey Wilson. It premieres on Apple TV+ November 12, 2021.