Apple TV's Shrinking Replacement, Trying, Is The Best Comedy Nobody Talks About

One of the worst things in the world, in a hyperbolic sense, is when your favorite show is between seasons. These days, with streaming, fans unfairly have to wait years before new episodes arrive. And, when a new season does begin, it's usually just a handful of episodes. For people who love Apple TV's Shrinking, they're currently caught between seasons. And while the Jason Segel series is better about coming out on a regular schedule than, say, Severance, which has managed just two seasons in four years and no date for the third season (but Adam Scott has promised it will be coming soon!) there's still a long wait.

Thankfully, Apple TV has another show that may give Shrinking fans their fix, but with more British accents. The series has never gotten the attention that other Apple TV shows have received, even though it is one of the streamer's oldest shows, which has caused it to fly under many peoples' radar. But if the light-hearted comedy mixed with heartfelt drama is what you love about Shrinking, you may want to consider giving Trying a go.

Trying Is A Found Family Show Like Shrinking

Like Shrinking, Trying is focused on what is, literally, a found family. Where Shrinking is centered on a widower and his daughter and the people who are there to help them traverse life without the woman they both loved, Trying looks at found family through the eyes of adoption. Here, Nikki and Jason (Esther Smith and Rafe Spall) are a couple that learns they will never have biological children, so they start the process of adopting a child. With the help of their parents and friends, the couple navigates the adoption process.

With each season, Trying expands the focus of the show. While Nikki and Jason are always at the center, the lives of their friends and family start to get fleshed out, showing loss, love and everything in between. The series itself isn't afraid to make the viewer laugh one minute, and then turn them into a ball of ugly snot coming out of the nose crying the next. The characters are real, and their problems are real. Seeing the trials and tribulations of the characters, and how they manage to be there for one another, leaves fans feeling hopeful, even in the face of tragedy, which is a pretty great feeling, and one that Shrinking is fantastic at capturing as well.

Now Is The Best Time To Check Out Trying

Trying's fifth season is set to start on July 8, 2026, which means anyone who hasn't seen it before has some time catch up and watch the first four seasons. Episodes are usually about 30 minutes and, this being the age of streaming and it also being a British series, there's just eight episodes a season, so watching them all doesn't take too long.

It helps that the show is endlessly watchable and keeps moving forward. Each season tells a complete story, with each episode building that the season and series arcs while also feeling like a complete meal on their own. Adding to it all is the wonderful chemistry that the whole cast shares, but especially the work of Smith and Spall as Nikki and Jason. The two feel like an actual couple on screen, which isn't all that surprising, as they are an actual couple off-screen. Smith and Spall play off one another perfectly, and its impossible not to root for them in the show. But along for the ride are Siân Brooke and Darren Boyd as Smith's sister and her husband, showing off a more posh lifestyle. And Phil Davis, playing Spall's father, steals every scene he is in.

Trying isn't the kind of show that gets much attention from awards shows or critics (though it is critically acclaimed). It is a comfort comedy. One that you can put on and feel like you're catching up with old friends and getting a chance to be reminded that while the world may be chaotic and stressful, there's always someone there to help you along.