Advertisement

‘Anchorman’ Alums Will Ferrell & Paul Rudd Reteaming For MRC Television Limited Series ‘The Shrink Next Door’

Click here to read the full article.

Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd are getting back together for the MRC Television limited series The Shrink Next Door which is based on the 2019 No. 1 new Wondery and Bloomberg Media podcast. The last time the duo starred together was in 2013’s Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

Also inspired by true events, The Shrink Next Door is a dark comedy following the bizarre relationship between psychiatrist to the stars Dr. Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf played by Rudd, and his longtime patient Martin “Marty” Markowitz, played by Ferrell. Over the course of their relationship, the all-too-charming Ike slowly takes over Marty’s life, even moving into Marty’s home and taking over his family business. The series explores how a seemingly normal doctor-patient dynamic morphs into an unprecedentedly exploitative one filled with manipulation, power grabs, and dysfunction at its finest.

More from Deadline

The Big Sick filmmaker Michael Showalter will direct with Georgia Pritchett writing. Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum and Brittney Segal will executive produce for Gloria Sanchez Productions. Rudd and Pritchett will also serve as EPs. Showalter and Jordana Mollick will executive produce on behalf of Semi-Formal Productions. Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy for Wondery and Jared Sandberg, Katie Boyce, and Francesca Levy for Bloomberg Media will serve as EPs, with Joe Nocera as co-EP. The Shrink Next Door is a Civic Center Media project in association with MRC Television.

Upcoming for Ferrell is the Gloria Sanchez-produced Netflix movie Eurovision opposite Rachel McAdams due out in May. Ferrell currently stars in the Searchlight comedy Downhill opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus which made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Rudd stars in the Netflix series Living With Yourself for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Television Series. He recently starred in the highest grossing movie of all-time, Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame ($2.8 billion) and he can next be seen in the Sony reboot Ghostbusters: Afterlife on July 10.

Showalter recently wrapped directing Searchlight’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye starring Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield and has the upcoming April 3 Paramount/MRC comedy Lovebirds starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani. Showalter also directed the Sally Field feature Hello, My Name is Doris, is co-creator of the hit TBS series Search Party and co-creator & executive producer of Netflix’s Wet, Hot, American Summer. He also directed and executive produced the series In The Dark airing this winter on the CW.

Showalter’s Semi-Formal Productions, which he co-runs with Jordana Mollick, produces film and television projects and has a first-look deal with Annapurna Television. Their first series, Big Deal, co-created by and starring Vanessa Bayer was picked up to pilot by Showtime. Mollick produced the feature films, Hello, My Name is Doris, Susanna Fogel’s Life Partners, and Courtney Hoffman’s The Good Time Girls.

Pritchett is a multi-award-winning comedy and drama writer who counts four Emmys, five Writers Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA. She is currently a writer and co-executive producer on HBO’s Emmy and Golden Globe-winning series Succession which is heading into season three. Pritchett was the co-executive producer and writer on the HBO multi-Emmy-winning show Veep which ran for seven seasons. She has written her own original series for BBC1, BBC2, ITV and BBC4. She also wrote episodes for HBO’s new Armando Iannucci series Avenue 5.

Civic Center Media in association with MRC Television has the current HBO series The Outsider based on the Stephen King novel, which stars Ben Mendelsohn and Cynthia Erivo and was adapted for television by Richard Price; and The Great starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult, which will premiere on Hulu May 15. The company recently announced The Terminal List in development with Chris Pratt, Antoine Fuqua and David DiGilio.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.