Shrinking: Harrison Ford signs up for first regular TV gig

Harrison Ford has taken his first TV role in his decades long career. Photo / Getty

When you have A-list movie stars such as Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Michael Douglas and George Clooney flocking to TV, there's nothing to hold back their colleagues.

Where TV once had the stink of second-tier work, it's now as prestigious as its bigger-screen counterpart thanks to a surge in quality writing and deep-dive roles.

One of the few holdouts is Harrison Ford and he's finally given in, signing up to a regular role on a streaming series.

Shrinking is a comedy co-created by How I Met Your Mother's Jason Segal, Ted Lasso's Brett Goldstein and Scrubs' Bill Lawrence. Lawrence is also a creator on Ted Lasso.

The series stars Segal as a grieving therapist who starts to break the rules of his profession, telling his clients exactly what he thinks. His honesty policy leads to radical changes in their lives, and his own.

Ford's character is an older doctor with whom Segal's therapist shares an office. Dr Rhodes (Ford) is described as a "down-to-earth and sharp blue-collar shrink" who has been diagnosed with Parkinson's.

The diagnosis forces him out of his comfort zone as he considers his relationships with his family and friends, as well as his legacy.

In his 50 years-plus career, Ford has done little TV. As he was starting out, he had several guest roles on 1970s TV shows including Gunsmoke and Kung Fu. He also made a special appearance in a 1993 episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

He also appeared as himself in two episodes of documentary series Years of Living Dangerously.

Most recently, Ford wrapped filming on the fifth Indiana Jones movie, a production that was beset by a shoulder injury Ford suffered during a fight scene rehearsal.

Shrinking will be on Apple TV+.