If you ever passed a TV screen in the early 2010s when Nickelodeon was on the box then chances are that a) you were a parent like me and b) you will have observed a rather saccharine world full of almost impossibly shiny-toothed young people being their best selves in talent academies or running successful businesses.

Shows like Victorious and iCarly presented a fantasy of positive vibes, chirpy wisecracking and upbeat incidental music. And its older fanbase have been granted a grown-up version: Shrinking on Apple TV.

It had a deceptively bold premise — Jason Segel’s psychotherapist, Jimmy Laird, has lost his beloved wife, Tia, in a car crash and, in a fug, has decided to be directional with his patients in contravention of traditional therapeutic practice. The approach led to many a comic mishaps and one potentially deadly one when a patient called Grace pushed her abusive husband off a cliff. But — and not just because it’s set in California — the dark clouds rarely hang around for long. The husband survived. And Jimmy even became friends with Louis (Brett Goldstein, the series’ co-writer, who played Roy Kent in Ted Lasso), the drunk driver who did for Tia and made their daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell), motherless. If TV shows were flesh and blood, this would have a heart made of bubblegum.

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We’re now on series three and everyone is still saying “I gotcha” quite a lot in expensive houses with big fridges. Even Liz (Christa Miller), the overbearing neighbour, has had her edges softened. Alice dreams of going to college and playing soccer, the words of dad (“just be yourself, you’re the best”) ringing in her ear. Alice’s plotline means there is an early scene of Americans cheering on a soccer game, which might well give you extreme cringe.

After their brief dalliance, Jimmy’s colleague Gaby (Jessica Williams) is now happily coupled up elsewhere. Our two gay characters, Brian and Charlie, are due to become parents via a surrogate. And only poor Jimmy is still alone — though this seems principally designed to show how much he loved his irreplaceable wife. Will he find love again? I wouldn’t bet against it.

The grit, such as it is, comes from Harrison Ford’s grumpy practice boss, Paul, who has astutely been given more screen time as the series has progressed. Yes he has a fab new girlfriend (their wedding plans are the subject of the opener to the new series), but he has worsening Parkinson’s, which gives his weary put-downs at least a whiff of real-world gloom.

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But while Ford still has the Han Solo charisma, there’s little of the great space pirate’s danger here; the cynicism feels like a carapace because, you know, he really does care. Sure his disease will get worse, as the example of Michael J Fox playing a man Paul meets in a doctor’s waiting room shows all too clearly, but you sense that everything will still be OK. “F*** Parkinson’s” becomes the two men’s catchphrase, this terrible disease merely another obstacle to overcome.

Programmes like these even have a name. They are called “hangout” shows and they can be pleasant company if you’re tired and need a lift and some sunshine. But this third and (if reports are to be believed) potentially final run has become so soft and gooey it melted into a sentimental puddle. If only life — and modern day America — were really like this.
★★★☆☆
Season 3 episode one is out now on Apple TV, then every Wednesday (11 episodes)