Despite what sounds like an outlandish premise — a therapist takes over his patient's life! — The Shrink Next Door is based on a true story. The Apple TV+ series was inspired by the podcast of the same name, which revealed how Dr. Isaac "Ike" Herschkopf used undue influence to isolate his patient, the wealthy Marty Markowitz, from his family, infiltrate his business, and eventually turn him into a glorified servant in his own home. While the tv adaptation of this bonkers story does occasionally embellish details for dramatic effect, it is a largely faithful account of how one man lost control of his life for nearly three decades. However, there is one tiny thing The Shrink Next Door gets wrong about Markowitz's story, according to the man himself.

From talking Markowitz into throwing himself a second bar mitzvah to eventually relegating his patient to a guest house in his own Hamptons home, Herschkopf slowly manipulated Markowitz into ceding control of his life over to him. It wasn't until journalist and author Joe Nocera, who went on to create the podcast, moved into the house next to Herschkopf and realized the lavish house next door was actually owned by the man he thought was the groundskeeper that Markowitz slowly began to extricate himself from his therapist's influence. By that point, the man known to celebrities and New York's wealthiest residents as Dr. Ike had already slapped his own name on the mailbox of the Hamptons home and allegedly conned his patient out of millions of dollars.