Apple TV+ pays homage to Pasadena with its first Rose Parade float entry ...Middle East

The affirmations on Apple TV’s first-ever Rose Parade float echo those you would hear during recovery.

Getting There. Together.

Yes You Can.

You. Belong Here.

Those street signs of the times – rendered in florals above a road winding through Pasadena landmarks such as the Colorado Street Bridge and the city’s Civic Center fountain – serve a dual purpose.

First, they are hallmarks of advice therapists like Jimmy (Jason Segal) or Paul (Harrison Ford) from the Apple TV show “Shrinking” might give to a patient. Second, they will surely be taken as salves by thousands of parade watchers who lost their homes in the L.A. wildfires this year.

Apple TV’s Rose Parade float entry, “We’re getting there. Together,” marries “The Magic in Teamwork” theme for the 137th New Year’s tradition beautifully with the Emmy-nominated streaming show’s messages of found family and building community support during tough times.

“Shrinking” – in its third season – returns to Apple TV on Jan. 28.

The 55-foot-long float’s imagery, according to information provided by Apple, is inspired by the beauty of Pasadena neighborhoods and parks. Those are spots actors know well, as three seasons of the show were filmed on location in such places such as local parks and historic Craftsman-style Altadena homes.

The float is being designed and built by Phoenix Decorating Company.

So far, “Shrinking” actors Luke Tennie (who plays Sean) and Ted McGinley (Derek) are committed to riding the float the 5.5 miles down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day.

McGinley plays neighbor to Segal’s therapist character Jimmy, who pushes boundaries of conventional mental health credos by getting personally involved with his patients.

Tennie’s character Sean – a vet suffering from anger issues and PTSD – is patient zero for Jimmy’s new method. Jimmy enrolls Sean in a martial arts class and even invites him to move into a spare bedroom.

Tennie, interviewed via phone this week, said the City of Pasadena, with its many parks, clean streets, jacaranda and palm trees, is an idealized version of what the world thinks of when they think about what LA might look like.

“That place looks like a postcard,” Tennie said, who added he’s shopped for homes in Pasadena for his wife and growing family.

But palm trees have been omnipresent in Tennie’s life. He grew up in Coral Springs, Florida – initially with aspirations of becoming a professional athlete.

It took getting knocked out of high school football playoffs and forgetting to change his elective away from performing arts that changed his trajectory, Tennie said.

A drama teacher signed him up for a monologue competition, he said. When he won drama awards, said Tennie, the teacher explained how to summon passion for his newfound avocation:

“If you do this with the intention and drive of football,” said the teacher, “you will be able to feed your family this way also.”

From then on, Tennie said, he was hooked.

After smaller roles in shows such as CSI Miami, Tennie got his big break.

He wasn’t a complete unknown in 2022, he said, but just enough so that trying out for the role required what is called a “self-take–” where the actor sends in an audition video.

Also, the world was still recovering from COVID-19, said Tennie, so masks “were still a thing” and much of auditioning was done via zoom.

But, Segal was on the zoom for Tennie’s second and third round.

Miraculously, after being offered the role, Tennie said the first time he met other “Shrinking” cast members, was at the first table read.

Tennie admits he’s in awe of the comedic talent on the “Shrinking” cast. In addition to Segal, Harrison and fellow-float rider McGinley, the show features comic veterans Michael Urie, Christa Miller, Brett Goldstein (also a writer) and Jessica Williams.

“It’s like I didn’t realize you could have so many different categories of excellence,” Tennie said of his castmates’ talent.

Comedy, he added, was not a genre he was familiar with as an actor. So, he said, he’s learned a lot about camera angles and comedic timing.

He admires, for example, the zaniness and spontaneousness of Williams and he’s noted what helps Ford with his dry, stoicism is a heavy dose of preparation.

“I’ve seen his scripts,” said Tennie about Ford. “He walks into with his script pages filled and filled with annotations.”

All in all, said Tennie:

“I’m just trying not to get lost in the sauce.”

Tennie won’t reveal what’s in store in “Shrinking” season three for Sean. But he did say he had a hand in shaping his character arc.

“When I started work on three, I had these ideas about Sean and I wanted to see if (writer) Bill (Lawrence) would be open to hearing them,” Tennie said.

For one of the ideas, Lawrence told him no. But the other, said Tennie, he greenlit right away.

“I’m so grateful that he cast me and even more grateful that I could be part of the creative process of developing Sean’s character,” added Tennie.

“Shrinking” season three wrapped filming in July, so Tennie is busy working on personal projects. And, he’s preparing for the birth of his second child – on Christmas day.

Since he’ll be up early with wife Maria Romero, their two-year-old and a newborn, rising early for the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day won’t be a problem, he said.

And, similar to many of his millennial peers – Tennie will be 31 on Nov. 21 – Rose Parade has not been in his lexicon, despite living in LA for the past decade.

“I found out about the Rose Parade, when I found out it was something anyone wanted me to do,” Tennie said.

When you’re a transplant, he added, there are certain things that are part of LA life and there’s no bulletin or newsletter to acquaint you with them.

You just have to dive into the culture, he said, and partake.

The Rose Parade is one of those LA-type experiences, he added.

“Now I’m thrilled, and I can’t wait,” Tennie said.

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Lisa Jacobs is a former editor with the Southern California News Group who now freelances for the group.

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