The Morning Show (American TV series)
The Morning Show | |
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Also known as | Morning Wars |
Genre | |
Created by | Jay Carson |
Inspired by | Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV by Brian Stelter |
Developed by | Kerry Ehrin |
Starring | |
Music by | Carter Burwell |
Opening theme | "Nemesis" by Benjamin Clementine |
Country of origin | Vereinigte Staaten |
Original language | Englisch |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 20 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Cinematography |
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Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 50–69 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | Apple TV+ |
Release | November 1, 2019 present | –
The Morning Show (also known as Morning Wars in Australia and Indonesia)[1][2] is an American drama streaming television series starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell, that premiered on Apple TV+ on November 1, 2019.[3][4] The series is inspired by Brian Stelter's book Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV.[5][2]
The second season premiered on September 17, 2021.[6]
Premise
Alex Levy anchors The Morning Show, a popular breakfast news program broadcast from Manhattan on the UBA network, which has excellent viewership ratings and is perceived to have changed the face of American television.
In the first season, after her on-air partner of 15 years, Mitch Kessler, is fired amidst a sexual misconduct scandal, Alex fights to retain her job as top news anchor while sparking a rivalry with Bradley Jackson, a haphazard field reporter whose series of impulsive decisions brings her into a new world of television journalism. In the second season, Bradley attempts to convince Alex to return as the COVID-19 pandemic gradually engulfs America.
Cast and characters
Main
- Jennifer Aniston as Alexandra "Alex" Levy, co-host of UBA's The Morning Show
- Reese Witherspoon as Bradley Jackson, TMS co-host
- Billy Crudup as Cory Ellison,[7] CEO of UBA
- Mark Duplass as Charlie "Chip" Black,[8] executive producer of TMS
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Hannah Shoenfeld,[7] talent booker for TMS (season 1)
- Néstor Carbonell as Yanko Flores,[8] the meteorologist of TMS
- Karen Pittman as Mia Jordan,[9] a producer at TMS
- Bel Powley as Claire Conway,[9] a production assistant at TMS (season 1; guest season 2)
- Desean Terry as Daniel Henderson,[9] co-host of the weekend edition of TMS
- Jack Davenport as Jason Craig, Alex's ex-husband (season 1)
- Steve Carell as Mitch Kessler, the recently fired co-host of The Morning Show (seasons 1–2)
- Greta Lee as Stella Bak, President of News in UBA (season 2)
- Ruairi O'Connor as Ty Fitzgerald, social media expert at UBA (season 2)
- Julianna Margulies as Laura Peterson, a news anchor at UBA (season 2)
Recurring
- Victoria Tate as Rena Robinson, Chip's assistant
- Shari Belafonte as Julia
- Joe Marinelli as Donny Spagnoli
- Eli Bildner as Joel Rapkin
- Tom Irwin as Fred Micklen, UBA's president
- Janina Gavankar as Alison Namazi, co-host of the weekend edition of TMS
- Hannah Leder as Isabella
- Amber Friendly as Layla Bell
- Michelle Meredith as Lindsey Sherman
- Joe Pacheco as Bart Daley
- Marcia Gay Harden as Maggie Brener, a reporter and journalist
- Augustus Prew as Sean
- Andrea Bendewald as Valérie
- Katherine Ko as Dhillon Reece-Smit (season 1)
- Ian Gomez as Greg (season 1)
- Joe Tippett as Hal Jackson
- Oona Roche as Lizzy Craig, Alex and Jason's daughter
- Markus Flanagan as Gerard
- David Magidoff as Nicky Brooks (season 1)
- Embeth Davidtz as Paige Kessler
- Kate Vernon as Geneva Micklen (season 1)
- Mindy Kaling as Audra, a rival morning news anchor
- Roman Mitichyan as Sam Rudo (season 1)
- Mark Harelik as Richard
- Martin Short as Dick Lundy
- Adina Porter as Sarah Gravele (season 1)
- Brett Butler as Sandy Jackson (season 1)
- Philip Anthony-Rodriguez as Gabriel (season 1)
- Valeria Golino as Paola Lambruschini (season 2)
- Theo Iyer as Kyle (season 2)
- Tara Karsian as Gayle Berman (season 2)
- Holland Taylor as Cybil Richards (season 2)
- Hasan Minhaj as Eric Nomani, Bradley's new co-host (season 2)
- Patrick Bristow as Gordon (season 2)
- Katie Aselton as Madeleine, Chip's love-interest (season 2)
- Jack Conley as Earl (season 2)
- Erika Ringor as Mandy Schaeffer (season 2)
Guest
Season 1
- Fred Melamed as Neal Altman
- Ahna O'Reilly as Ashley Brown
- Natalia Warner as Cecily
- Andrew Leeds as Alan
- John Marshall Jones as Noah
- Zuri Hall as herself
- Kelly Clarkson as herself
- Kelly Sullivan as Vicki Manderly
- David Morse as Mr. Jackson
- Julian Morris as Andrew
- Cheyenne Jackson as himself
- Robert Cicchini as Robert
- Mike O'Malley as Tim Eavers
- Romy Rosemont as Sheila Lutkin
- Brian Bowen Smith as photographer
- Paul Guilfoyle as Reid
- Ethan Cohn as Jared
- Dana Davis as Christine
- Maria Sharapova as herself
- Hayes MacArthur as Marlon Tate
Season 2
- Will Arnett as Doug Klassen
- Dave Foley as Peter Bullard
- Kathy Najimy as Sylvia Portman
- Molly McNearney as Aria Bloom
- James Urbaniak as Backstage Manager
- David Bowe as Clyde Canter
- Patrick Fabian as Jeff
- Foo Fighters as Themselves
- David Paymer as Hannah's Father
- Brian Stelter as Carl Richardson
- Meredith Scott Lynn as Linda
Episodes
Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
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First released | Last released | |||
1 | 10 | November 1, 2019 | December 20, 2019 | |
2 | 10 | September 17, 2021 | November 19, 2021 |
Season 1 (2019)
No. overall | No. in season | Titel | Directed by | Written by | Original release date [10] | |
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1 | 1 | "In the Dark Night of the Soul It’s Always 3:30 in the Morning" | Mimi Leder | Kerry Ehrin & Jay Carson | November 1, 2019 | |
The Morning Show, a popular news and talk morning television show, is thrown into chaos when co-anchor Mitch Kessler is fired amid allegations of sexual harassment. Fellow anchor Alex Levy grows furious at Mitch and the network for keeping her in the dark and later meets with Mitch, who reveals the network plans on replacing her. Elsewhere, conservative reporter Bradley Jackson becomes a viral sensation after a video of her angrily fact-checking a coal mine protester is posted on social media. Bradley quits following a confrontation with her boss and, after an argument with her family, is asked to appear on The Morning Show for an interview. Alex, who is skeptical about Bradley's claim that she was unaware of being filmed, presses her during the interview, which Bradley manages to get through. Network head Cory Ellison later calls Bradley and asks to meet her so they can discuss her future. | ||||||
2 | 2 | "A Seat at the Table" | Mimi Leder | Story by : Kerry Ehrin & Jay Carson Teleplay by : Kerry Ehrin | November 1, 2019 | |
Cory arranges a meeting for Bradley with the show's executive producer, Chip Black. His dismissive manner sets Bradley off, leaving her sure she has ruined her chances. In the middle of contract negotiations and knowing the network needs her to stabilize the show after Mitch's departure, Alex tries to leverage the situation to get all of her demands, including co-host approval. Cory invites an unwitting Bradley to an event honoring Alex, and seats the women next to each other. Cory scoffs at Alex's demand for co-host approval, and calls her bluff when she threatens to leave the show. During her speech, Alex announces a shocked Bradley as her new co-host. | ||||||
3 | 3 | "Chaos is the New Cocaine" | David Frankel | Erica Lipez | November 1, 2019 | |
The staff of The Morning Show are in turmoil over the announcement. Alex has told the press that Bradley will debut the following Monday, so as the team prepares to work all weekend to prep her, Alex arrives to assert some control over the proceedings. Meanwhile, a frustrated Bradley has not even decided if she will accept the job. Mia Jordan asks Chip to make her Bradley's producer, and announces herself in the position before he has offered it to her. Forced to go along with Alex's announcement or lose face, network head Fred Micklen is furious, but Cory sees Bradley as an opportunity to reinvent the show and eventually be rid of Alex. Bradley is unhappy with her initial wardrobe and camera tests, so she challenges the copy Mia is providing her, and dispenses with the clothing chosen for her by Alex. Fred summons Alex to browbeat her in front of a room of network executives, but she informs him that he lost power over the show long ago, and from now on they will be doing things her way. | ||||||
4 | 4 | "That Woman" | Lynn Shelton | Adam Milch | November 8, 2019 | |
Bradley makes her debut on The Morning Show but, chafing at the scripted persona the show has given her, ends up mentioning her personal struggles as a teen, including having an abortion. This revelation incites controversy and infuriates Fred, but it also galvanizes the younger, pro-choice audience. Alex is convinced to give Bradley the interview with one of Mitch's accusers, but Bradley goes off script and the accuser reveals more than the producers had planned. Meanwhile, an investigation is launched by human resources into Mitch's conduct, with most of the crew offering their support to Mitch and denying knowledge of his sexual misconduct. Alex begins to experience some professional jealousy as America embraces Bradley and ratings rise. | ||||||
5 | 5 | "No One's Gonna Harm You, Not While I'm Around" | David Frankel | Torrey Speer | November 15, 2019 | |
The Morning Show braces itself for a story from The New York Times on Mitch's behavior leading him to crash the studio and beg his former coworkers to speak on the record in his defense. When the weekend hits, Alex hosts a charity fundraiser, which seemingly goes well, but she is thrown by talk of Bradley's success and Cory's proposal that they collaborate, leading her to seek solace from Mitch. Bradley tries to bond with her coworkers by going out to celebrate Claire's birthday at a bar only for the night to get heated as talk eventually turns to Mitch, and Bradley receives a call from her estranged father. As the Times story hits, Mitch is enraged that Fred has thrown him under the bus and vows to take him down. | ||||||
6 | 6 | "The Pendulum Swings" | Tucker Gates | Kristen Layden | November 22, 2019 | |
The Morning Show travels to California to cover the wildfires engulfing the state. Alex struggles on and off screen as she is still angry at Bradley for accusing her of covering for Mitch and is devastated by Jason's decision to officially divorce. After melting down on screen she is comforted by Bradley, and the two later reconcile with Alex opening up about the divorce and Bradley talking about her alcoholic father. Fearing for his job, Chip suggests he could be an ally in helping Cory take over from Fred leading Cory to suggest that Chip should come to him when he has real dirt on Fred. Hannah gives Claire professional advice, which helps Claire land a job as Bradley's assistant. Later, Hannah catches Claire sneaking into Yanko's room to celebrate. | ||||||
7 | 7 | "Open Waters" | Roxann Dawson | Jeff Augustin | November 29, 2019 | |
Alex and Jason announce to their daughter, Lizzy, that they are getting a divorce. Lizzy blames Alex for prioritizing her job over her family. Alex's PR team warns her that news of the divorce could damage her career, causing her to lean on Bradley for support. Yanko and Claire are called to HR and decide to come clean about their relationship, a decision that relieves Yanko but leaves Claire wondering if her job is on the line. After a member of the production team makes an inappropriate remark about Mia (which gets him fired), Mia has a meltdown and confirms to the entire studio that she was involved with Mitch. Bradley contemplates an offer from Mitch about interviewing him on air to reveal that the network was involved in covering for him. After he promises he can get a witness to corroborate his story he turns to Hannah, who he believes exchanged sexual favors for a promotion from him. | ||||||
8 | 8 | "Lonely at the Top" | Michelle MacLaren | JC Lee | December 6, 2019 | |
Back in 2017, Mitch stresses over turning 50. Now that his affair with Mia has recently ended, Mitch has Chip remove her from his team and place her with Alex, who the network is considering replacing due to tanking ratings. The cast and crew of The Morning Show surprise Mitch with a huge birthday party at the studio, where Claire meets weatherman Yanko for the first time. As the party winds down Hannah begins to see reports of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting breaking on Twitter. Mitch and Alex travel to Vegas to cover the shooting with Mitch asking Chip to bring Hannah, still only a junior booker, along with the team. Alex and Mitch struggle emotionally with the reporting. When Mitch cannot sleep he heads out to a memorial and runs into a distressed Hannah. They return to Mitch's hotel room, where he comforts her and proceeds to rape her. Upon return to New York, Hannah barges into Fred's office; he stops her before she can report the incident and promotes her to head booker to buy her silence. She accepts the offer in shock and disappointment. | ||||||
9 | 9 | "Play the Queen" | Kevin Bray | Erica Lipez & Ali Vingiano | December 13, 2019 | |
Bradley reveals to Alex that she wants to go forward with interviewing Mitch in order to take down Fred. After Alex takes the news badly both women begin to work behind the scenes to get what they want with Bradley going to Cory for backing while Alex secretly approaches Fred to work out a plan for getting rid of Bradley. Hannah reveals to Claire that she was the one who reported them to HR, causing them to fall out and Claire to loudly declare her love for Yanko. The strain of public scrutiny, however, proves to be too much for Claire and she breaks up with him. Hannah confronts Mitch about how powerless she felt during their sexual encounter only for him to berate her for her naiveté. Hannah reluctantly agrees to corroborate how Fred enabled her promotion, but wants to remain anonymous. A heartbroken Chip, who learned that Alex was willing to get rid of him as part of a pact with Fred, agrees to help Cory and Bradley in producing the Mitch interview. | ||||||
10 | 10 | "The Interview" | Mimi Leder | Kerry Ehrin | December 20, 2019 | |
After Mitch reveals that Hannah will corroborate his side of the story, Bradley meets with Hannah, who breaks down while recalling Mitch's sexual assault. She asks Bradley to not reveal her identity and to wait until she accepts the job at UBA in Los Angeles before doing the interview with Mitch. Aware that moves are being made behind the scenes to expose his allowance of sexual misconduct, Fred grants Alex co-host approval in order to gain her support in firing Chip. Chip explains the interview plan to his assistant, Rena, and gets her to agree to smuggle Mitch into The Morning Show to do the interview live and on air, letting her know that he has been fired and that they need to act soon. Claire, trying to make amends with Hannah, shows up at her apartment and discovers that Hannah is dead from an overdose. News of her death shocks everyone, resulting in Bradley calling off the interview and a physical fight between Chip and Mitch in the lobby of Mitch’s apartment. While on air, Alex snaps and along with Bradley, exposes Fred and UBA for their knowledge of sexual misconduct and the creation of a toxic culture. The feed is cut off as Bradley encourages more people to speak out. |
Season 2 (2021)
No. overall | No. in season | Titel | Directed by | Written by | Original release date [10] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 | 1 | "My Least Favorite Year" | Mimi Leder | Erica Lipez & Adam Milch & Kerry Ehrin | September 17, 2021 | |
Following the events of Alex and Bradley's on-air exposé, UBA performs damage control and fires Cory. At the same time, Alex quits the show, moves to Maine, and lives a quiet and secluded life while writing a tell-all book on her career. Bradley remains on the show with a new cohost, Eric. However, the show dwindles in ratings and Cory struggles in his faithfulness to Bradley who wants to relocate to the evening news, seeing that it's a better fit for her. Seeing no choice, Cory travels to Maine and attempts to convince Alex to return to the show. She refuses. On New Years Eve, Bradley learns Eric will be moved to the evening news and fights with Cory over his clear underhandedness, as she helped Cory get his job back. In Maine, Alex receives a reading from a psychic that motivates her to return to UBA and calls Cory, who then offers her a chance to host a prime-time talk show if she fills in for the show. However, before Cory can celebrate the news of Alex's potential return, he looks at a news ticker that reveals Hannah's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against UBA. | ||||||
12 | 2 | "It's Like The Flu" | Mimi Leder | Torrey Speer & Kristen Layden | September 23, 2021 | |
Cory informs Bradley that Alex is in negotiations to return to the show leading her to call in sick for three weeks to negotiate what she wants. Before Alex returns to the show, Cory tries to hold a small intimate dinner to welcome her back, but more and more guests are invited. Over dinner, they discuss the novel Corona virus and whether it is newsworthy or not. When an overwhelmed Alex tries to leave early, she is confronted by Bradley, who is still angry that Alex abandoned her when she needed her the most. In hiding in Italy, Mitch is confronted by a woman feigning anger at what he's done, to upload to social media and is surprised when a mysterious woman steps in to defend him. Cory decides to settle with Hannah's family but realizes they're after more than money when he learns the dollar amount they asked for in negotiations. | ||||||
13 | 3 | "Laura" | Lesli Linka Glatter | Brian Chamberlayne & Jeff Augustin | October 1, 2021 | |
Bradley covers the start of the campaign season while Alex prepares for her big moment. UBA journalist and news anchor Laura Peterson interviews Alex in advance of a tell-all book by Maggie Brener. Laura and Bradley kiss. | ||||||
14 | 4 | "Kill the Fatted Calf" | Jessica Yu | Ali Vingiano & Scott Troy | October 8, 2021 | |
Knowing that UBA will be hosting the Democratic Presidential debate, members of The Morning Show jockey for a spot. Daniel asks Mia to push for him since people of color have historically been sidelined at UBA, but Stella shuts her down as she says that Daniel has levelled off in his career. Cory keeps pushing for Alex who is deadset against moderating. Bradley finally makes up with Cory who informs her she is out of the running since he cannot have two straight white women moderating. When Bradley informs Laura of this fact the two fight as Laura can't understand why she won't come out with her bisexuality and Bradley is angered at being labelled. In acts of desperation to get the moderating job Bradley later tries, and fails, to come out to Stella. A desperate Daniel goes off script and badly serenades Alex. Stella, who did not want Alex for the moderator job, finally changes her mind after seeing how Alex commands ad revenue and also shines on TV. She finally persuades Alex to take the job. Meanwhile in Italy, Paola learns that she has been exposed to COVID-19 and informs Mitch she has potentially exposed him as well. | ||||||
15 | 5 | "Ghosts" | Tucker Gates | Erica Lipez & Adam Milch | October 15, 2021 | |
The UBA team heads to Las Vegas to cover the debate, where past misdeeds continue to haunt them. | ||||||
16 | 6 | "A Private Person" | Rachel Morrison | Torrey Speer & Stacy Osei-Kuffour | October 22, 2021 | |
As Alex's absence from the show stretches out indefinitely due to her back issues Cory brings in Laura Petersen as a stunt host. Bradley is thrilled that she and Laura can merge their personal and private lives but things become complicated when her drug addicted brother appears for a surprise visit. During the show Cory leaks the news that Laura and Bradley are dating. Laura tries to reassure Bradley that they can deny the rumors. Bradley becomes more upset when she returns home and is confronted by her brother who is unsupportive of her relationship with Laura and reveals he has been struggling to overcome his addiction. Meanwhile Chip realizes that Alex is missing and no one knows where she is. | ||||||
17 | 7 | "La Amara Vita" | Mimi Leder | Kerry Ehrin & Scott Troy | October 29, 2021 | |
While quarantining in Italy Mitch receives a surprise visit from Alex who has flown in to demand he release a statement denying they ever had sex. After obtaining a promise that he will issue a denial, Alex prepares to leave Italy but is forced to stay as Italy is in lockdown due to Covid-19 restriction measures and she has missed her flight. Alone with Mitch, Alex confides she misses him but shocking new reports about his sexual harassment puts a damper on their time together. Mitch and Paola spend the night together then, while driving home, Mitch lets his car drive off the road over a cliff as the screen fades to black. | ||||||
18 | 8 | "Confirmations" | Victoria Mahoney | Brian Chamberlayne & Ali Vingiano | November 5, 2021 | |
When a meeting at UBA is interrupted by an Italian reporter asking for comment on Mitch Kessler's death The Morning Show newsroom tries to confirm the story so they can break the news themselves. When Cory envisions Alex breaking the news live on air Chip can no longer cover for her. He is forced to confess that he isn't in contact with Alex when he learns that her last credit card charge was in Italy and that there might have been a woman involved in the car crash with Mitch. When Alex finally arrives stateside Chip is able to break the news of Mitch to her and she obtains a second confirmation of his death when she contacts Paola. Instead of breaking the news to viewers Alex decides to personally report the news to Paige, Mitch's wife. She is shocked when a resentful Paige reveals she knew about Alex's affair with Mitch. With Alex's blessing Bradley breaks the news of Mitch's death live nationally on "The Morning Show". | ||||||
19 | 9 | "Testimony" | Miguel Arteta | Scott Troy & Justin Matthews | November 12, 2021 | |
With time running out before Maggie Brennar's book is published Alex offers to terminate her contract with The Morning Show but is turned down by Cory who insists the network will protect her. Alex nevertheless braces herself to leave the show. Paige visits The Morning Show and informs the conflicted staff that they are welcome to a memorial in Mitch's honor. Alex crashes the memorial and gives a speech where she reveals she saw Mitch in Italy. Cory asks Bradley to interview Maggie about her book. To everyone's surprise Bradley harshly criticizes Maggie for castigating Alex over her consensual affair with Mitch. The interview leads to widespread support of Alex. However things change the following morning as leaked footage of Alex at Mitch's memorial goes viral. A distraught Alex trips and bumps her head, landing her in the hospital where it is revealed she is positive for Covid-19. | ||||||
20 | 10 | "Fever" | Mimi Leder | Kerry Ehrin | November 19, 2021 | |
As Covid-19 begins to spread across America, Bradley takes a leave of absence to search for her missing brother. Alex struggles during quarantine as she is symptomatic and is suffering emotionally from the fallout of the leaked footage of her at Mitch's memorial. To aid her Chip asks Cory to have Alex do a program about her experiences with Covid-19. Cory decides to air the segment on his failing streaming service UBA+. As the entire city and country shut down Cory decides to help Bradley in her quest to find her brother before confessing that he is in love with her. He helps Bradley locate her brother who has managed to stay clean but is in the hospital surrounded by Covid-19 patients. A feverish Alex manages to complete her segment on her symptoms but tells the audience that she is done apologizing for who she is. |
Production
Development
On November 8, 2017, it was announced that Apple had given the production a series order consisting of two seasons of ten episodes apiece. The series was set to be executive produced by Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Jay Carson, and Michael Ellenberg. Carson was expected to act as a writer and showrunner for the series as well. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Media Res, Echo Films, and Hello Sunshine.[3][11][12] On April 4, 2018, it was announced that Carson had departed the production over creative differences. He was replaced as executive producer and showrunner by Kerry Ehrin.[13] On July 11, 2018, it was reported that Mimi Leder would serve as a director and executive producer for the series.[14] On October 23, 2018, it was reported that Kristin Hahn and Lauren Levy Neustadter would serve as additional executive producers for the series.[15]
On June 22, 2020, Aniston revealed in a Variety interview with Lisa Kudrow that the show's development began prior to the Me Too movement, but was ultimately reworked to include and partially focus on it.[16]
The show cost $15 million per episode, with Aniston and Witherspoon each earning $2 million per episode, not including producing fees and ownership points.[17]
Casting
Alongside the initial series announcement, it was confirmed that Aniston and Witherspoon had been cast in the series' lead roles.[3][11][12] In October 2018, it was announced that Steve Carell, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Billy Crudup, Néstor Carbonell and Mark Duplass had been cast in series regular roles.[15][7][8] On November 7, 2018, it was reported that Bel Powley, Karen Pittman, and Desean Terry had joined the main cast of the series.[9]
On October 9, 2020, Greta Lee and Ruairi O'Connor officially joined the second season as regular characters.[18] On November 13, 2020, Hasan Minhaj was also announced as a new cast member.[19] On December 3, 2020, Julianna Margulies announced she joined the second season of the series.[20]
Filming
Principal photography for the first season commenced on October 31, 2018, at the James Oviatt Building in Los Angeles.[21] Filming continued in Los Angeles until filming started in New York City on May 9, 2019.[22] Production on the first season also concluded that May, after seven months of filming.[23]
Production on the second season began on February 24, 2020.[24] On March 12, 2020, Apple TV+ halted production on the series due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[25] The second season resumed filming on October 19, 2020.[26] Between February and March 2021, Steve Carell, Jennifer Aniston, Mark Duplass, and Hannah Leder were spotted in Los Angeles filming the second season.[27][28] On May 18, 2021, filming for season two concluded.[29]
Release
After the Apple Special Event of March 25, 2019, Witherspoon announced on Instagram that the series would premiere in the fall of 2019.[4] It premiered on Apple TV+ on November 1, 2019.[3][4] In January 2021, Apple announced that the second season will premiere in 2021.[30] The second season premiered on September 17, 2021.[6]
Marketing
During the Apple Special Event, a teaser trailer was released with footage from the series as well as footage from other original series set to premiere on Apple TV+.[31] Furthermore, Aniston, Witherspoon, and Carell were at the event to tease the series.[32]
On August 12, 2019, Apple released a first look trailer for the series.[33] It was also revealed that the series would be titled Morning Wars in Australia, in order to distinguish the series from the Australian morning talk show of the same name.[1] On August 19, 2019, Apple released a full trailer for the series.[34]
Reception
Season | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
---|---|---|
1 | 61% (105 reviews)[35] | 61 (37 reviews)[36] |
2 | 66% (50 reviews)[37] | 60 (62 reviews)[38] |
The Morning Show received mixed to positive reviews upon its release.
For first season of The Morning Show, the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 61% approval rating, based on 104 reviews, with an average rating of 5.78/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Flashy, but somewhat frivolous, The Morning Show often feels more like a vanity project than the hard-hitting drama it aspires to be—but there is pleasure to be had in watching Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon give it their all." Audiences on Rotten Tomatoes however, by contrast, rated the first season of the series at 93%.[35] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 61 out of 100 based on reviews from 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[36]
The second season of the series received a 66% from Rotten Tomatoes based on 50 reviews, while audiences gave the second season a slightly less positive score of 69%, when compared with the first season. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Morning Show's second season has a slew of stupendous performances - but too many characters attempting to address too many hot-button issues makes it hard to know what any of them are actually trying to say."[37] At Metacritic, the website gave the second season a 60 out of 100, based on 25 reviews.[38]
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave a positive review and wrote: "The Morning Show doesn't have the cinematic gravitas of the Showtime series The Loudest Voice or the Aaron Sorkin poetry of HBO's The Newsroom. It's more along the lines of the solid but underachieving Sports Night TV series from the late 1990s."[39]
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Kategorie | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Black Reel Television Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress, Drama Series | Gugu Mbatha-Raw | Nominated | [40] |
Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Billy Crudup | Won | [41] | |
Dorian Awards | Best Supporting TV Performance – Actor | Billy Crudup | Nominated | [42] | |
Gold Derby TV Awards | Drama Actress | Jennifer Aniston | Nominated | [43] | |
Drama Supporting Actress | Gugu Mbatha-Raw | Nominated | |||
Drama Supporting Actor | Billy Crudup | Nominated | |||
Golden Globe Awards | Best Television Series – Drama | The Morning Show | Nominated | [44] | |
Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama | Jennifer Aniston | Nominated | |||
Reese Witherspoon | Nominated | ||||
Newport Beach Film Festival | Breakout Honoree | Bel Powley | Won | [45] | |
Artist of Distinction | Gugu Mbatha-Raw | Won | |||
Online Film & Television Association | Best Actress in a Drama Series | Jennifer Aniston | Nominated | [46] | |
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Billy Crudup | Won | |||
Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series | Martin Short | Nominated | |||
Best New Title Sequence | Angus Wall, Hazel Baird, Emanuele Marani, EJ Kang, Peter Murphy and Erik Righetti | Nominated | |||
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series | Steve Carell (for "Lonely at the Top") | Nominated | [47] [48] | |
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series | Jennifer Aniston (for "In the Dark Night of the Soul It's Always 3:30 in the Morning") | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Billy Crudup (for "Chaos is the New Cocaine") | Won | |||
Mark Duplass (for "The Interview") | Nominated | ||||
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series | Mimi Leder (for "The Interview") | Nominated | |||
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series | Martin Short (for "Chaos is the New Cocaine") | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Main Title Design | Angus Wall, Hazel Baird, Emanuele Marani, EJ Kang, Peter Murphy and Erik Righetti | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour or More) | John Paino, James F. Truesdale and Amy Wells (for "In the Dark Night of the Soul It's Always 3:30 in the Morning") | Nominated | |||
The ReFrame Stamp | Top 100 Popular Television (2019–2020) | The Morning Show (season 1) | Won | [49] | |
Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series | Steve Carell | Nominated | [50] | |
Billy Crudup | Nominated | ||||
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series | Jennifer Aniston | Won | |||
Television Critics' Association Awards | Outstanding New Program | The Morning Show | Nominated | [51] | |
2021 | Artios Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Pilot and First Season – Drama | Victoria Thomas | Nominated | [52] |
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards | Best Actress – Television | Jennifer Aniston | Nominated | [53] | |
2022 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Billy Crudup | Anhängig | [54] |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Television Series – Drama | The Morning Show | Anhängig | [55] | |
Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama | Jennifer Aniston | Anhängig | |||
Best Supporting Actor – Television | Billy Crudup | Anhängig | |||
Mark Duplass | Anhängig |
References
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{{cite web}}
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External links
- The Morning Show – official site
- The Morning Show at IMDb
- 2019 American television series debuts
- 2010s American workplace drama television series
- 2010s American satirical television series
- 2010s American LGBT-related drama television series
- 2020s American LGBT-related drama television series
- English-language television shows
- Television series about journalism
- Television series about television
- Apple TV+ original programming
- Television productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Television shows based on non-fiction books