‘The Morning Show’: Everything You Need to Know About Apple’s Debut Drama (2024)

“The Morning Show”

It all started with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Pulled together by Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res banner, the duo served as the steadying force as the show itself shifted. After Ellenberg himself read Brian Stelter’s book, “Top of the Morning,” he knew there was a story to tell in the wild, competitve New York media world. But no one could predict how much the series itself would change. Long before the scripts were finalized and the crew was set, Apple locked up these two A-listers as the lead actors and executive producers on “The Morning Show.” A lot has shifted since then, but when you’ve got two stars this big, you find a way to make it work.

Jennifer Aniston as Alex Levy

Alex Levy (Aniston) is the long-time co-host of “The Morning Show,” a broadcast a.m. news program that’s seen better days in the ratings. When she loses her co-host Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell), Alex has to find a way to save the show.

Reese Witherspoon as Bradley Jackson

Bradley Jackson (Witherspoon) is a veteran contributing reporter and a bit of a drifter. While she’s been at it for a while, Bradley’s passion for each story sometimes tests her bosses’ patience, and she’s moved from station to station over the course of her career. But when “The Morning Show” looks to mix things up, she’s looking at a different, more permanent gig for the first time in a long time.

Steve Carell as Mitch Kessler

Mitch Kessler (Carell) is the beloved and respected co-host of “The Morning Show,” until he wakes up one morning and his whole world is turned upside-down. Facing allegations he denies and a hostile backlash from his former colleagues, Kessler has to figure out what to do next in his rapidly closing career window.

Mark Duplass as Charlie “Chip” Black

Charlie Black (Duplass) is the “Morning Show’s” executive producer, tasked with making all the big decisions and keeping the network’s profit train on the tracks. He’s also the first one to hear the news about Mitch’s off-screen issues, thus making him the one to break the bad news to Alex.

Billy Crudup as Cory Ellison

Cory Ellison (Crudup) is the forward-thinking head of the network’s news division. Only on the job for a few months, Cory sees Mitch’s issues as both a crisis and an opportunity. Perhaps it’s time for some new blood on the “Morning Show,” but only if that pleases the powers that be and the audiences at home.

Néstor Carbonell as Yanko Flores

Yanko Flores (Carbonell) is the “Morning Show’s” weatherman and a possible successor to Mitch’s now-empty seat. Charming but inexperienced in the spotlight, Yanko will have to twist his artist’s spirit into saleable screen presence if he hopes to spend time on TV without a weather map.

Bel Powley as Claire Canway and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Hannah Shoenfeld

Claire Canway (Powley) is a production assistant with big dreams (and a few secrets). Hannah Shoenfeld (Mbatha-Raw) is a ruthless talent booker who discovers a viral video of Bradley (Witherspoon) and brings her into the “Morning Show” world.

Desean Terry as Daniel Henderson

Daniel Henderson (Terry) is already a co-anchor on the “Morning Show” when everything starts to fall apart, but he has to get over his high-minded dismissal of the soft news assignments he’s stuck with if he hopes to ascend beyond his current post.

Karen Pittman as Mia Jordan

Mia Jordan (Pittman) is a producer on the “Morning Show” alongside Chip.

Mimi Leder, Executive Producer and Director

Leder has been attached to this series since April 2018, seeing it through script changes and shaping the look, tone, and feel of Apple’s biggest originals bet. Leder, who helped pioneer the walk-and-talk shooting technique during her time on “ER,” last EP’d and directed “The Leftovers,” while her last film was “On the Basis of Sex.”

“I join on to a show because I love the concept, script, idea, and relate to it in a really personal, guttural way,” Leder said in a recent interview with IndieWire. “That happened to me on ‘ER,’ and it happened to me on ‘The Leftovers,’ and it definitely happened to me on ‘The Morning Show.'”

The #MeToo Movement

Though the series was picked up before the #MeToo movement took off, producers soon realized there was no way to tell a modern story about a morning show without addressing the ongoing issue.

“The show existed before #MeToo happened,” Aniston said during a recent press conference. “The show was always going to be pulling a curtain [back] on the New York media world and the morning talk shows. [But] once #MeToo happened, the conversation drastically changed and we just incorporated it [into the show.]”

“It’s impossible to talk about morning news and not deal with #MeToo,” showrunner Kerry Ehrin said at the same press conference. “It would be somewhat negligent. I think the idea is less about it being not black-and-white, but that it’s actually just nuanced. The characters are very complicated and dark people, but they’re all trying. I feel like really what the heart of it is about is about how people lie to themselves. That’s what it was about to me.”

For more on the series’ origins, read IndieWire’s full report.

Steve Carell’s First Scene

The first scene Carell shot was when Mitch and Alex met for the first time after the allegations surfaced. As shown in the picture above, it was an emotional encounter that required the two actors to build up years of chemistry from their close, working relationship in order to hit all the notes of a layered conversation.

“It seems to be the case that you sometimes start with the most complex, difficult, emotionally charged scene and you barely know each other,” Aniston said at the show’s press conference. “You’re trying to portray a history of friendship and partnership…”

“…and it was a challenge to try to do something that felt lived-in, instantly,” Carell said, picking up where she left off before noting that the two had worked together before, albeit very briefly.

“I saw her one day, across the way, in a crowd scene, and I thought, ‘Oh my God. That’s Jennifer Aniston.’ I was so excited just to be in the room with her. So to get the opportunity to work together was really fun,” Carell said.

Aniston and Witherspoon’s New Dynamic

Witherspoon and Aniston’s characters don’t know each other when “The Morning Show” starts, which gives them an opportunity to build their relationshp together, onscreen, instead of needing to piece one together off of it. But the two didn’t want their dynamic to be familiar — which has apparently thrown a few people.

“I was actually asked by a reporter a couple weeks ago, ‘So, your [characters’] dynamic isn’t ‘Thelma & Louise,’ and it’s also not ‘All About Eve,’ so what is it?’ And I was like, ‘You know there’s 7,000 different relationships that women have with each other, and this is just one of those 7,000 that’s never been explored,'” Witherspoon said.

Inspirations

Aniston said she based her character, in part, on Diane Sawyer, who kindly spoke to the actor before she started working on “The Morning Show.” The producing team also spoke to a bunch of reporters to make sure their characters were just right, including Katie Couric, Carole King, Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, and Meredith Vieira.

More Background on Bradley

“Bradley is obsessive,” Kerry Ehrin said about Witherspoon’s character. “She’s incredibly smart. She has a photographic memory, and she actually cares about the stories she covers.”

Two Seasons, Guaranteed

No matter what happens with “The Morning Show” Season 1, Season 2 is coming. Apple ordered two seasons right off the bat, guaranteeing a 20-episode series — which could cost upwards of $300 million total, per reports. Season 1 shot for seven months, with the post-production process running through September 2019. Production on Season 2 is scheduled to commence in November.

The Pressure Is On

Morning shows are big revenue sources for broadcast networks, and “The Morning Show” is no less vital to the success of its streaming home. Apple TV+ is betting big on the star power and topicality of its flagship drama to drive subscriptions for its new platform. At $4.99 a month, Apple TV+ is the lowest-costing subscription streaming service on the market, but it has a smaller catalogue than fellow newcomer Disney+ and far less original offerings than Netflix. To compete in a crowded market, “The Morning Show” needs to drive people to sign up — or Apple could find itself in a hole early on.

“The Morning Show”

“The Morning Show” premieres November 1 on Apple TV Plus — the same day the service launches nine new original programs. Three episodes will be available that Friday, with one new entry offered each week thereafter. Keep checking IndieWire for more coverage as the episodes roll out.