A behind-the-scenes look at the lives of the people who help America wake up in the morning, exploring the unique challenges faced by the team. The drama is showrun and exec produced by Stoudt, and directed and exec produced by Leder. The series is produced by the studio Media Res, and exec produced by Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer for Media Res, along with Stoudt and Leder. Aniston and Kristin Hahn exec produce for Echo Films, while Witherspoon exec produces with Lauren Neustadter for Hello Sunshine. Zander Lehmann and Micah Schraft also exec produce.

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• Title: The Morning Show
• Created By: Jay Carson (though, drama alert, he left the show early on!)
• Showrunner Magic: Kerry Ehrin took the wheel .
• Key Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Crudup, Steve Carell . Like, wow, what a lineup.
• Genre: Drama... kinda. Soap-opera-in-a-blazer is more accurate .
• Runtime: Episodes are a solid 45-69 minutes . Perfect for a deep dive.
• Release Date: Dropped on Apple TV+ back in November 2019 .
• Rating: TV-MA, baby . And for good reason.

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The Lowdown

Let me set the scene for you without giving away too much. Just imagine the Today show or Good Morning America, with, like, a thousand times more backstabbing and secret hookups. Welcome to the world of "The Morning Show"-or TMS, for short-on the fictional UBA network.

It all gets going when Mitch Kessler (played by Steve Carell), the beloved co-anchor and Alex Levy's on-air hubby-for-15-years, absolutely gets yeeted from the network amidst a sexual misconduct scandal. The show, as well as Alex's entire life, is thrown into a total tailspin.

Meanwhile, in a plotline that feels at once wildly convenient and utterly entertaining, Bradley Jackson becomes an overnight sensation when a video of her yelling at some protestors goes viral. She's a complete loose cannon, and Cory Ellison, the scheming, fantastically weird network exec, sees her as his golden ticket. He drags her to New York, and before you know it, she's thrust into the co-anchor chair next to a supremely pissed-off Alex.

So yeah. The problem at its core? Alex is fighting for her professional life while dealing with the betrayal of her friend. Bradley's trying to navigate a shark tank she doesn't understand. And everybody else is trying to keep this multi-million-dollar ship from sinking. It is a glorious, high-stakes "what would you do" nightmare.

The Vibe

Dang. How to even describe the vibe of this beast. It starts off wanting to be this super-prestige, searing take on the #MeToo movement in media . And it kinda is! For, like, a season. But then... it just goes completely off the rails in the best way possible.

We're talking about a show that one minute is dealing with heavy, traumatic sexual assault fallout, and the next minute has characters flying into space with tech billionaires . Or getting caught up in the Capitol insurrection . Or, I kid you not, having the weatherman perform a song-and-dance number surrounded by doves to Rick Astley . It is a uniquely destabilizing viewing experience .

It's like the writers are on a constant sugar rush, sniffing what one critic called "plot coke" . It shouldn't work. It's utterly bonkers. But man, you cannot look away. It's the TV equivalent of scrolling through a chaotic celebrity gossip feed for an hour—you feel a little gross afterward, but you have zero regrets.

Shout-Outs

Let's be real, the cast is the whole reason this beautiful mess works.

• Billy Crudup owns this show! No, for real. His performance as Cory Ellison, the network CEO, is a masterclass in scene-stealing. He's handsome, powerful, and charming, but also just so... weird . The man delivers corporate jargon and power plays like he's reciting poetry from another dimension. He's the kind of character you'd absolutely hate in real life, but on screen, you just want him to never leave . He's confident but not cocky, and somehow the most likable person in a room full of terrible, beautiful people .

• Jennifer Aniston is an absolute force. Forget Rachel Green. Alex Levy is Aniston unleashed. She is selfish, disloyal, ambitious, and perpetually stressed . You see every single one of her 15 years of faking morning cheer etched onto her face. She gets these incredible, rage-filled monologues that are just chef's kiss . She plays the nation's sweetheart who is lowkey a stone-cold boss, and she is magnificent.

• The "It's So Dumb, I Love It" Factor. I have to give a shout-out to the show's sheer, unadulterated audacity. It throws every single current event at the wall—COVID, Roe v. Wade, the Ukraine war, you name it . It's like the writers are terrified of being dated, so they just reference everything. The result is often jarring, but also kinda fascinating? It's a time capsule on crack. As one fan perfectly put it on Reddit: "This show is stupid and insane and laughable and I will watch every episode they give me." I felt that in my soul.

Wanna hear something crazy? The show's wild space trip plotline with Jon Hamm's tech billionaire, which was totally derided as absurd when it aired, literally happened in real life like 18 months later with Gayle King and Katy Perry . This show isn't just chaotic; it's psychic.

The Niggles

Not gonna lie, it ain't all perfect.

• The Preachiness Can Get Thicc. The show is highkey desperate to have an Opinion on Everything. It tackles so many hot-button social issues that it can sometimes feel like a "woke nightmare," as one reviewer pointedly described the second season . It often showcases characters taking firm stances, and the result can feel a little disingenuous or like you're being lectured instead of entertained . Sometimes you just want the messy drama without the political science homework, you know?

• Steve Carell's Bummer B-Plot. In the first season, the cutaways to Mitch Kessler moping in exile are a serious vibe-kill . The show seems weirdly unsure of how bad it wants us to think he is. Is he a sympathetic guy caught in a cancel culture whirlwind? Or is he a predator? The ambiguity feels less like sophisticated writing and more like the show wanting to have its cake and eat it too . I found myself just waiting to get back to the newsroom chaos.

• A Certified Divisive Hit. Let's just be raw for a sec: this show is not for everyone. It holds a shocking record as one of Apple TV+'s lowest-audience-rated ongoing shows, with a Rotten Tomatoes audience score sitting at a paltry 34% . Ouch. Meanwhile, the critics are much kinder at 68% . That divide tells you everything. People either embrace the glorious chaos or they're utterly infuriated by it. There's no middle ground.

Verdict

So, after all that... is it worth your precious screen time?

My rating: a solid 7.5/10.

It's messy, it's ridiculous, it's over-the-top, but holy heck is it entertaining. This isn't high-art prestige TV; it's an elevated soap opera wearing a very expensive blazer . And sometimes, that's exactly what you need.

You should totally watch this if:

• You live for behind-the-scenes drama and power grabs.
• You appreciate A-list actors clearly having the time of their lives.
• You don't mind your shows being a little (or a lot) unhinged.
• You just want to see Jennifer Aniston's incredible NYC apartment . Seriously, it's an Architectural Digest dream.

Maybe skip it if:

• You're looking for a subtle, nuanced take on serious issues.
• You get frustrated when plotlines spiral into absurdity.
• You prefer your TV to be a calm, coherent experience.

Final thought? Give the first three episodes a shot. Let yourself get sucked into the glamour and the nonsense. It's a wild ride, man. And once you start, I bet you can't stop. For more deep dives into what's worth streaming, you know where to find me at Cinewatched. Now go forth and binge!

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References

• The Morning Show (American TV series) - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Morning_Show_(American_TV_series)
• The Morning Show (TV Series 2019– ) - IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7203552/
• 'It's a wild ride': How The Morning Show became TV's most chaotic drama - BBC. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250916-how-the-morning-show-became-tvs-most-chaotic-drama
• The Morning Show - Rotten Tomatoes. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_morning_show
• The Morning Show Holds A Disappointing Apple TV+ Record - Screen Rant. https://screenrant.com/the-morning-show-apple-tv-plus-rotten-tomatoes-score-audience/
• The Morning Show (TV Series 2019– ) - Plot - IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7203552/plotsummary/
• 10 Best 'The Morning Show' Characters, Ranked by Likability - Collider. https://collider.com/the-morning-show-best-characters-ranked-likability/
• Review: The Morning Show Keeps It Just Real Enough - Vanity Fair. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/10/morning-show-jennifer-aniston-reese-witherspoon-apple-review?srsltid=AfmBOoq-ZU5w6lg_H5dOyPCpHzkK19Jm1g_BOH1LxvDUK8ATq4vWFHIF
• The Morning Show Wiki | Fandom. https://themorningshow.fandom.com/wiki/The_Morning_Show