Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell appeared on stage at today’s “Show Time” event to talk about The Morning Show, the comedy series starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell.
Sounding like a mixture of Anchorman and Aaron Sorkin’s Sports Night, the series follows behind-the-scenes shenanigans at a morning news show. It will particularly focus on “[pulling] back the curtain on the power dynamics” between men and women in the workplace. Coming in the #MeToo era, it certainly looks pretty good timing.
The world of morning television
The show started principal photography back at the end of October 31. It marks the return to the small screen of both Aniston and Carell after their career-making roles in Friends and The Office. Apple has already committed to two seasons of the show — 20 episodes in total — which should take it through 2020.
Aniston and Witherspoon are reportedly being paid $1.1 million per episode for executive-producing and starring. In the series, Aniston will play one of the main morning show hosts. Carell portrays Mitch Kessler, an Anchorman‘s Ron Burgundy-style anchor struggling in a changing media world.
The Morning Show hasn’t had a totally smooth transition to the screen. Original creator and showrunner Jay Carson recently departed the project over creative differences. Without a trailer, it’s difficult to get a sense of how well this will work. While balancing a serious look at gender dynamics and comedy will be tricky, if The Morning Show‘s creators can pull it off, this could have the makings of a quirky, fun, and ultimately thought-provoking show.
