Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Apple teases juicy ‘Morning Show’
Apple released a full trailer for its long-anticipated newsroom drama “The Morning Show” on Monday, delivering a good look at Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell in what could become the flagship series for its TV+ service.
The trailer opens with broadcaster Alex Levy (Aniston) leading her program with some unfortunate, all-too-familiar-sounding news. Mitch Kessler (Carell), her co-host and colleague of 15 years, has been torpedoed by sexual misconduct allegations and fired from the show. Watching her announcement live, Kessler angrily dents his TV with a fireplace iron. But the network is moving toward a larger shake-up now, declaring Levy past her “sell-by date.” Enter Bradley Jackson (Witherspoon), an intrepid field reporter the suits position to usurp Levy’s throne.
Various trailer moments hint at a whirlwind of conflict.
Based on Brian Stelter’s 2013 book “Top of the Morning,” “The Morning Show” is primed to chart a juicy chess match of dueling media egos in a cable news environment urgent to remain fresh. The two high-powered women at the show’s center wage war, and an ensemble cast fills out the legion of producers and executives pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Billy Crudup’s Cory Ellison, one of those executives, delivers the trailer’s standout line: “Watching a beloved woman’s breakdown is timeless American entertainment.”
The trailer comes a week after the release of a more cryptic teaser that earned initial comparisons to HBO’s “The Newsroom.” But “The Morning Show,” of which Apple has already ordered two seasons, appears to be aiming for a breezier look into the media world with funny moments amid the drama.