Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon will return for more soapy network TV news drama on The Morning Show season 5.
Apple TV+ announced on Tuesday, September 16, that the drama series will be back ahead of the launch of season 4 on Wednesday, September 17. Full casting details have yet to be announced, though Apple TV+ mentioned that both Aniston, 56, and Witherspoon, 49, will still be involved in The Morning Show for season 5.
“The Morning Show has been a standout from the very start, debuting as one of the flagship series on Apple TV+,” Matt Cherniss, Apple TV’s head of programming, said in a statement. “It’s been incredibly rewarding to see it not only entertain but also resonate with audiences worldwide. Thanks to the outstanding cast and creative team — led by Jennifer, Reese, Charlotte [Stoudt, cocreator] and Mimi [Leder, executive producer] — The Morning Show continues to deliver addictively entertaining and provocative stories that we’ve all come to love. We’re excited for viewers to experience the next chapter of this Emmy Award-winning drama.”
In addition to their starring roles as TV news anchors Alex Levy and Bradley Jackson, respectively, Aniston and Witherspoon also produce The Morning Show through their respective companies, Echo Films and Hello Sunshine.
“It’s an honor to witness the collective talent, passion and commitment of Jen, Reese, Mimi, Charlotte, our partners at Hello Sunshine and Echo Films, and everyone involved in The Morning Show, and we’re excited to embark on a new season that will give this cast and creative team even more room to shine,” executive producer Michael Ellenberg said. “We are so grateful to Apple TV+ and the fans around the world who tune in every week, and are so excited for viewers to see this upcoming season and beyond.”
Apple TV+ previously gave The Morning Show an early renewal for season 4 on the eve of the season 3 premiere in 2023.
The Morning Show is loosely inspired by Brian Stelter’s 2013 book Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV, though it examines the lasting impact of the #MeToo movement and other real-world news topics through the lens of the fictional UBA network’s Morning Show. Season 4 episodes center around Alex and Bradley grappling with conspiracy theories and deepfakes while the encroaching influence of UBA’s merger with rival network NBN is felt.
The Morning Show has won four Emmy Awards throughout its lifespan thus far, on top of receiving 27 total nominations. Notably, Billy Crudup has won the Outstanding Supporting Actor Emmy Award twice for his portrayal of UBA’s CEO Cory Ellison.
Aniston recently opened up about the immense physical and emotional toll that The Morning Show has taken on her over the years, going so far as to compare filming the show to child birth.
“Every year since I finished the first season, I was like, ‘Well, that’s it — I’m dead. That just killed me,’” she admitted to Glamour earlier this month. “And then you forget.”
She went on, “I kind of compare it to what childbirth must be like when my friends are like, ‘You just kind of forget what it was, and then next thing you know you’re knocked up again.’ And having that same agony of pushing that watermelon out of a tiny little pinhole and then you just get to do it again.”
“So I do feel there’s something extraordinary about finishing a season and not saying those words of, ‘I’m done,’” she added. “And just knowing that you’ve got to decompress and walk away from it for a while, and in my case, go do a comedy as fast as possible.”
The season 4 premiere of The Morning Show is available to stream now on AppleTV+, with new episodes releasing each Wednesday.
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