Apple TV Plus is waking up again for The Morning Show season 2. The Apple TV Plus drama will return for more cutthroat action behind the scenes of a fictional morning news program (which seems to be based a lot on The Today Show). The Morning Show season 2 teaser trailer recently dropped, teasing a big storyline which sees Alex Levy departing the network and Bradley Jackson getting a new co-host.
The Morning Show follows the on- and off-camera employees of the titular breakfast television program. Alex (Aniston) is a popular, long-time screen presence, whose co-anchor Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) was fired under a cloud of disgrace. Bradley (Witherspoon) eventually took his place and began digging into Mitch's mistreatment of co-workers.
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At the end of The Morning Show season 1, Alex and Bradley stunned viewers (and their network bosses) by exposing UBA's toxic workplace and top executives' cover-up of Mitch's sexual misconduct.
In season 2, Alex has left The Morning Show, leaving Bradley behind to pick up the pieces. Though UBA exec Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) attempts to bring Alex back, the network also hires a new co-host. Meanwhile, both Alex and Mitch take their respective stories to other media outlets.
Season 2 will incorporate the coronavirus pandemic. Director Mimi Leder told GoldDerby.com, "We’re a morning show that deals with the ills of the world, racism, injustice and all that morning show light stuff. And then you incorporate COVID, just like the morning shows did."
Here's everything we know so far about The Morning Show season 2.
The Morning Show season 2 release date
Apple TV Plus has set The Morning Show season 2 release date for Friday, September 17.
Interestingly, that is the same weekend as the 2021 Emmys. However, The Morning Show won't be eligible for any nominations since season 1 already competed at last year's Emmys, earning several nods. Crudup won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama.
The Morning Show season 2 was originally slated for November 2020, but was postponed due to production delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Morning Show season 2 will consist of 10 episodes, which are expected to be released weekly on Fridays.
The Morning Show season 2 trailer
Apple TV Plus recently dropped The Morning Show season 2 teaser trailer, along with the release date announcement.
The two-minute-long video starts with the bombshell dropped by Alex and Bradley, then moves on to the aftermath set to a haunting cover of Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York." Alex is hiding out in a cabin after leaving the show, while Cory tries to persuade her to return. She adamantly refuses. Meanwhile, Bradley rages about feeling abandoned by Alex.
The teaser trailer also provides peeks at new characters, including Bradley's new co-anchor and a newsmagazine journalist played by Julianna Margulies.
The Morning Show season 2 cast
The Morning Show season 2 is led by its two leads, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Aniston is Alex Levy, the longtime co-host of UBA's The Morning Show. Witherspoon plays Bradley Jackson, a local news field reporter who is tapped to become Alex's co-anchor.
They are joined by:
- Steve Carell as Mitch Kessler, the former co-host of The Morning Show
- Billy Crudup as Cory Ellison, a UBA executive in charge of news operation
- Mark Duplass as Charlie "Chip" Black, executive producer
- Tom Irwin as Fred Micklen, UBA's president
- Néstor Carbonell as Yanko Flores, meteorologist
- Karen Pittman as Mia Jordan, a producer
- Bel Powley as Claire Conway, a production assistant
- Desean Terry as Daniel Henderson, a co-host of the weekend edition of TMS
- Janina Gavankar as Alison Namazi, a co-host on the weekend edition of TMS
- Jack Davenport as Jason Craig, Alex's husband
- Marcia Gay Harden as Maggie Brener, a reporter and journalist
Several new faces are joining The Morning Show season 2. Julianna Margulies is playing Laura Peterson, a respected UBA anchor.
"Laura started kind of like a Dateline show,” showrunner Kerry Ehrin told EW.com. “She’s a UBA star and an icon at a Diane Sawyer level. We wanted to create a mentor figure for [Witherspoon’s] Bradley that was somebody who does things differently."
Hasan Minhaj is on board as Eric Nomani, described as "a charismatic, rising star who joins The Morning Show team." In the teaser trailer, he appears to be Bradley's new co-host.
Emmy winner Holland Taylor is playing UBA board chairwoman Cybil Richards.
Other new Morning Show cast members include: Greta Lee as tech founder Stella Bak; Ruairi O’Connor as YouTube star Ty Fitzgerald; Tara Karsian as news producer Gayle Berman; and Valeria Golino as documentary filmmaker Paola Lambruschini.
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