The Morning Show, also known as Morning Wars in Australia and Indonesia, is an American comedy-drama television series starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Billy Crudup. The series premiered on Apple TV+ on November 1, 2019. The series is inspired by Brian Stelter's 2013 book Top of the Morning. The show examines the characters and culture behind a network broadcast morning news program. After allegations of sexual misconduct, the male co-anchor of the program is forced off the show. Aspects of the #MeToo movement are examined from multiple perspectives as more information comes out regarding the misconduct. Subsequent seasons focus on other political topics and current events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, racial inequality, the Capitol insurrection, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The second season premiered on September 17, 2021. In January 2022, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on September 13, 2023. The series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on September 17, 2025. The series was renewed for a fifth and final season on September 16, 2025, ahead of the premiere of the fourth season.
The series has received numerous accolades, including 28 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, 11 Screen Actors Guild Award nominations and ten Golden Globe Award nominations. Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Billy Crudup have all received particular acclaim for their performances, with Aniston and Witherspoon each earning two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and Aniston winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series in 2020, and Crudup winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2020 and 2024.
Premise Alex Levy co-anchors The Morning Show (TMS), a popular morning news program broadcast from Manhattan on the UBA network, which has excellent viewership ratings and is perceived to have changed the face of American television.
In the first season, after her on-air partner of 15 years, Mitch Kessler, is fired amid a sexual misconduct scandal, Alex fights to retain her job as a top news anchor while paired with a new partner, Bradley Jackson, a field reporter whose series of impulsive decisions increasingly threatens the network.
In the second season, the network CEO attempts to convince Alex to return to TMS as the COVID-19 pandemic engulfs the United States and the show itself. Meanwhile, Bradley deals with an identity crisis.
In the third season, the network struggles for viewers for its subscription service and contemplates a takeover by tech titan Paul Marks.
In the fourth season, the newly merged UBN attempts to further its ambitions, while Bradley investigates a cover-up at the hands of the former UBA.
Cast and characters + Actor Character Seasons Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Jennifer Aniston Alexandra "Alex" Levy colspan="4" Reese Witherspoon Bradley Jackson colspan="4" Billy Crudup Cory Ellison colspan="4" Mark Duplass Charlie "Chip" Black colspan="4" Gugu Mbatha-Raw Hannah Shoenfeld colspan="3" Néstor Carbonell Yanko Flores colspan="3" Karen Pittman Mia Jordan colspan="4" Bel Powley Claire Conway colspan="2" Desean Terry Daniel Henderson colspan="2" colspan="2" Jack Davenport Jason Craig colspan="3" Steve Carell Mitch Kessler colspan="2" colspan="2" Greta Lee Stella Bak colspan="3" Ruairi O'Connor Ty Fitzgerald colspan="2" Julianna Margulies Laura Peterson colspan="2" Nicole Beharie Christine Hunter colspan="2" colspan="2" Jon Hamm Paul Marks colspan="2" colspan="2" Marion Cotillard Celine Dumont colspan="3"
Main Jennifer Aniston as Alexandra "Alex" Levy, co-host of UBA's TMS Reese Witherspoon as Bradley Jackson, former TMS co-host and news anchor at UBA Billy Crudup as Cory Ellison, CEO of UBA Mark Duplass as Charlie "Chip" Black, executive producer of TMS Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Hannah Shoenfeld (season 1), talent booker for TMS Néstor Carbonell as Yanko Flores (seasons 1–3; recurring season 4), the meteorologist of TMS Karen Pittman as Mia Jordan, a producer at TMS Bel Powley as Claire Conway (seasons 1–2, 4), a production assistant at TMS and Yanko's love interest Desean Terry as Daniel Henderson (seasons 1–2), co-host of the weekend edition of TMS Jack Davenport as Jason Craig (season 1), Alex's ex-husband Steve Carell as Mitch Kessler (seasons 1–2), the recently fired co-host of The Morning Show Greta Lee as Stella Bak (seasons 2–4), President of UBA's news division Ruairi O'Connor as Ty Fitzgerald (season 2), social media expert at UBA Julianna Margulies as Laura Peterson (seasons 2–3), YDA co-host and former news anchor at UBA who develops a romance with Bradley Nicole Beharie as Christine Hunter (season 3–present), a former Olympian and new TMS co-host Jon Hamm as Paul Marks (seasons 3–4), a tech billionaire who attempts to buy UBA Marion Cotillard as Celine Dumont (season 4), a savvy operator from a storied European family
Recurring
Shari Belafonte as Julia, floor manager at UBA Victoria Tate as Rena Robinson, Chip's assistant Hannah Leder as Isabella Joe Marinelli as Donny Spagnoli Eli Bildner as Joel Rapkin Amber Friendly as Layla Bell Joe Pacheco as Bart Daley Tom Irwin as Fred Micklen (seasons 1–2; guest season 3), UBA's president Janina Gavankar as Alison Namazi (seasons 1–2), co-host of the weekend edition of TMS Joe Tippett as Hal Jackson, Bradley's brother Michelle Meredith as Lindsey Sherman (seasons 1–2) Andrea Bendewald as Valérie (season 1; guest seasons 2–4) Marcia Gay Harden as Maggie Brener (season 1; guest seasons 2–3), a reporter and journalist Augustus Prew as Sean (season 1; guest season 2) Katherine Ko as Dhillon Reece-Smit (season 1) Ian Gomez as Greg (season 1) Oona Roche as Lizzy Craig (season 1; guest season 2), Alex and Jason's daughter David Magidoff as Nicky Brooks (season 1) Kate Vernon as Geneva Micklen (season 1) Roman Mitichyan as Sam Rudo (season 1)
Theo Iyer as Kyle (seasons 2–4), Cory's assistant Choni Francis as RJ Smith (seasons 2–3) Tara Karsian as Gayle Berman (seasons 2–3) Holland Taylor as Cybil Reynolds (seasons 2–3), a seasoned board member of UBA Valeria Golino as Paola Lambruschini (season 2), a documentarian who befriends Mitch in Italy Aflamu Johnson as Aflamu (season 2; guest seasons 3–4) Markus Flanagan as Gerald Drummond (season 2; guest seasons 1, 3) Hasan Minhaj as Eric Nomani (season 2), Bradley's new co-host Patrick Bristow as Gordon (season 2) Katie Aselton as Madeleine (season 2), Chip's girlfriend
Jack Conley as Earl (season 3; guest season 2) Tig Notaro as Amanda Robinson (season 3; guest season 4) Stephen Fry as Leonard Cromwell (season 3) Clive Standen as Andre Ford (season 3; guest season 4) Natalie Morales as Kate Danton (season 3)
Jeremy Irons as Martin Levy (season 4), Alex's father Boyd Holbrook as Brodie "Bro" Hartman (season 4), a popular and provocative podcaster and talk show host Aaron Pierre as Miles (season 4), Celine's husband who has a romantic past with Stella. William Jackson Harper as Ben (season 4), the network's self-assured and innovative Head of Sports Alano Miller as Marcus Hunter (season 4; guest season 3), Christine's husband Rachel Marsh as Remy (season 4), Alex's assistant Violett Beane as Sunny Stuber (season 4), Brodie's co-host
Guest
Mindy Kaling as Audra Khatri (seasons 1–3), a rival morning news anchor Embeth Davidtz as Paige Kessler (seasons 1–2), Mitch's ex-wife Mark Harelik as Richard (seasons 1–2) Will Arnett as Doug Klassen (seasons 2–4) Martin Short as Dick Lundry (seasons 1–2), a disgraced movie director Meredith Scott Lynn as Linda (seasons 2–3) Maria Canals-Barrera as Mercedes (seasons 3–4), a UBA board member June Diane Raphael as Ashley Andrews (seasons 3–4), an anchor for Eagle News Lindsay Duncan as Martha (seasons 3–4), Cory's mother
Season 1
Adina Porter as Sarah Gravele Brett Butler as Sandy Jackson Philip Anthony-Rodriguez as Gabriel Fred Melamed as Neal Altman Ahna O'Reilly as Ashley Brown Natalia Warner as Cecily Andrew Leeds as Alan John Marshall Jones as Noah Zuri Hall as herself Kelly Clarkson as herself Kelly Sullivan as Vicki Manderly David Morse as Mr. Jackson Julian Morris as Andrew Cheyenne Jackson as himself Robert Cicchini as Robert Mike O'Malley as Tim Eavers Romy Rosemont as Sheila Lutkin Brian Bowen Smith as photographer Paul Guilfoyle as Reid Ethan Cohn as Jared Dana Davis as Christine Maria Sharapova as herself Hayes MacArthur as Marlon Tate
Season 2
Dave Foley as Peter Bullard Kathy Najimy as Sylvia Portman James Urbaniak as Backstage Manager David Bowe as Clyde Canter Patrick Fabian as Jeff Foo Fighters as Themselves David Paymer as Mr. Shoenfeld Brian Stelter as Carl Richardson
Season 3
Ilia Volok as Pavlo Andrew Patrick Ralston as Elmer Esther Perel as Herself Retta as Herself Fortune Feimster as Herself Brent Bailey as Zach Sasha Alexander as Salma T.V. Carpio as Emma Daniel Kash as Seth Samantha Sloyan as Cheryl Eyal Podell as Larry Pane Shannon Woodward as Jess Bennett Elizabeth Perkins as Elena Daniels Joanne Baron as Brenda Litchfield
Season 4
John Hoogenakker as Andy Montgomery Haaz Sleiman as Mehdi Ali Wesam Keesh as Jamal Will Speck as Himself Kenneth Choi as John Sara Bareilles as Herself Stephanie Sigman as Ava Carillo Merrin Dungey as Joy Taylor Ashley Romans as Tunde Arnaud Valois as Arnaud Dumont Lauren Lapkus as Emma Costa Ronin as Dmitry Ivanov
Episodes
Season 1 (2019)
Season 2 (2021)
Season 3 (2023)
Season 4 (2025)
Production Development On November 8, 2017, it was announced that Apple had given the production a series order consisting of two seasons of ten episodes apiece. The series was set to be executive produced by Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Jay Carson, and Michael Ellenberg. Carson was expected to act as a writer and showrunner for the series as well. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Media Res, Echo Films, and Hello Sunshine. On April 4, 2018, it was announced that Carson had departed the production over creative differences. He was replaced as executive producer and showrunner by Kerry Ehrin. On July 11, 2018, it was reported that Mimi Leder would serve as a director and executive producer for the series. On October 23, 2018, it was reported that Kristin Hahn and Lauren Levy Neustadter would serve as additional executive producers for the series.
On June 22, 2020, Aniston revealed in a Variety interview with Lisa Kudrow that the show's development began prior to the Me Too movement, but was ultimately reworked to include and partially focus on it. The show cost $15 million per episode, with Aniston and Witherspoon each earning $2 million per episode, not including producing fees and ownership points. On January 10, 2022, Apple renewed the series for a third season. On May 1, 2023, Apple renewed the series for a fourth season. Ahead of the launch of the fourth season, Apple confirmed a fifth season had been commissioned on September 16, 2025. On July 23, 2026, it was announced that the fifth season would be the show's last.
Casting Alongside the initial series announcement, it was confirmed that Aniston and Witherspoon had been cast in the series' lead roles. In October 2018, it was announced that Steve Carell, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Billy Crudup, Néstor Carbonell and Mark Duplass had been cast in series regular roles. On November 7, 2018, it was reported that Bel Powley, Karen Pittman, and Desean Terry had joined the main cast of the series.