The second season of American drama television series The Morning Show premiered on Apple TV+ on September 17, 2021. It stars Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon as co-anchors of The Morning Show, a fictional morning television program who reunite on screen seven months after the events of the first season. Set in the first months of 2020, the season explores the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the show and its parent company UBA. The ensemble cast also includes Billy Crudup, Mark Duplass and Steve Carell, joined by Julianna Margulies, Ruairi O'Connor and Greta Lee.
Ordered by Apple TV+ in November 2017, the second season of the series was developed alongside the first. Filming began in late February 2020, but was suspended 13 days later due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During a seven-months long hiatus, the script was rewritten to feature the pandemic as a core theme of the season. It also explored the topics of cancel culture, personal identity, racial inequality. The season was filmed from October 27, 2020, to May 14, 2020, in multiple locations across Southern California. It was produced by Echo Films, Media Res, Bad Attitude and Hello Sunshine; Kerry Ehrin, Mimi Leder Michael Ellenberg, Kristin Hahn, Lauren Levy Neustadter, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon served as executive producers.
The season received mixed reviews from television critics, who praised directing and performance by Aniston and Crudup while commenting on lack of substantial storylines for recurring cast members. Other issues, including plot incoherence and irrationality pointed out in the first season, were also present. It has won no major accolades despite receiving 18 nominations. The season concluded on November 19, 2021, and on January 10, 2023, a third season was commissioned.
Overview The season takes place in the New York City from January 31, 2019, to late March 2020, 7 months after the events of the first season. Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) left The Morning Show (TMS) and lives a secluded life in Maine; Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) remained on TMS, and Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) became a new CEO of UBA, the broadcasting company behind TMS.
The first three episodes follow Alex's momentous return to TMS to discontent of most its members, especially Bradley and the new Director of the News Direction Stella Bak (Greta Lee). Subsequent seasons feature multiple minor stortylines involving around individual characters. Alex and Bradley contest hosting the 2020 Democratic Party presidential debates; Alex struggles to save her reputation, which is under threat by journalist Maggie Brener's (Marcia Gay Harden) book; Bradley starts a complicated romantic relationship with UBA journalist Laura Peterson (Julianna Margulies); weatherman Yanko Flores (Néstor Carbonell) faces suspension after an inadvertent on-air comment; Daniel Henderson (Desean Terry) and Mia Jordan (Karen Pittman) fight to broadcast Daniel's story about COVID-19 pandemic in China everyone else overlooks; and Cory pushes through a struggling subscription service UBA+ while trying to mitigate a lawsuit against UBA over the death of Hannah Shoenfeld, pressured by ousted UBA CEO Fred Micklen (Tom Irwin). As the season progresses, the COVID-19 pandemic engulfs the United States, forcing UBA and TMS to go on a lockdown. In a UBA+ broadcast from home, Alex accepts her imperfection and states that she is done apologizing for herself, solidifying her public image.
An unconnected side story follows exiled presenter Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) in an estate on Lake Como in Italy as documentarian Paula Lambruschini (Valeria Golino) helps him reconsider his tenure on TMS and reclaim his life.
Cast and characters Main cast Jennifer Aniston as Alex Levy, a feminist icon and a former anchor of The Morning Show. She is writing her memoirs to forestall an upcoming exposé potentially containing unbased claims of her misbehaviors that could lead to her cancellation. After returning to host TMS, she attempts to strengthen her public image while her anxiety increases. Reese Witherspoon as Bradley Jackson, a hot-tempered host of The Morning Show who experiences an identity crisis after not being promoted to her desired position. She values journalistic objectivity, but forces herself to produce infotainment segments that appeal to a younger audience. Billy Crudup as Cory Elisson, an eccentric and forward-looking CEO of UBA. Pressured by the Board of Directors and his own morals, he has to cease an impeding Hannah Shoenfeld lawsuit that could undermine the company's reputation and cost him the job. Mark Duplass as Charlie "Chip" Black, an excecutive producer of TMS who took umbrage at Alex for mistreating him and breaking his feelings. Greta Lee as Stella Bak, a 33-year old Director of the News Division who reports directly to Cory. She was hired for her knowledge of new digital technologies to bring about he much-needed modernization to the company's stagnating news programs. An Asian American, she faces increased racial hate as the pandemic spreads. Néstor Carbonell as Yanko Flores, a weatherman at TMS who occasionally anchors the show alongside Alex and Bradley. Karen Pittman as Mia Jordan, a producer of The Morning Show who handles backstage conflicts. Julianna Margulies as Laura Peterson, a veteran journalist working for UBA, who anchored The Morning Show in the 90-s but was suspended aster she came out as lesbian. Known for her acute and persuasive questioning, she conducts interviews with Alex and Bradley, further endangering the former's public image and sparking a romance with the latter. Ruairi O'Connor as Ty Fitzgerald, a young expert on social media hired alongside Stella. Desean Terry as Daniel Henderson, The Morning Show's co-anchor of the weekend edition. He was the first to identify the menace of the pandemic while it was still developing in China, and, despite being sent to Wuhan to report on it, can't have the news broadcast on the show. Steve Carell as Mitch Kessler, a disgraced anchor of TMS who flees from his family to Italy and dwells on the death of Hannah Shoenfeld and his firing.
Recurring Hasan Minhaj as Eric Nomani, an anchor of TMS who worked alongside Bradley during the months of Alex's absence. He leaves to the host of UBA Evening News in the third episode. Valeria Golino as Paola Lambruschini, a documentarian who befriends Mitch in Italy. Marcia Gay Harden as Maggie Brener, a journalist who is writing a book that exposes the culture behind The Morning Show and explores working relationships between Alex and Mitch. Tom Irwin as Fred Micklen, former CEO of UBA who left the company after negotiating a payoff with Cory. He starts a smear campaign against Hannah Shoenfeld and threatens Cory to reveal how he was displaced to retaliate the lawsuit where he also becomes a defendant. Katie Aselton as Madeleine, Chip's new girlfriend. Their relationships deteriorate when Chip returns to TMS and can't help thinking about Alex. Holland Taylor as Cybil Reynolds, a long-standing member of UBA's Board of Directors. Markus Flanagan as Gerald Drummond, a UBA Board of Directors member who oversees TMS. Joe Tippett as Hal Jackson, Bradley's drug-addicted brother who visits her in New York. Mindy Kaling as Audra Khatri, a morning news presenter for rival broadcast corporation NBN.
Crew personnel Victoria Tate as Rena Robinson, a production assistant Amber Friendly as Layla Bell, a producer Joe Marinelli as Donny Spagnoli, a director Shari Belafonte as Julia, a floor manager Joe Pacheco as Bart Daley, a director Hannah Leder as Isabella, a production assistant Janina Gavankar as Alison Namazi, a substitute news anchor Theo Iyer as Kyle, Cory's assistant Will Arnett as Doug Klassen, Alex's agent Choni Francis as RJ Smith, Bradley's agent Tara Karsian as Gayle Bermann Eli Bildner as Joel Rapkin
Guest starring Martin Short as Dick Lundry, Mitch's close friend. Kathy Najimy as Sylvia Portman, a fortune teller whom Alex confronts in Maine. Oona Roche as Lizzy Craig, Alex's daughter who has a turbulent relationship with her. Embeth Davidtz as Paige Kessler, Mitch's divorced wife. In addition, the rock band Foo Fighters appears and performs Making a Fire in the episode "Kill the Fatted Calf".
Episodes
Production Development and filming Apple ordered a second season of The Morning Show together with the first on November 8, 2017. Kerry Ehrin, who continued serving as showrunner and lead writer of the series, planned to set it as a direct continuation of the previous season and build upon its primary topics. Through characters' self-reflection and reassessment, she wanted to elaborate on what could be done to resolve the ongoing issues of social inequality within corporations. At the series premiere event held on October 28, 2019, Ehrin revealed to Variety that the outline for the first three episodes has been completed. She expected to finish filming in summer and release the season in November 2020, which would have coincided with the 2020 presidential election in the United States. It was clarified that politics would influence the backdrop, but assessing individual politicians or possible election outcomes was out of the season's scope. Ehrin would later extend her overall deal with Apple on May 4, 2020.
Filming for the season started on February 27, 2020, and continued for 13 days, during which the opening scenes of the first episode were shot. On March 12, 2020, production was completely suspended as the COVID-19 pandemic struck the television industry in the United States and continued to spread across the country. Later in March, New York City, where the series is majorly set, was closed, and director Mimi Leder sent drones to capture the city's emptied streets and boardwalks. Meanwhile, Ehrin opted to extend the initial two-week delay and write a new script that would cover the pandemic and its impact on the characters. During the shutdown, the first two episodes were completely rewritten and later episodes received modifications to make way for pandemic-related subplots. The scenes completed before the hiatus were included in the final cut as a prelude to the season, and a 9-month time jump was introduced to accommodate a new setting.
The series resumed filming under strict health security protocols on October 27, 2020, after nearly three months of preparations. The entire season had to be filmed in Southern California in accordance to then-active quarantine regulations, and some cities such as Beverly Hills and Pasadena were unavailable due to their own restrictions. To film exterior shots of New York City, production designer Nelson Coates placed the city's iconic taxis and other signature elements in Downtown Los Angeles, where he also shot scenes set in the French Quarter of New Orleans. A subplot taking place in Wuhan, the origin of SARS-CoV-2, was filmed in Anaheim, particularly because its transit center shared architectural and infrastructural similarities with Wuhan Station. Two principal locations were used for the Italian side story: the Los Angeles Plaza and some of its buildings, including the Pico House, were redesigned to serve as Piazza Cavour in Como, while Mitch's residence was based in Villa del Sol d'Oro in Sierra Madre. An event space for Alverno Heights Academy, the villa was featured in several films, including Legally Blonde, where Witherspoon played Elle Woods. The interior of the building was decorated with furniture and textures from different periods for a better resemblace with the lifestyle of Italy. Computer graphics and drone units were equipped to place the villa on a peninsula adjacent to Lake Como, as well as to film winter scenes of Maine and the 2020 Times Square Ball for the first episode. Filming concluded in May 2021.