It is certainly an impressive cast. Apple TV+ came out with its signature show headlined by Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell. Even big names like Martin Short stop by for guest appearances. And yet The Morning Show is one of the most frustrating shows I've ever watched.
Coming from a TV news background, I'm bound to be more critical, because I know what they get right and get wrong. But it can work: The Newsroom was a show I really liked, despite not getting all the TV stuff right. The Morning Show is just a mess. I think the root of the problem is the screenwriting. Characters don't so much talk as give speeches. Some scenes go on way too long because the character has something IMPORTANT TO SAY. There is no subtlety here. Way too many scenes feature people yelling or crying. Just in the first episode, Aniston, Witherspoon and Carell all have these moments.
What are we supposed to make of Aniston's character, Alex Levy, for example? Some moments she seems human and vulnerable (especially in the first episode). Then by the third episode she's out of control, yelling at everyone and acting like she is the main victim. There is one especially cringeworthy scene in the third episode where she tells off her bosses, saying she is the most important person at her network and she has all the power. No, you don't. Anyone in television is replaceable.
Witherspoon's Bradley Jackson is just as frustrating. She spends half the time with wide eyes looking like she's completely overwhelmed and the other half yelling at everyone at the network who just gave her a huge career boost. There's some attempt at a subplot with a drug-addicted brother and overwhelmed mother, but it feels like such an afterthought.
I'm three episodes in and there are seven left. I haven't really understood why some people hate-watch shows, but I might have to do it with this one. I really hope the writing improves, but I'm not holding my breath.
