"The Morning Show" Season Two

Yup. I found the first 2 or 3 episodes of season 1 to be too slow but by mid-season it got good! I am looking forward to season 2, even if I still hate Reese in her role. She is miscast.

Yes, can't wait! I like Aniston in this. Billy Crudup is good as well. Reese is, well, not as good.

No, I will not watch it.

Agree R2 -- I find Billy Crudup just OK in most things, but love him in this.

And I'm interested to see how Julianna Margulies gels with the cast.

I'm so glad they put the two biggest cunts in Hollywood on this show, so I know to avoid it.

Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston are two of my most HATED actresses in Hollywood. And now that they've added Margulies, it's like the trifecta of all the worst people in the world!

No thanks. I wouldn't watch this fucking crap show if you paid me.

I surprisingly liked it as well, it wasn’t at all like I thought it was going to be so was pleasantly surprised. I was looking forward to S2 until I found out that Julianna Margolis is in it so may have to pass.

R5: Trifecta of Cunts. I will not be watching.

Is Steve Whatshisdick from The Office still in this stinker? Or was his character #metoo-ed off the show? He hasn't been in any of the press junkets with Miss American Citizen and the 50yo lady who is always pregnant in the tabloids. Are sisters doing it for themselves this season?

Yes. I liked it much more than I had expected to.

Looks tedious. Pass

It is tedious. I guess in order to enjoy this show one must give a crap about the politics behind the scenes of a morning show? Talk about low stakes.

I like Reese but this show doesn't give her enough to do. There is far too much Billy Crudup and since he won awards for this, I'm sure he'll be front and center in Season 2.

Reese's character's name is "Bradley" and Jen's character's name is "Alex." If that makes you cringe, you will likely hate this show.

R11, "tedious" is how your mother described what fell out of her twat.

R12, you forgot to give R11 your signature Reese Witheredcunt "Do you know who I am????"

Wow, this show has superfan (R11). I'm surprised but not surprised that she has a nasty mouth.

[quote]Trifecta of Cunts. I will not be watching.

So true.

Aniston is liked.

R11 Reese is miscast. She cast herself as a young ingenue new to the Journalist world who is working to be then next Aniston, and studying her. That part should be played by a 20 something, not a woman in her 40s.

[quote] Reese is miscast. She cast herself as a young ingenue new to the Journalist world who is working to be then next Aniston, and studying her. That part should be played by a 20 something, not a woman in her 40s.

How Joan Crawford-esque.

Are all episodes being released at once or is it a standard week by week thing like Ted Lasso?

R18 like Ted Lasso

^^ Damn. I was hoping I could re-up with Apple TV+ next week for just a month to binge this and Ted Lasso, but I guess I'll wait until the TMS finale has dropped.

Reese’s character isn’t exactly an ingenue, she was a local reporter who only got a big break at a national show when one of her stories went viral. Local reporters and anchors in my market (NYC) are in their 40s, 50s and 60s.

Yes, R21. The character has a long history of bouncing all over the place from job to job, never lasting long or rising through the ranks because of her temper.

Reese's wig and Jennifer Aniston are the worst parts for me. Aniston definitely has some good moments on this show, but by and large, I still see the same repertoire of facial expressions and vocal tics she was using back on "Friends." Also, I find her hard to look at.

Steve Carell did a great job playing someone who you're never sure was 100% bad or how much of it was mistaken sexual politics... until he really starts showing his character later. But as good as he was, I've had enough of Mitch.

Aniston’s face is puffy in this first episode.

I'm rewatching the 1st season and am excited to start the new season. I enjoyed this show more than I thought I would. Billy Cruddup is great.

Did 'The Morning Show' receive any Emmy nominations this year? I don't recall it being mentioned during the award ceremony this past Sunday night.

Steve Carell's character Mitch was so creepy when he made his moves on Hannah last season, I was cringing.

I want to comfort Yanko

R25, they weren't eligible this year, as no new eps were broadcast during the previous eligible primetime year.

S2E1 was pretty meh. I'm feeling a good bit of what I felt in the first season, which is, "Why should we care about these characters?" There's a few touching scenes, but overall I don't feel very invested. Billy Crudup will get another Emmy, though...they almost seem to be exclusively writing for his character now.

R25 I believe Aniston was nominated for best actress for the 2020 Emmys and lost to Zendaya. I wouldn’t have thought season one was that long ago…

I really can't with the female character named "Bradley."

Alex I get, it's becoming more common for girls, short for Alexandria, etc. But Bradley? No girl is named that.

Hollywood Reporter and Variety panned season two. One called it “not awful”

Just watched S2E1 and really liked it. The shots of the completely deserted streets in NYC were jarring.

I unexpectedly got wrapped up in the first season and am excited for the second. The first episode was pretty good.

Aniston’s face, though.

Aniston's face is so plumped that her mouth sounds weird when she talks

Aniston always plays Rachel.

She can do nothing else. What would she do if she didn't have that hair to flip around? If she someday took an acting lesson, what would she do instead of putting a hand on her stomach to indicate stress?

[quote]Reese is miscast. She cast herself as a young ingenue new to the Journalist world who is working to be then next Aniston, and studying her. That part should be played by a 20 something, not a woman in her 40s.

You clearly never watched the first season. Reese's character was late 30s and her age was important to the plot.

[quote]I really can't with the female character named "Bradley."

JFC some of you prisspots are so ridiculous.

But Reece is 45 irl R38 and isn’t convincing at playing late 30s, if that’s what she’s going for.

She's definitely convincing playing late 30s, She doesn't look 45.

2nd ep was better and more realistic. I loved the tension when Alex walked in the hotel suite. The Black guy (Daniel?) wasn't having it, and told her so.

I LOVED Valeria Golino's takedown of the annoying American Karen.

So will Steve Carrell’s character semi-redeem himself by reporting on the pandemic from the front lines in Northern Italy?

Crossing my fingers he dies from Covid and that he goes quickly. But it will probably be the black guy with his luck.

Lesbian kiss.

Does Jennifer get her titties out?

Juliana Marguiles had a facelift that's way too tight.

It's frightening, r48. At first I thought I was looking at Courtney Cox. They must share an eye surgeon.

I hadn't seen Juliana in a while and when she appeared on the screen I said "holy shit!" out loud. My bf was in the other other room and asked what was the matter and I said "come in here and look at this bitch's face!" He saw her face and also said "holy shit!"

She was a very pretty woman, what a shame she did that to herself.

The ponytail with her widow's peak and weird tight, pale face was god awful

I threw up a bit when Elle Woods kissed The Good Wife.🤮

Did they massage each other's bosoms?

The writing this season has too many “dramatic confrontations” that are too complicated and confusing. Someone is always running into someone else in a hallway and unloading word twisters and symbolic threats instead of just speaking in plain English. It’s too soap opera like.

Juice Newton's "Angel Of the Morning" at the end of the episode was a nice touch. I hadn't heard that song in ages and it still sounds great.

Juliana Margulies only appears in that one episode (unless IMDB is lying), so nothing much will come of that lesbo kiss with Reese. It felt a little cheap and sensationalistic, like so much else on this show.

So who's dying of CV-19 among the THE MORNING SHOW folks? And do we have any idea if there will be a Season 3?

I bet that’s a newsroom where there are not a lot of coworker birthday cakes being eaten.

Two phony cunts. Would have to pay me to watch it.

Please elaborate on your firsthand experiences with them R58.

It's a very entertaining show, I think some people are taking it too seriously.

So Aniston is Katie Couric? (was just on her book thread)

One issue many people are having is that the series has been off the air for two years and so the details of Season 1 have long since been forgotten. (Outside of Datalounge, that is. DLers can remember shows from 40 years ago so two years ago should be easy!)

This was helpful--short and sweet but good recap of all the major plot twists.

I think even Helen Keller saw the kiss between Bradley and Julianne M's character coming from a distance.

Still thinking as I watch how much better this show could've been. It's like everyone involved is just taking the Apple $$$ and laughing all the way to the bank. And perhaps they are.

[quote]Aniston's face is so plumped that her mouth sounds weird when she talks.

Her new visage reminded me of Stockard Channing.

The platypus mouth effect - is that because of fillers? Nicole Kidman is another example.

Aniston would have been quite compelling as the main character in Big Little Lies

Instead of Alex, they should have just called her Rachel.

After I read about her acting tics of flipping her hair and holding her stomach that's all I could see the next episode I watched.

Aniston’s face looks like a gently aging plum, and the closeups are unsettling. She also needs to stop shaving the tip of her nose. The second season turns down the dial of wokism the first one had. I’m on the 3rd episode and my interest is waning after the lesbian kiss.

Do they really need to deify Hannah?

Pass.

I felt bad for the actress playing Hannah--like I was watching the performer struggle with the character onscreen. Her character didn't make a lot of sense to me. The writers avoided giving her a genuine edge which would have made her interesting and authentic and not just some sad anonymous victim.

There's a lot of bad writing his show, starting with the principal characters and working down. It often feels underbaked, despite all the big names and big money spent. I would be extremely surprised if there's a season 3.

The writing on this show is so disjointed and confusing. I wonder if that’s an issue with having stars with more power than any showrunner. I can almost imagine the contracts with Aniston and Witherspoon spelling out how many righteous speeches each actress is guaranteed and which camera angels they can and can’t be shot from.

Camera angels are the most celestial angels of them all.

r72 that's almost always a huge issue with big stars. They want complete control over how sympathetic and relatable their characters are, even if it's detrimental to the overall project.

Steve Carell is willing to make his character unlikable

Yanko is cute but he may be a Repug because he was against tRump's impeachment.

I detest the theme song for this show and I can't understand what the singer is saying.

[quote] I detest the theme song for this show and I can't understand what the singer is saying.

And it goes on forever!

Aniston was a fool not to do nudity and air her lovely titties for the world to admire back when she was found and non-saggy. The horse has bolted

I loved the awkward Daniel song. I don’t understand why I’m supposed to care about the Steve Carrell storyline unless they’re going to have him die of covid. The writing for Stella’s character is atrocious, they’re having her sound and act like a high schooler, not someone who would have made it to that level in the industry.

Did Daniel get shitcanned?

I like the Ted Lasso theme song opening it's short and sweet, why does this terrible show theme song go on so long?

Why do they make me press “Skip” about 50 times to get to the start of the episode?

They can also keep the whining about how consumers don’t like all the streaming platforms.

Bradley is making herself vulnerable to Laura and she's going to take advantage of that

I can’t tell if Bradley is naive or doing a double-cross on both Laura and Billy Crudup. The ghost of Reese in Election is always lurking in my mind.

Billy Crudup looks like he’s going to have a breakdown every time he gazes at Bradley. We’re going to have an Albert Brooks in Broadcast News situation with him and her.

I have Netflix, Prime, Hulu, and Apple+ and I get sick of all the fees, but they have their nerve bringing up that people don't want another streaming service.

Billy Crudup is still attractive but he looks older than 53

All the good looking black men and they hire this Daniel actor, he is fug.

That’s why he doesn’t have THE IT FACTOR!

They did a good job of casting the second- and third-string morning show faces. I watched people like that come and go from the Today Show for years. Although Yanko can’t hold a candle to Al Roker, he’s more like the weekend weather guys they brought in.

r90 ha you are right, that's why he has no IT factor. :)

[quote]Billy Crudup is still attractive but he looks older than 53

He's a heavy smoker, that will always age a person.

Weirdly, JM’s face didn’t look as puffy and scary as it did in her first episode. It’s still not great, but it wasn’t as jarring.

Holland Taylor’s superb cunting has added additional years to my life!

The asian chick Lila is terrible but I guess that's the point?

oops I meant Stella

Holland Taylor is always a treat. Fabulous actress.

Just watched the most recent ep.

This shit isn't going to get any better, is it?

Everybody on this show is a total asshole.

Didn't renew my Apple TV subscription that expires today. Needed to see the last episode of Ted Lasso which I did. This show was not nearly good enough to pay the five bucks for a month more.

They're asking me to suspend much disbelief with the lesbian story line.

^ Yes. The idea that Julianna Margulies would ever be nice to another woman, for a start.

**Spoiler**

Seeing Reese and Ghoulianah Margulies (sp?) in bed together made me sick enough to turn off the show and be done. That was the "jumped shark"...if it hadn't been jumped several times already. Nope, nope...I'm out. What a colossal waste of Apple $$$; I'm glad to still have a Samsung. And yes--as everyone else has said--Aniston is playing herself for the 29th time.

I don’t watch the morning shows, but am home today and was flipping this morning and on The Today Show, they were doing something with Natalie Morales—I don’t know if she’s leaving or returning—and they had the whole cast onstage with NATALIE flashing on all the screens and showing clips of her. It reminded me of the Morning Show episode where Alex/Aniston comes back. I wonder if the Today people hate Natalie like the fictional news people hate Alex.

Wasn’t the rumor always that Natalie and Matt Lauer had an affair?

I do find it spooky how closely the Aniston storyline is following Katie Couric publishing an actual tell-all book right now.

I liked the first season but this is off to kind of a shaky start. Part of it is that I binge watched the first season in about a week, and this show seems better suited for that. The first season started kind of slow, but even moreso it feels like the first couple new episodes have been an awful lot of setup/table-setting. It's like, what's the main storyline here?

The writing in Episode 4 felt particularly sloppy and left me with several questions. Is Julianna's character supposed to be openly gay? That wasn't entirely clear. And was she really suggested that Reese could come out, I guess, *that day* as bisexual and thus land the debate moderating gig? That seems ... far-fetched.

Did Cory ever listen to Fred Micklin's voicemail? He didn't answer the call and later looked at it on his phone, but they never showed him listening to it. Yet by the end of the episode he was trying to head off Fred leaking a story about the dead producer. Given that, wouldn't you listen to his message?

Also, did the young News division president fire Daniel after he hijacked the show to sing that song? They showed her leaving his office and him looking glum but that's it. Are they saving that for a subsequent episode?

I assume Mitch Kessler is going to catch the COVID and croak? Seems like they have to write Steve Carell off this thing somehow, in case there's a third season. It's kind of weird to watch a storyline revolving around an accused rapist. I didn't realize until my friend who also watches this show mentioned it that his Italian lady-friend is played by Valeria Golino who played Tom Cruise's love interest in "Rain Man" a million years ago.

Valeria Golino is hard to watch and Steve Carell's character is creepy.

I love Valeria Golino in this. She's like a lot of ballsy Italian women I've known. They have no time for victim politics.

Weird when she tried to kiss him on the cheek and Carell got weird about it. He has been the sexual offender, why is he being so tender to the touch?

[quote]Aniston always plays Rachel.

I didn't like how her character suddenly turned into a #MeToo champion at the end of season one. Anniston probably has a say in how her character is depicted so a villain can't be good for her "America's Sweetheart" image. I'm fine with Resse but they should've have cast a real actor instead of a celebrity like Anniston.

So when is it back?

r111 new episode every Friday

Witherspoon weighs in on the possibility of a third season

It’s a little early to know anything concrete about whether or not there will be a third season of The Morning Show. However, Witherspoon still weighed in on the possibility. “I think season 3 is on our minds. We’re definitely planning for it, but it just has to hit the same bar,” she said to Collider Interviews.

I’m loving season 2 compared to the nothingness that was season 1. Watching Anniston’s character fall apart before the Vegas debate was a hoot. I can just imagine Savannah Guthrie being this neurotic.

I think I never fully understand what's going on in any given episode of the show. I half-expected Alex was displaying symptoms of COVID (ie, muscle spasms). I wasn't clear that she was merely having a nervous breakdown.

Did we ever find out what happened to Daniel after his spontaneous song? And what will become of Yanko, now that he's fistfighting on the street?

So did Cory and Bradley fuck? That's unclear. Is he in love with Bradley? I don't understand.

The idea that Alex outed Laura (the Julianna M character) to advance her own career is actually a good storyline, which means nothing will come of it.

Bradley suddenly going down to tunatown on Juliana was so out of left field and "WTF?" It just seemed like the writers got lazy and had no other ideas.

Steve Carell is hard to look at, he is ugly and I was hoping we were rid of his character

I don't trust the mean lesbian.

Is Corey going to leak the Bradley/Laura relationship? I would think it's too late to leak anything about Alex/Mitch if it's already in the book.

It’s strange to me that they are making Corey so sincere. One of the things I liked about Season 1 was how you could never tell whether he was a snake or a good guy. Now he seems like kind of a sap…

Aniston has way too many fillers at this point, her face is plumped and frozen in the hotel hallway scene with her EP (who should quit his job and go back to his nice fiancée).

Corey practically biting his pillow in devastation at hearing Laura in Bradley’s room - LOL!

Do we trust "The Franchise Hound"?

Wouldn't have Reese and Jen have already committed to a season 3 if it were airing in Q3 of 2022? We're in Q4 of 2021.

What is Aniston covering up on the right side of her face with her hair?

Episode 5 was the best so far this season … Aniston is good at playing Alex as she comes unglued.

Where things seem to be headed: Cory will decide to reveal the bargain he cut with Fred in order to block the release of the dirt on Hannah. But then Mitch will die of COVID and the Italian journalist will release his interview, which will protect UBA since he admits his actions led to her suicide.

Obviously, Cory got Bradley to agree to do "whatever it takes" to suppress the Hannah story so he can trade it for the Bradlesbian story.

I still don’t understand why Cory gives a shit about he Hannah story. He didn’t know her, he didn’t have anything to do with her suicide, it feels a bit much.

The hotel scene between Marcia Gay Harden and Aniston was good.

R128 I loved the twisted little smile Marcia gave at the end

Marcia Gay Harden never disappoints.

I agree. This season is better than the last one.

I think it's totally unbelievable that old, homely Steve Carrell was bedding all of these hot young women.

The lesbian story comes out of left field (shades of Serena Southerlyn) and the dynamics of it seem dated.

Yeah, the shock over the lesbian shit seems like something out of the 90s.

Jen Aniston is so over TMS that she didn't even show up for this week's episode.

I really don't blame her.

This week’s episode was really odd. They already pulled the “host stays home sick” thing with Reese’s character, now they’re doing it with Aniston’s? The network head selling a story to TMZ or whatever trashy website that was about a gay affair? Reese’s brother randomly shows up?

I don’t understand where the battling over race—which only seems to take place between non-white characters—is even going!

Seems like they didn’t have enough to fill a whole second season and are just spinning wheels. I’m not sure why they don’t drop the COVID plot in now.

Corey pining after Reese's character? Weak.

It seemed like Laura started out as a sneaky bitch but now she’s a warm and wise elderlez (apologies to our beloved own). Or maybe I always read Margulies as a sneaky bitch and I was prejudging the character.

Margulies always brings a dose of "scheming bitch" to every role she plays: it's one of her built-in features. It's part of what made THE GOOD WIFE compelling, because her character would have been insufferably virtuous without it.

I think she's quite good on TMS. Reese and Jen's characters are so insane and inconsistent that Margulies makes the action feel more centered. (So does Marcia Gay Harden.) And it's fun to see Holland Taylor as a complete C-word as the network boss.

Can I just point out that they have exactly 4 episodes left to resolve all these complicated story lines? If COVID is going to wreak havoc on the newsroom (or on the characters in Italy), it better start cracking.

At least for those of us who are doubtful about a season 3.

Was thinking the same thing about the COVID storyline R140. It’s still late February on the show!

The show moves at a glacial pace, it’s frustrating. I think they did a massive disservice to S1 when in that S2 post dinner fight between Alex and Bradley (at the elevator), Alex states that they only worked together for 4 weeks or maybe it was 6 weeks.

So S1 is basically just 4-6 weeks of drama. There is no way in hell that Bradley could have pulled a Buttigieg and dipped on her job for her little week long protest in S2. Then they act as if Bradley would have any sway when she hasn’t been on the show long enough to build a loyal fan base. No one would really give a shit about her. The network would thought it was nothing to replace Bradley after the on air confession. They would have found a credible female from another news agency or their nightly news to co-anchor. Then they would have fired bradley as they brought on that hot Indian guy that moved to nightly news. But they would have tossed her ass aside. She wasn’t even popular considering the rates drop and her unfavorables. Cory bring her white knight is stupid.

They should have said that Alex and Bradley were working together for a couple of months to add some credibility to the idea that Bradley is stalking around hosting major Campaign Debates and has the audacity to request doing nightly news. Bitch, you haven’t even reached your one-year anniversary and have been nothing but trouble from the start.

I assume the writers boxed themselves into that timeline because they must have said the dates in s1, so with the COViD rewrite they wanted to be careful to time things right. But Bradley only being on the show a few weeks before Alex’s Departure and less than a year between Alex leaving, then retiring, and that random guy getting the nightly news form no-where is all a massive stretch.

Considering the timeline, it makes sense that the minor talents on the show are frustrated watching Bradley shit all over the TMS with tantrums and high profile gigs like the Presidential Debates.

[quote]I still don’t understand why Cory gives a shit about he Hannah story. He didn’t know her, he didn’t have anything to do with her suicide, it feels a bit much.

Yes, this makes no sense to me. It's totally inconsistent with the character as portrayed last season.

It was interesting that the last episode had a reference to Covid-19 in Italy. This show needs better writing. It’s really bad.

I just can't believe the meltdown Bradley is having over people finding out about her lesbian affair. As if the general public could give two fucks that a morning show personality is a lesbian in the year 2021. It's ridiculous. Maybe if this were a period piece set in the 90s it would be more believable.

And then she has another meltdown about her mother finding out. She's always hated her cunt of a mother and barely has anything to do with her, it's not like they've ever been close. Why does she give a fuck?

The writing this season has made all the characters inconsistent, not even just compared to Season 1 but also within Season 2. All the ideas seem half-baked: they’re going to draw Reese into a lesbian affair that upsets…Corey (why Corey?), but Corey has to have a reason to be upset, so they add in a flashback to an almost-kiss between them, which Reese’s character seems to have no recollection of? And Corey is suddenly in love with her enough to be distraught, but also doesn’t mind making her life hell by doing the trashiest thing possible and leaking it to TMZ? Because he suddenly cares about Hannah? WTF.

I’m hoping next episode the tell-all book will finally come out and get some of these plots moving.

I like looking at that hot baby faced bro who plays the social media guy on TMS. He’s basically just a set dressing but I wish they’d contrive a way to get his top off.

[quote] Corey pining after Reese's character? Weak.

Bigtime!

JM may look a little strange these days, and never got that movie career, but she is a much better actress than Reese or Aniston.

I think Mitch will croak from Covid and Maggie Brenner’s book will be totally shelved (pardon my pun), leading the way for Alex to return to TMS.

I was a tad confused when Cory was watching a UBA special program hosted by Laura. Is she a fixture at the network? I thought she was only there as a temp replacement for Alex.

I think Laura has a nighttime newsmagazine show like a 20/20 or Dateline type thing, r150.

Mitch physically repulses me, hope he dies from Covid so his storyline is cut short.

I thought JM had a lot of plastic surgery but in one scene she puckered and you could see so many wrinkles around her mouth, must be a smoker.

I enjoyed Yanko’s crack about people thinking he wears eye make-up off camera. I remember first seeing Nestor Carbonell on 24 and wondering why he seemed to be wearing very distinctive eyeliner. It was distracting.

MM’s “second wedding dress"

Sorry, wrong thread. Yikes!

It’s crazy that this show has the biggest budget of all time and it seems like absolutely none of it went to the writing. Great cast and they’re totally wasted on boring, uneventful storytelling.

Can we talk about how the theme song and opening credits are interminable and awful?

[quote] It’s crazy that this show has the biggest budget of all time and it seems like absolutely none of it went to the writing. Great cast and they’re totally wasted on boring, uneventful storytelling.

It really is a mess in a lot of ways but I still enjoy watching it. The writing can be dreck but then Holland Taylor or Marcia Gay Harden or even Mindy Kaling will pop in with a scenery-chewing performance and wake up the whole episode!

Yes, they really should direct a bit more of that production budget to better writing talent. The plots seem particularly contrived this season, as if everything that's happening is only happening to set up heavy dramatic stakes in the last two episodes or whatever. It doesn't feel at all organic.

Also, I doubt this is an original observation, but I'm amused at how they act like network morning shows are just this insanely important, high-stakes undertaking and that people like Alex, Bradley et al are just these massively important cultural figures. Given that TV networks are total dinosaurs at this point, it all feels a little ... dated?

A good example of the contrived plotting is Bradley's troubled brother showing up right as she's being outed ... anyone else suspect that he's going to OD in the next couple episodes just basically in order to give Reese something else to emote about?

Where the hell was Aniston last episode? Isn’t she making two million an episode? She doesn’t even have to show up?

R157, I always make the skip function my friend at that point. Awful, smug song/singer. This show shouldn’t have an opening credits sequence at all, anyway.

R162 I wish they would have gone with a tongue and cheek opener with the hosts of the moment featured like a real morning show. So in S1 E1 we’d see Alex and Mitch. Then they’d change to just Alex the next few episodes.

With their budget there are so many more fun things they could have done. Or my goodness, they could have gone the Mad Men route (one of the best theme songs/visuals in history) and tapped into images that define the history of Morning Shows or network TV, instead we get a bunch of balls as if this show was about the Powerball.

I actually like the theme song and animation. My boyfriend hates it and asks me to skip it though.

Your boyfriend has good taste, R164.

Wait, are you my boyfriend, r164? I always skip it too.

I’m annoyed that when I hit Skip, it still plays the end of the song.

Hah, R167, me, too! But I immediately hit the 15 seconds later buttom.

This isn't saying much, but I think this most recent episode was Reese's best.

I also hate the opening credits/theme song. If we have to suffer thru one, why not make it like Knot's Landing and have all the leads circled in alphabetical order, ending "With Steve Carell", and Special Guest Star Julianna Margulies as Laura Peterson (as she flips her hair).

You know we'd watch those opening credits every fucking week!

Why is the theme song about Mahjong?

* SPOILER

* SPOILER

* SPOILER

I thought Covid would take _______ out but a car accident works.

Am I watching The Morning Show or NBC's Thursday night lineup from the 90s. We got Jennifer Aniston from Friends, (8pm), Steve Carrell from The Office (8:30), Nestor Carbonell from Suddenly Susan (9:30) and Julianna Margulies from ER at 10pm. When does Jason Alexander start appearing?

I just finished episodes 5 and 6 of season 2. I really don't get what they're doing with the Daniel character. I feel like I should be on his side, but we've never actually seen him be likable or good at his job, so he just comes off as whiny and entitled. It also doesn't help that the actor has zero charisma, which just seems to justify the story point that Daniel doesn't have the "it factor." It's also bizarre to have Daniel claim racism without anyone ever pointing out that the person he's trying to replace is Hassan Minhaj. Also, on what planet is Mindy Kaling believable as a morning show host? I generally like her, but she is all wrong for her role here.

Mindy Kaling is probably filling that Hoda spot in their morning TV universe. I assume she’s likable on camera and been in her job for years so despite not having the traditional look she’s beloved by her dedicated audience.

I agree about Daniel. The character is an entitled bitch with no discernible skill and the actor is unappealing and charmless.

Just finished episode 7. What a mess. If I were Aniston I'd have gone MIA like Alex during production of this one.

Julianna Margulies comes off as unpleasant, I never cared for her even back on ER.

So Alex is stuck in lockdown in Italy during Covid? Jesus, this show is such a fucking mess.

r178, Julianna Margulies IS unpleasant.

I guess this is why Steve isn’t part of the promo art for the reason.

This show is such a hodge podge. This episode in particular was just dull…

I'm so fucking pissed about what an incoherent mess this season is.

My apologies, R67. I was R37, and I'm coming back to this thread after a long time since I'm now all caught up. Should I spare you further and not mention her throat clearing before or in the middle of a meaningful line? Oops!

Lots of scenes of driving at night in this one. What a weird show.

I found the latest episode interminable. Ponderous, talky, pointless. The final act is a suicide, not an accident--a conscious choice that doesn't make sense in light of the character's choice to open up to the possibility of a new relationship just moments before.

It was also Jen Aniston and her most annoying tics on parade: her sad befuddled frowny face, her staccato delivery when she's angry, acting with her hair. A lot of warmed over Rachel Green, in other words. (I kept waiting for her to call Carrell "Ross" during their scenes together.) I was mostly indifferent to her before TMS but the series has lowered my estimation of her further.

Three episodes left. Tick tock.

The acting in this mess is a joke.

All these A listers and none of them can conjure up a tear or two for what appears to be a full-on ugly cry?

Rachel, I mean Jen, you should be able to do better.

I'm glad Carrell is off the show—it made no sense to have his character back this season. I guess they wanted to show the fallout for someone who was accused of sexual misconduct and maybe their path to redemption, but nothing they did really redeemed Mitch. He still seemed to think of himself as the victim and having Alex show up to lecture him about how his actions were terrible because they hurt *her* credibility really didn't improve the situation. Frankly, if they were gonna kill Mitch, they should have done it at the start of the season. Maybe have the news about him targeting black women come out and then the next day everyone learns Mitch has been found dead in a hotel room. Then everyone could try to reconcile with their own role in his suicide. That would certainly be a hell of a lot more interesting than watching Mitch "suffer" in a Lake Como estate and then nonsensically dance with Alex who nonsensically shows up at his door.

Yes, the dancing was cringey. That entire sequence felt like being trapped in a really terrible one-act, two character play... two characters of no interest and no appeal.

I fast-forwarded through parts of that episode, mostly Aniston scenes of driving, dancing, and going ape.

[quote]The final act is a suicide, not an accident--a conscious choice that doesn't make sense in light of the character's choice to open up to the possibility of a new relationship just moments before.

True, but I think it was one of those suicides (if he does end up dead) that was the result of a momentary feeling and bad choice. It made sense to me, and I've actually been appreciating the journey he's been on this season. A lot of his self-realizations rang true to me. But the things Alex screamed at him were remarkably cruel and devastating, and when the car starts to fly off the road and he's hearing all the worst things anyone's said to him in the past year, the way he takes his hands off the wheel and lets it happen seems like a logical option in that moment.

If I had all that money and a palazzo on the Lago di Como, I don't believe I'd have any problem sequestering myself in luxurious loneliness instead of offing myself. But then again, I don't have to live with knowing I'm a piece of crap who blew up my own life.

Hopefully Reese and Apple fire the writing team if they get picked up for another year. Didn’t they replace another team already? I remember hearing the showrunner’s biggest hit before this was Bates Motel, which seems appropriate as that was another show with potential that was squandered on tedious, excruciatingly boring side plots with irrelevant characters.

What a waste. This could’ve been an awesome show.

The NY Magazine recapper said Mitch went “Toonces style.” LOL

Hopefully Alex picked up a fatal case of COVID in Italy and brings it back to her work colleagues, and we never have to hear from any of them ever again.

I do hope that Paola and Mitch’s dog live happily ever after.

Director/producer Mimi Leder is waffling on a Season 3.

Alex is certifiable. Everyone else acts circles around Aniston.

That's all I have.

There is no likable character. They ruined Corey in the 2nd season.

Fire Mimi Leder (or whoever’s been sleeping through story meetings), and bring Jason Sudeikis and his crew over to clean up the mess. And I’m saying this as a fan. It’s a shame that a great cast I has been poorly served by such an unfocused and ineptly thought out story arc.

When everyone on DL was ragging on Anniston for just being Rachel and acting with her hair, I thought you bitches were just being bitches. But this episode--the one when she flew private to Italy in a pandemic to act with her hair--i just wanted her to die. I've never seen such a tedious, annoying, screeching, dismal portrayal of a human being in my life.

You’re selling Jen short R200. In addition to her hair, she can raise her eyebrows to emote.

This Aniston master class video on acting is akin to the video of Meghan McCain repeating “my father” over and over again and it is just as tedious and pathetic.

Wow. As opposed to a lot of you I've been enjoying this season more than I expected... but the new (very special) episode! Yikes. Awful, and illogical beyond belief. Why would Alex decide to fly to Italy during a pandemic lockdown??? Insane. Ah well...

I loved season 1. The last episode when it all exploded was just great. This season is a slog fest. Not enough of the supporting characters. I think Steve Carrel is fantastic but his character was not given a good arc this year. I hate the JM storyline and the JA breakdown. She is so unlikeable. At least last year she showed her vulnerability. This year it’s all based on ego.

It was unnecessary to cast Juliana Marguiles. The show had a large enough and strong enough cast as it was. IMHO, Marguiles is really unappealing, I've never liked her.

SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER ALERT (only for those who have seen the most recent episode).

When Mitch Kessler made a sharp right and drove his car off a cliff, was anybody thinking of the time Michael Scott was following his GPS and made a sharp right into a lake?

Still unclear about the Mitch - Alex sexual relationship. Was it just the one incident? Did Mitch roofie her or is she saying she was too drunk to give consent? And Mitch did not realize how drunk she was and just thought she was a horrible lay?

They also fucking ruined Corey this season, too. He comes off as pathetic now.

R207, it's unclear to me how many times they slept together. All along, Alex has made it seem like it was just once. The talk in the last episode seemed to imply it was more than that. I read his "Are you going to say I RAPED you?!?" not as a worry that the truth would come out but a worry that she might throw him under the bus to save her own neck.

Isn’t anyone going to say anything about Alex’s pregnancy scare?

She got all weepy when she confessed to Mitch that after their fling, she thought she was carrying his baby.

Poor dear couldn’t sleep thinking about the possibility of being pregnant. Worse than that, she didn’t comb her hair!

Honestly, I hadn’t R206 but that’s a great connection,

That was a really bad episode of television. Is this the character arc Aniston wanted this season? Alex could not be less sympathetic. The supposedly warm scenes between her and Mitch were terribly cringe inducing. Good lord.

I took it as Alex was threatening to lie about what really happened and say she didn’t know how she wound up in his bed. An act of self preservation on her part that Mitch was stunned about.

They shouldn't have had a time skip the 2nd season. It was exciting at the end when Alex blurted it out live on air and Fred was running down the hallway to stop it and they locked him out of the control room. Then the next season it took place a few months later and the momentum died.

R214 Exactly! I wanted to see what happened during the seven months they skipped! What was the point of all that bonding that took place between Alex and Bradley (still the two most pretentious female character names!) if we're later told they were never even in the same room together again? Lazy, unimaginative writing!

Also a huge week long on air celebration to welcome back a host who'd only been gone for 7 months seems a bit far fetched. Didn't they also originally say Alex's return was supposed to be temporary? But as soon as she walked on set they've treated it as if it's permanent.

For a minute in the latest episode, it looked like Steve Carell's Italian fling was going to go completely psycho, and I was here for that twist. But it didn't happen.

I think I am out. This show is ridiculous and I hate every single character.

I wish Shari Belafonte’s character would go postal on their asses.

What twist were you thinking, R217?

It’s the MeToo movement wrapped up in a poorly written, badly acted soap opera.

Why did this Charlie/Chip character return? He’s annoying.

Now we know the Italian woman will release the interview. Bla blah blah. The lost me this year. More Yanko please

Chip is one of the few characters on the show who seems like a real person (albeit a doormat).

But Chip is a mediocre white man! According to some girl who's also white and who we know nothing about and is angry for no good reason!

One of the few things the show does well is play in the gray area between “powerful white guys suck” and “woke people are annoying.” It did this well with Carrell’s character especially, spending the season showing the audience why he was appealing and somewhat sympathetic, then pulling the rug out from under us by specifying that he actually did force sex on an underling. With Chip, the assistant (?) who accused him of being a mediocre white guy was borrowing that language because she was pissed that he did a bunch of things wrong but managed to land back at the show due to his connections with Alex. She has a fair reason to be mad but she’s using trendy language that has nothing to do with the problem, which is that life isn’t fair and people benefit from their personal connections all the time.

You know what this show needs? Pig's blood.

R226 = Billy Nolan

Aniston is the big surprise in this show. I’ve been a fan of hers since Friends and thought she was a talented actress of unseen depths. Not anymore. Woof. I think she wanted to legitimize herself somewhat with an hour long drama but she’s totally out of her element and you can tell the hours are weighing on him. She looks tired, stressed, and her performance is one note.

Maybe stick to the light comedies, Jen.

More Mia (Karen Pittman) please. She can act circles around the 2 million per episode stars.

I don’t get the Steve Carrell hate. I think he’s foxy.

Mia has dead eyes. If that is an intentional look created by Karen Pittman then yes she can act circles around the rest of the cast.

Pittman is a total mediocrity and Mia is a relentlessly uncompelling character.

At least Mia has never broken out into a Neil Diamond number.

We got more Mia this episode and I thought she did well. Are we supposed to feel bad for Alex because I don't.

Alex at Paige's door was brutal, and the best scene this season.

But r234 it was only twice

My response to the latest ep? The moment where Chip vomits all over Cory's desk. (I love that they cut upon Cory summoning his assistant.)

There was a LOT of Chip (Mark Duplass) in this episode, and he's not the most compelling actor in the cast. A little goes a long way.

And so many, many tears shed over Mitch and his passing. I thought the doorway scene where Alex tells Paige worked mostly because of Paige and her response. By contrast, that long teary monologue Mia had in her office was just horrendous. Mia was so much better informing the TMS set.

So Mitch is dead, already. Will we spend the final two episodes mourning his loss?

The scene of Ross and Rachel arguing about the letter--I mean Chip and Alex arguing about the voicemail--seemed to last forever.

So did Alex bring a case of CV-19 back with her from Italy? Is ANYONE's life going to be affected by CV-19?

Can Bradley's hillbillly elegy brother be the first fatality, please?

This show makes working in the tv news industry the most unpleasant job in the world.

Another episode where Aniston got two millions dollars for barely ten minutes of screen time.

I only just got around to finishing the Italy episode, because I got so bored last week I switched it off early. I agree that Mitch took his hands off the wheel (too bad Dwight wasn’t there). In the end it seemed he loved Alex and was done with life, which is too bad because the Italian woman was right there if he wanted to try building a new life. I don’t really understand why Alex is so weak and desperate for public approval—maybe it’s a famous person thing?

The Italian woman was annoying and looked rough.

Mitch spent about 30 seconds considering the impact of anything he did (like killing himself) on his children. The Kendell Roy School of Fatherhood!

Everything having to do with Alex the last few episodes has been awful. And Aniston is really just relying on her most Rachel-y tics in her performance. At this point, I'd be happy to have Alex written out and Laura become the new co-lead with Reese.

When they mistakenly reported "Michael Kessler was in the crash" (or whatever they said), at first I thought I heard "Michael Scott".

I guess Embeth Davidtz, (who plays Paige), must specialize in playing wives of men who commit suicide. She previously played Lane's wife in Mad Men.

I like Embeth Davidsz. Whenever she pops up in a show, I go “oh her!”

You bitches ruined my experience watching Aniston “act”. When she heard the news about Mitch, I just knew she would place her hand in her abdomen. So predictable.

Chip is the worst. He treated every women he encountered this episode like shit. Glad the President of News told him to fuck off and check his rank. I somewhat liked him but this episode was overkill of Chip.

I want to fuck Mark Duplass and I don't know why. He's not attractive but there's still something about him.

I agree R249. He has such an appealing face.

Reese needs to demand that they don’t shoot her up close in certain angles. Her jowls were very prominent and distracting in this episode.

The soundtrack they choose is full of good music (well, my taste in music) but it doesn’t match the vibe of the show at all. You can’t just throw The Boxer in in any scene of any show and try to ride on how good it is. (They definitely should have put Country Roads by John Denver there, if they were going to pick a classic…)

There’s no chance the news would have held so long. Chip’s journey in this episode was like one of those nightmares where you’re trying to get to school to take a test and you hit an endless parade of hurdles.

Alex is the biggest narcissistic on planet earth.

Thought the same thing R253. And no way the family would not have been notified by someone in Italy before Alex delivers the news in person. And Chip is a loser.

I feel bad for Chip. By not standing up for himself, he treats himself worse than Alex does. Her screaming at him that she would never suck his dick was just a repellant moment for me. Pull the car over and get out and walk away, Chip. If that’s what she’s been thinking about him all these years when he’s killed himself at this job? Mark Duplass acted the hell out of that moment—the look on his face, God!

Everything in this show, just about every line of dialogue is so contrived. In real life, nothing most of these characters do or say is plausible. Rachel actually says to Paige, Mitch's widow, "we only did it twice". C'mon.

The only acceptable reason for any action or spoken dialogue any character says or does is that it's in the script.

[quote]You bitches ruined my experience watching Aniston “act”.

Honey let me tell you how hard it is to act with a piece of putty stuck on the end of your nose.

Reese turns out to be a better actress than I thought.

How did Aniston get a SAG award last season, just boggles the mind. And her face! The profile shots do her no favor.

And, she needs better nails R258.

I saw an Instagram video of Aniston's this morning (the app suggested it to me), and she looked many times better than she does in the show. I don't know what they're doing to her with makeup. Someone on that crew must hate her. She is not a pretty woman, but she looks better as herself. Or maybe it was achieved by the use of filters.

Again this week, all these high priced actors - yet none of them can actually shed a tear while "crying"?

I was enjoying this show last "season". This year I'm all.... how much time is left on this episode and how many more are left?

Stick a fork in it. It's overdone.

Aniston's face looks puffy and I noticed they haven't been putting much eye makeup on her, she looks better with a bit of smoky eyee.

She’s just so beige. Hair, skin, lipstick….beige.

I really hate her long draggy hair. It's not flattering in the slightest, and no Jen, it doesn't disguise the fact that you're 52 years old. Even if the world insists on acting like you're still 29.

The latest episode made me like Bradley and Alex better and the ending was interesting.

I figured out how the series ends. Alex wakes up in bed, screaming having had a nightmare. The person next to her wakes up and turns on the light. It's Ross. He says, "Rachel, are you all right?" She responds, "Oh, it was awful. I dreamed I was on a break and I lost all my friends!"

The lights then start to fade as we hear familiar music in the background, ...."I'll be there for you....." .....

This show is just so oddly made that I keep tuning in to see what happens next. Both the writing and the acting make the characters inconsistent from episode to episode - it’s like they’re playing that game where you sit around in a group and take turns writing one sentence to continue a story. It takes us on these random diversions like Reese’s brother’s trip to rehab that seem pointless in the larger story. I wonder if all the people contracted didn’t really have enough time to spend on Season Two, so they were just squeezing writing and filming in on odd days in their schedules.

The only character I find appealing at this point is Charlie Black and his anorak.

Chip will probably die of Covid, his love for Alex will kill him

The Chip Love from some of you is ironic, as TMS has ensured that I never ever need to see Mark Duplass onscreen ever again. In anything.

Judge-y tiresome Brit girl came back to be both judge-y and tiresome to Yanko. I don't understand the wrongful death lawsuit plot and I do not care.

Weirdest moment of the ep: Cory's late night talk show appearance. Is this something that network executives actually do, as a routine?

One ep left. I will miss it, oddly. What will I have to hate-watch each week now?

I’ve been assuming Cory is modeled on that NBC exec Ben something ? who brought The Office to US tv. He got a lot of personal press back in the day but I’m not sure he ever made it to a late night show.

Brandon Tartikoff used to go on Letterman back in the day, didn't he?

This is former-NBC exec Ben Silverman, whom I was thinking of:

I don’t think this show is very good, but like some of you, I keep watching to see how fucked up it is going to be each week.

Last night's episode was like 3 combined. It's like they originally had an order for 13, then after shooting the 8th, were told the order was cut to 10, and suddenly had to throw everything in to episode 9. It was dizzying.

This show reminds me of the similarly doomed megabudget failed flagship SMASH. All that money and talent undone by idiotic plotting and bad writing. This is amateur level storytelling. Wasn’t the plot with her brother resolved last week? That was the natural endpoint. He humiliated her at her job and she was finally done. So why did we need an episode long denouement where the recycled the same points that had been belabored and resolved for the past five episodes? Was the illustrious writer of Bates Motel unable to think of something for Reese to do for most of the episode until her totally unprofessional dressing down of Marcia Gay Hardon that would’ve only resulted as mockery in the media instead of some fake folk hero bullshit? As if Twitter wouldn’t have taken the first opportunity to castigate her for not supporting other women? Gimme a break.

Also, they’re not getting into the height of COVID until the finale? Does that mean next season will take place in spring 2020? Will anyone still care?

Next season will probably be another time jump.

Dick Lundy (Martin Short) at the memorial was perfection. It was one of the only monologues in this show that has made any sense. It makes me wonder if Martin ad-libbed the whole scene.

I don’t think we’ll see a Season Three of this

Maybe, R278. I think they would have started shooting it by now.

Frankly, I couldn't stand the Martin Short moologue... just seemed very masterbatory, just to get him a guest artist nomination for a Emmy. Also, Alex's endless monologue at the funeral. Yikes. The one thing I did like was the Bradley/Maggie interview. Unrealistic, maybe, but very satisfying, particularly after the rest of the episode.

I liked season 1. This season has been so up and down. One thing I’ve always noticed is how awful Reece and Jennifer are at acting like today show hosts. They have no newscaster voices at all. Just so bland when they read the prompter. I like Yanko and yet he’s been thrown aside this season.

What was the point of bringing Yanko’s love back for one scene?

To help Bel Powley qualify for her SAG medical insurance?

I guess to show how the woke folks are not going to forgive Mitch, and why they were not a good match.

I don't think Alex will die from Covid, but Chip dies from her passing it on! And all the African-American characters die so that Alex can also be accused of racism. And then Laura gets it and dies so all the lesbians and Bradley can hate Alex.

Then we see her secretly meeting with Herman Cain before he attends that Trump rally in Oklahoma.

[quote] but Chip dies from her passing it on!

Turns out screaming in the enclosed car that she’d never blow him was a lethal move!

Alex responded to finding out she had Covid like she’d discovered her credit cards had been stolen.

The transition from falling over in her house and waking up in the hospital bed was bizarre, like they just ran out of time to shoot a connecting scene.

Yes ^. And here I had been hoping that Alex' fall would result in a fatal head injury.

Semi-serious question: is there any possibility of a season 3 without Jennifer Aniston? Could they throw us a curve ball and 1) kill Alex off with CV-19 or have her 2) retire and disappear? It would leave room for casting anyone as Reese's co-anchor. Alex' storyline feels utterly played out anyway, and the show (IMHO) has not showcased Aniston's talents in a good way. And she must be as expensive as most of the cast combined.

The writing has been so erratic, so randomly nonsensical this season that I am prepared to go out with a complete mind-fuck in the final episode next week. Time for a Moldavian wedding massacre?

This latest episode made me wonder if Reese had been acting down all this time to be on Jennifer’s level.

I think Laura will die from Covid and there will be a long, agonizing shot of Bradley waving goodbye 30 feet from her hospital bed.

Didn't Laura's mention of a heart condition come out of nowhere?

I think so. Another shortcut in the writer’s room, lol. “Hey remember that HEART CONDITION I have??”

[quote]is there any possibility of a season 3 without Jennifer Aniston?

Not while Aniston is one of the show's EPs.

But Alex will be the Typhoid MARY! of this show. How is she redeemable. And she brought over that Italian bitch from Italy in the company jet which I’m sure was a GREAT idea.

I don't remember Laura mentioning a heart condition. I wonder if I had a TIA.

I found Season 2 Episode 1 immensely boring. Does it get any better?

Jennifer Aniston tossed her hair to the right in one episode R299.

What was the news Alex told Laura she had when they were staring the show? Sounded like she was going to announce something and then it was never mentioned again.

Oh right, I thought she was supposed to mention it when they would all be sitting together at the end of the broadcast.

R301, I was wondering that too! I thought she was going to announce she was resigning.

Wasn’t it that Monday the 16th would be her last day? I realize it was timed to be the day before the publication of Maggie’s book but why wouldn’t her last day be Friday the 13th. Of course that’s two days after Tom Hanks announced he had Covid. And the day after Broadway shut down.

I think Alex trying to appear buddy buddy, told Laura to ask her about something she did on the weekend.

Wow! No one is talking about the most recent episode? That's telling...or is the site on lockdown?

My interest has been waning this season R306, but I have kept up with the episodes. It jumped the shark for me with the “Alex Goes to Italy” episode. Nothing but a reel for Aniston to submit for an Emmy nomination, even though she was terrible in the episode.

The writers seem disinterested at this point and are throwing things out there and whatever sticks, sticks.

R306, a few comments have been made here regarding the latest episode. I posted that I think Laura will die from the ‘Rona after Alex became a super spreader.

[quote] Nothing but a reel for Aniston to submit for an Emmy nomination, even though she was terrible in the episode.

I know this is DL after all but I notice a lot of these kinds of comments in several threads, so-and-so's performance is "awful" or "Terrible" or "dreadful"...pick an adjective...but I never see any real critique as to why the performance is "awful".... I mean an experienced actress like Jennifer Aniston might not put a lot of effort into a performance but is it "awful"?

It wasn't my comment, R309, but yes--Aniston is genuinely bad in TMS, giving a dreadful performance week after week.

As noted upthread, she's always been one for acting tics, ie, acting with her hair, endless variations on the same line readings, scrunching up her face in that adorable, befuddled way. There's not a lot of characterization beyond that. Her multimillion dollar, middle-aged anchorwoman Alex is indistinguishable from FRIENDS' Rachel Green, from her rom-com heroines of 20 years ago, from almost every role she's played since. While Reese, Billy Crudup, and Julianna Margulies have all been given equally impossible/implausible characters to play, at least they have moments of distinction and something resembling emotional truth.

It's really time to hang up the cherished myth that Aniston is a serious actor of any depth or range. She's not.

The Italy episode was nothing but Aniston's Rachel tics out in full force. It really reminded of the SNL parody.

Yes! Minus the cheer. That Alex Levy is a complete drag.

A verklempt Jen.

She has the emoting range of a turnip.

That's six-time Emmy Award-nominated and Best Lead Actress Emmy winner Jennifer Aniston to you.

Re Aniston’s acting, the recent few scenes when she’s playing across from Embeth Davidsz (the wife of Steve Carrell’s character) made Aniston’s lack of subtlety and her bad line reading really noticeable. Davidsz was the character and Aniston was Aniston imitating a character.

Calm down, Aniston Troll. You hate her. We get it.

Fuck off troll at R316

I thought JA was surprisingly good season 1. Now she’s one dimensional

Just got invite for a Morning Show event on Thursday night. There will be a reception followed by “clips and conversation” with Julianna Margulies, Billy Crudup and Karen Pittman. I bet at least one of their characters will die from the ‘Rona. Crudup has just started filming a new series in NY called Brightside so maybe Corey bites the bullet?

Sounds like fun r319 but don't post spoilers if you find out please

Season finale this week. If they don't have a 3rd season seems like they are going to leave us hanging on a lot of storylines.

I agree with what everyone has been saying about Aniston’s acting. I’ve been a fan of hers for years and I used to think she was capable of unseen depths. I see that I was wrong now. I do think that she is over the long hours and the bad writing so she’s phoning it in. She’s relying so much on her tricks that it’s very obvious she doesn’t want to do this expensive flop anymore.

Yes Aniston was better in the 1st season

The final ep approaches! Does anyone know what time Apple drops new eps? They say Fridays, but episodes have usually been available to me (on the East coast) sometime on Thursday evenings.

Can't wait... SQUEEE!

Just watched the finale.

Good god. Absolutely ghastly,

I can never unsee Jen Aniston in a fetal position lying naked in the shower. Or unhear the diarrhea of the mouth which Alex spewed at us for what seemed like an eternity.

One of the producers after the show says something like “And the audience is screaming like, ‘KISS HER!’” Which is sort of grotesque considering the scene takes place on the night of the day when Covid was declared a pandemic.

Fuck this show.

oh god please let Alex be okay

Just finished the finale. Jesus Christ that was terrible. First of all, anyone alive during the pandemic knows that Covid tests were barely available in March 2020. The idea that Alex took multiple tests or the entire staff of TMS could easily be tested is absurd. Equally absurd is the idea of Cory and Bradley barging into the hospital at the height of the pandemic--with no PPE to boot. That's only topped by Chip deciding it's worth getting a new, potentially deadly virus to produce Alex's inane ramblings for UBA+. And then the inane ramblings themselves…holy shit. Were we supposed to be impressed by that drivel? Any actual news anchor who carried on like that would instantly lose all credibility and their entire career. Worse, the show spent a two seasons telling us that Mitch needed to examine his actions and their effects on others, but then ends with Alex deciding that a big "go fuck yourselves" to anyone who's taken issue with her actions is laudable? Wtf. In the same vein, we were treated to endless talk about Mitch's abuse of power, but the producers think having the head of the network declare his love to one of its anchors is a romantic, totally unproblematic moment? In the bonus feature the show's female producer says the audience is screaming "kiss her." Really? Not only was that *not* what I was thinking, but that flies directly in the face of the the two seasons of #metoo shit they lectured us on. Finally, there's Daniel. He's still a whiny bitch and the actor is fugly and charisma free. He should follow Mitch and drive off a cliff.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[quote]That's only topped by Chip deciding it's worth getting a new, potentially deadly virus to produce Alex's inane ramblings for UBA+.

I can't even begin to unpack that one. Was Chip motivated by love/loyalty for Alex? To help restore her reputation? To salvage his own career? Were we the audience meant to be moved by something so reckless and suicidal?

Alex's final broadcast monologue (one can only hope) felt like Aniston had written it herself. Or she was improvising. Because crawling around all sweaty in satin pajamas in her billion-dollar penthouse, Alex has stared right into the abyss, man.

The tone-deafness of this show is mindblowing.

Billy Crudup was phenomenal season 1. They completely deconstructed and destroyed his character season 2.

So all this time we're supposed to believe Corey has been in love with Bradley? Maybe he realized it once she got rid of that awful brown wig.

I just began season one and so far so good.

I think Chip is in love with Alex.

Daniel was never one of my favorite characters, but the way they wrote him in this episode and season overall is ridiculous and not fitting at all for a guy who was ambitious enough to rise to where he did. His motivations are like someone who walked into this job randomly, not a journalist. They’re trying to use him to play on the heartstrings but instead the character is mystifying. The writers room could use a couple people who actually worked jobs other than writing tv.

r335 Daniel is coming off as a bitch instead of sympathetic

Characteristic of this show is that even in her Covid death throes, Aniston is perfectly moisturized, slicked, and tanned like she just went for a massage at a tropical resort, not a blotchy, dried up old raisin with dirty hair like the Covid hoi polloi.

[quote] I think Chip is in love with Alex

I’LL NEVER GIVE YOU A BLOW JOB!

R336 Even if he truly didn’t give a shit about the news and only cared about his grandpa, he’d be sucking up to the network to get help moving his grandpa across the country. And why would anyone turn down the offer to host the show from home?! His character makes NO sense.

[quote] Aniston is perfectly moisturized, slicked, and tanned like she just went for a massage at a tropical resort

Hee! I had the same thought: she was sweating and hyperventilating and I thought, "Wow. Her skin looks really fresh and dewy." Even her "no-makeup" face was perfectly contoured.

Aniston has a kajillion dollar contract with Aveeno. No fool, she.

Thank GOD Bradley's dirtbag brother is okay.

Because... priorities.

Bravo, R327. You raised all the points which made this episode one of the worst episodes of anything ever. Probably the worst

The only two points you didn’t bring up were Bradley, in the first scene, potentially infecting numerous people on the street when asking them about/handing them photos of her waste of space brother. And also Mia launching into full Black victimhood in her phone conversation with the fugly, charisma-free Daniel (whose grandfather thinks he has the It Factor so that means he does have it, dammit!).

The Morning Show is nothing more than a stylized soap opera, implausible storylines and all.

Another thing-in the scene which took place on Wednesday, March 11th, a lot of the crew of TMS could be seen holding copies of Maggie Brenner’s tell all book The Wrong Side of the Bed. However in a previous episode it was made clear the publication date was the following Tuesday, March 17th. I doubt that advance copies were provided to TMS, especially after Bradley’s confrontational interview with Brenner.

Good point R343 about the crew reading Maggie’s book, especially since Bradley was seen sequestered in the publisher’s office reading the book in advance of the interview.

Linda Holmes at NPR really nailed the finale in her review. Among the highlights:

[quote] But for me, the presentation of Alex as a victim is not persuasive. She was literally just trying to force Mitch to lie to save her reputation, like, days before the events of this episode. She didn't take sensible precautions about going to Italy, or while she was in Italy, or when she got back from Italy! She decided to break the news of Mitch's death to Mitch's ex-wife, apparently completely clueless about how said ex-wife viewed her. She left her bosses and her colleagues to twist in the wind right after she negotiated a huge contract for herself. She has not been covering herself in glory this season, and most of her problems are self-inflicted.

[quote] This waiting will not do! So, sensing that if she doesn't act quickly she will stand around like a plebe, Ms. Bradley Jackson goes back there with no protection at all, tromping all over the place and breathing her germs all over all the vulnerable patients and doctors and nurses at the hospital that she can easily see are wearing masks, because she has to find her brother and she cannot wait like everyone else. She does find him, so of course, it was all worth it and Bradley is lovable, and what could possibly be the harm of a person refusing to respect or listen to health care workers or take any precautions to protect others? Does any of that really matter when a pretty woman's personal needs are involved?

[quote] I have to tell you, most of my frustration has been reserved for Alex this season, but this is probably the best single encapsulation of what I think ails this show: The efforts to build emotionally significant stories around these two women are undercut by the fact that they persistently, unapologetically act like privileged, oblivious jerks. And no amount of good acting, great production design, solid direction — or even good scene-level writing! — can fix it. There's a clanging disconnect between the hero treatment these characters get and the way they behave, and it makes the show seem at times like a love letter to the kind of people who make the world worse. (I also suspect they're telling cancel-culture stories they don't actually believe in for "finger on the pulse!" purposes, which is why those stories are not persuasive.)

Yes, but Jen and Reese are both white, pretty, and slim, with good hair.

R346, no one likes this show and it’s damaged Aniston’s career in a way none of us could’ve anticipated. But nice try with the weird race baiting.

[quote]no one likes this show and it’s damaged Aniston’s career in a way none of us could’ve anticipated.

Yeah, that Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy nomination was DEVASTATING. I fear she won't recover.

I can’t help but think that Julianna Margulies should have been playing Alex, not Jennifer Aniston. And the lesbian stuff with Bradley could have started in Season 1.

I was one of those people who not only lauded Anniston’s performance but thought it was the best of her career Season 1. Season 2 has proven me completely wrong and the finale was an unqualified mess. WTF was that? Is Chip the dummest human being in the world? What did we know about Covid in March of 2020 that would make someone intentionally expose themselves? I’m sorry but this was a career killing performance by Anniston. I had to fast forward thru the speech it was so bad. The height of narcissism. None of the other storylines made any sense. Hot Fu*king mess

[quote]Yeah, that Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy nomination was DEVASTATING. I fear she won't recover.

The SAG Award win for Best Female Actor had already thrown her career into a tailspin before she got the Emmy nom.

Looks like there may be a season three

Two men. No balls.

The show successfully emasculated their male characters.

Does apple allow nudity?

if so all 3 men must go naked next season so we can see for ourselves if they have balls.

First season nominations or not, I can’t see a lot of producers and casting directors beating down her door to play serious characters any time soon. She’ll probably coast nicely into a half hour comedy where she plays an underdog again. She didn’t have the range to play a complicated anti-hero like Alex, although the writing certainly didn’t help. She just came across as spoiled and whiny.

[quote] Is Chip the dummest human being in the world?

Oh, dear!

Totally agree that the finale, and this episode in general, totally sucked. Big drop in quality from the first. A lot of deserved scorn for Alex's arc and her ridiculous, self-serving on-air monologue (with poor long-suffering Chip pathetically cheering her behind the camera), but the whole storyline with Bradley and her brother was just as dumb, boring and pointless.

We're supposed to believe that one of the most recognizable TV hosts in the country would be out on the streets of Manhattan handing out flyers for her missing brother? Someone with Bradley's resources easily could have hired a private security firm to look for him.

And the whole Cory-falls-for-Bradley bit -- just absurd, and as a storyline it has the appearance of Reese being jealous that Jen's character has a male worshiper so she wanted hers to have one too.

They also got a lot of COVID details wrong. Not just the scarce availability of tests at that time as mentioned above, but all the masking in the office (Sybil, Chip's former assistant, etc) -- masks also were not widely available at the onset of the pandemic, and people were not wearing them in the office even in those final days before everyone started to wfh.

I can't imagine Billy Crudup not throwing most of these scripts across the room this season.

Yes, this was one of the worst episodes I've ever seen, but it's still not as bad as the "very special episode" with Alex and Mitch in Italy. This one was almost hilariously awful. That one was terrible, but unbelievable boring, as well. (Okay, Alex's monologue was pretty boring in the last episode.)

Alex's monologue was insane. An hour of her looking into the camera, rambling and ranting in a stream of consciousness, and Chip behind the camera looking like this stuff is GOLD, Jerry!

Just finished watching it last night, and all I'm asking is: why the fuck did they randomly make Bradley's character a lesbian/bi? She had ZERO signs of her liking women in the previous season. Completely unnecessary. They forced the LGBT so hard on this one. If they wanted to focus on a gay person they should've focused and explored Daniel instead, who was already gay in the first season. Also, that bitch Stella was kind of annoying. How the hell does a 30-year-old become the president of a multi-million dollar network in a matter of months?

This being said, I want Yanko to breed my ass my all night long.

I started watching Season 2 against my better judgement, and it’s better than I expected. Maybe Reese being blonde and Bradley being less sanctimonious has me grading the show on a curve, but I definitely see improvement. Valeria Golina is a welcomed addition, as is the Asian woman from Russian Doll.

I’m only on episode 3 and could do without Julianna Marguilies. I hope she barely appears.

You got a ways to go, R362. For so many reasons.

Sorry to bump this thread after six months, but I need to talk about the Morning Show.

I recently got a new iPhone and got three months of Apple TV as a result. Just got through binge watching the two seasons of Morning Show.

I adored the first season. I thought it was riveting. Great all the way around. In fact, I enjoyed the first season so much, I immediately went back and re-watched the first season again. Still excellent with the second viewing.

Then I watched the second season. Talk about a catastrophe! What a mess! Did they not even watch the first season to write the second? This is a textbook case of How to Destroy a Hit TV Series in 10 Episodes!

The whole first season was about how they dealt with the fallout of Mitch's sexploits, how the show and the networked picked up the pieces, regrouped and kept going in the face of the scandal being made public.

So, it would make sense that the show would continue with that theme in the second season by showing how the show and network picked up the pieces, regrouped and kept going in the face of the scandal about Fred Micklin being made public.

But NO. Instead, we just ahead nine month, skipping over all the regrouping and picking up the pieces and have scattershot episodes about one anchor getting $25 million and then barely showing up to work, while the other one discovering she likes pussy more than dick. WTF!

I just feel so betrayed. This show I loved so much that I watched the first season twice in quick succession only to have this mess in the second season -- Alex going rogue and turned up in Italy to dance with Mitch. Alex getting COVID and doing a feverish on-air broadcast, Bradley going loco for the vagine and wandering hospital wards looking for her brother in the beginning of a pandemic, Chip (who I really liked from season one) talking a demotion to come back and to the show to be with Alex and later risking his life by exposing himself to COVID to be with Alex. Mitch developing a tiny bit of conscious and then committing suicide as a result.

And of course, there's Cory whose evil twin brother apparently kidnapped him and then stole his life, pretending he was a network executive. And while evil twin brother looked and talked like Cory, no one noticed that evil twin brother had a different personality and disposition? WTF.

Of the ten episodes in season two, I did enjoy one show -- episode 8 where the show learns Mitch has been killed and scrambles to verify it. It was tense and dramatic and had me on the edge the whole time. Yes, it got overwrought as soon as Alex landed and had her meltdowns, but aside from that, it was a good episode.

Will season three be an improvement over season two?

Season 3 has a new showrunner plus Jon Hamm as a corporate raider trying to take over the network, giving Billy Crudrup a sparring partner.

Plus Julianna returns as Laura Peterson!

Don’t worry commerical actor Jon Hamm will save the day.

There's certainly no better way to insure this show continues to spiral to its grave than to hire Jon Hamm and Tig Notaro as pall bearers.

^ Fuck off, R367. Do you know what it's been like for me since Mad Men?

^^^Show us your HOG!