The Morning Show

:

Season 1
  • Network: Apple TV
  • Series Premiere Date: Nov 1, 2019
Season #: 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
61

Generally favorable reviews - based on 37 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 37
  3. Negative: 3 out of 37
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Critic Reviews

  1. The Guardian
    Reviewed by: Lucy Mangan
    Dec 3, 2019
    100
    There isn’t a weak link in The Morning Show. Aniston is flawless. ... Everyone else – especially Billy Crudup as the network suit playing seven-dimensional chess with everyone – matches her point for point. The script has depth and endless torque and the whole thing is an exhilarating rush that makes room for nuance, thought and – though it’s definitely a drama – humour.
  2. Reason.com
    Reviewed by: Glenn Garvin
    Nov 23, 2019
    100
    The Morning Show is high-voltage drama and big-time entertainment, a savage, scorching portrait of the TV news industry as a modern court of the Medicis where corporate genocide is coffee-break sport, where subordinates exist to be crushed and superiors to be sabotaged. It may not be exactly news that the most trusted men (and, these days, women) in America are anything but, but it's never been so convincingly demonstrated.
  3. Uncle Barky
    Reviewed by: Ed Bark
    Oct 31, 2019
    83
    Aniston fully takes command and registers the best “serious” performance of her career while Witherspoon and Carell also are fully and convincingly invested. It all makes for a series that is anything but sunny side up.
  5. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Alex McLevy
    Oct 28, 2019
    83
    It takes a little time to find its whip-smart footing, with the pilot trying too hard to make everyone sound clever for clever’s sake and some hoary speechifying, but once it gets going, The Morning Show has the addictive rush of great old-school TV dramas. Funny, biting, and with just the right dose of trashy zing, this is high-gloss soap—Broadcast News meets L.A. Law.
  6. Sioux City Journal
    Reviewed by: Bruce Miller
    Nov 1, 2019
    80
    Because the creators have been able to take a headline-grabbing situation and make it relevant for those on the outside, “The Morning Show” bears watching. It’s one of those shows you didn't know you needed to watch.
  7. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    Nov 1, 2019
    80
    As a mix of melodrama and well-written interactions that feel genuinely human, “The Morning Show” is fairly entrancing. Its characters, though big, are flawed in normal ways. ... The ending is almost operatic; not quite believable, yet emotionally satisfying. It killed me, I must confess.
  8. Vanity Fair
    Reviewed by: Richard Lawson
    Oct 29, 2019
    80
    What they arrive at by the end of the third episode is at least something soapily effective, an entertaining knot of contemporary babble that manages at times to emit a ring of truth. Aniston and Witherspoon are strong complements to one another, earning their enormous paychecks (each were paid a reported $1.25 million per episode) by riding this voluminous wave with confident precision.
  9. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Jen Chaney
    Oct 28, 2019
    80
    It is a serious show that, in every frame and every performance, announces that it wants to be taken seriously. Based on the first three episodes, it is also a well-executed work of television that never lets you forget you’re watching a work of television.
  10. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Richard Roeper
    Nov 1, 2019
    75
    “The Morning Show” doesn’t have the cinematic gravitas of the Showtime series “The Loudest Voice” or the Aaron Sorkin poetry of HBO’s “The Newsroom.” It’s more along the lines of the solid but underachieving “Sports Night” TV series from the late 1990s.
  11. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Niv M. Sultan
    Oct 28, 2019
    75
    Propelled by its magnetic performances, the series is an uneasy, sometimes nauseating, and often fascinating examination of our still-unspooling current moment.
  12. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Kristen Baldwin
    Oct 28, 2019
    75
    A smart, showy, and sometimes strained drama about women and control, men and #MeToo, and the evaporating line between news and entertainment.
  13. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    Oct 23, 2019
    75
    “The Morning Show” offers engaging, soapy elements with a layer of resonant, semi-believable corporate politics on top.
  14. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Nov 14, 2019
    70
    The Morning Show favors soap opera over self-importance, making this newsroom a fun place to visit, especially if you like your headlines over the top. [11-24 Nov 2019, p.17]
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  15. The Atlantic
    Reviewed by: Sophie Gilbert
    Nov 1, 2019
    70
    The first three episodes made available to critics are remarkably flat for such a lavish venture. ... When The Morning Show finally gets its setup established, and starts to grapple with the consequences and the meaning of what Mitch has actually done, the show finds some momentum. It’s at its most fascinating, and meaningful, when it’s picking at the cultural scar tissue left by so many allegations.
  16. Time
    Reviewed by: Judy Berman
    Oct 29, 2019
    70
    If it takes a while to get a feel for most characters, Alex and Bradley come off as logical extensions of Aniston’s girls’-girl relatability and Witherspoon’s intensity. Yet the show doesn’t have the same depth or experimental spirit as the top tier of TV in 2019. Rather, it resembles a more muted Shonda Rhimes serial or a less smug Aaron Sorkin joint—it’s pithy and easy to watch but rarely as thought-provoking as you’d hope.
  17. The Daily Beast
    Reviewed by: Kevin Fallon
    Oct 28, 2019
    70
    There are almost constant whiffs of very classy, intelligent people poking and prodding and preaching at you. When these arguments are as provocative and insightful as the creative team seems to believe, it’s fantastic. Delivered by a cast this stacked, how could it not be? But when it misses, the groan may as well be a foghorn. It can seem like a fool’s errand to engage in these issues in real-time, which is what makes the show both so impressive and susceptible to intense criticism.

Awards & Rankings

41
#41 Most Discussed TV Season of 2019
75
#75 Most Shared TV Season of 2019

User Reviews

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User Score
6.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 83 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 57 out of 83
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 83
  3. Negative: 17 out of 83
  1. bcbolton
    Nov 1, 2019
    7
    Jenn Aniston is great as Alex, Mark Duplass is really solid in his supporting/lead role, and it's shot really well. Don't love Reese in it onJenn Aniston is great as Alex, Mark Duplass is really solid in his supporting/lead role, and it's shot really well. Don't love Reese in it on the whole, but overall think this is a solid show. Great pilot, too.… Full Review »
  2. freshtalent
    Nov 9, 2019
    3
    The show has its moments. But a lot of the writing is boring, uneven, and often doesn’t make sense. Witherspoon’s character does a lot ofThe show has its moments. But a lot of the writing is boring, uneven, and often doesn’t make sense. Witherspoon’s character does a lot of stuff that doesn’t make sense, and doesn’t have believable repercussions. I’m sure it’s annoying other viewers as well.… Full Review »
  3. jpritcha
    Nov 5, 2019
    3
    There are some interesting scenes/ideas, but none of them are thoroughly explored and I found all of the characters pretty uninteresting,There are some interesting scenes/ideas, but none of them are thoroughly explored and I found all of the characters pretty uninteresting, unrelatable, and mostly unlikable. The show tries to make you care about Alex with a few emotional scenes, but I was left feeling like "I don't know anything about this character, and I don't really care that she's sad. All I know is that she's a rich TV host that lost her philandering work partner. boohoo I guess?" The show keeps trying for these emotional payoffs that it doesn't spend any time building up to, so they just feel awkward. Also, I was thoroughly distracted by the amount of Apple product placement (the first 5 minutes of the show feels like an extended iPhone ad)… Full Review »
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