When The Morning Show returns, the Apple series that takes place at a news network is entering the current post-truth climate.
“We have to question everything that we see and we hear now more than ever,” says Jennifer Aniston‘s newly appointed top exec at the network, Alex Levy, in the new teaser trailer that dropped on Wednesday (below). Her former news-anchor-in-crime Bradley Jackson, played by Reese Witherspoon, agrees: “The truth always comes out, you know that.”
The teaser doesn’t have any new footage from the forthcoming season, but lines spoken by the characters are overlaid as Aniston and Witherspoon are seen walking towards each other and next to a mirrored building modeled after their Manhattan news network. The other characters in the Apple TV+ show’s ensemble appear instead of their reflections, teasing some of the show’s new characters via audio.
The returning allies to the women played by Mark Duplass and Billy Crudup are heard talking about “dirt to exchange” and offering to do “someone’s dirty work,” while Alex’s ex-lover and professional enemy, played by Jon Hamm, offers her some advice: “You wanna run this place? You have to really, really want it.”
The female managers played by Greta Lee and Karen Pittman struggle with their roles in the new hierarchy, while new characters played by Boyd Holbrook, a provocative podcaster and talk show host named Brodie, and the Oscar-winning Marion Cotillard try to get their bearings. “I like to know who’s an ally and who’s a liability,” says Cotillard’s character, Celine Dumont, who is described as a savvy operator from a storied European family.
The 10-episode season returns Sept. 17 on Apple TV+ with one episode, followed by a weekly Friday release through Nov. 19.
Alongside stars and executive producers Aniston and Witherspoon, new season four castmembers also include Jeremy Irons, Aaron Pierre and William Jackson Harper. Additional returning stars are Nestor Carbonell and Nicole Beharie.
The third season ended with the third consecutive cliffhanger for the series by setting the starring women on diverging paths. Alex (Aniston) had outsmarted the Elon Musk-ish tech billionaire played by Hamm who was attempting to acquire TMS parent network UBA, finally giving Alex a seat at the table to steer the morning show into a merger with their rival news brand. Bradley (Witherspoon), meanwhile, was facing a possible felony charge for tampering with evidence and obstructing justice related to the investigation of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol (her brother, played by Joe Tippett, assaulted a police officer during the insurrection; Bradley caught the moment on camera and covered it up in her reporting, forcing her resignation).
“Everybody has to face what they have to face,” showrunner Charlotte Stoudt told The Hollywood Reporter after season three’s finale. “There is accountability, but it’s not bleak. Even when you have to be accountable for something, life can go on.”
The fourth season will again time jump to open nearly two years after the events of season three. In the Morning Show‘s world it’s now spring 2024 and the UBA-NBN merger is complete. Per the season logline, the newsroom “must grapple with newfound responsibility, hidden motives and the elusive nature of truth in a polarized America. In a world rife with deepfakes, conspiracy theories, and corporate cover-ups — who can you trust? And how can you know what’s actually real?”
The Media Res-produced drama is executive produced by showrunner Stoudt, director Mimi Leder, Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer through Media Res, Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter for Hello Sunshine, Aniston and Kristin Hahn for Echo Films, along with Zander Lehmann and Micah Schraft.
