Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon Morning Show Drama Lands at Apple With 2-Season Order
Following a multiple-outlet bidding war, Apple has emerged as the victor for a morning show drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.
The tech giant has picked up the untitled drama with a straight-to-series, two-season order (20 episodes total). Aniston (Friends) and Witherspoon (Big Little Lies) will star, exec produce and co-own the show alongside Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res company, which produces the show for Apple. Sources describe the pricetag on the show as comparable to other premium fare with big stars attached. As for how racy it will be, that’s still to be determined as there are no scripts for the drama yet.
The show is described as an inside look at the lives of the people who help America wake up in the morning, exploring the unique challenges faced by the women (and men) who carry out this daily televised ritual. Brian Stelter’s book Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV — which was previously in development at Lifetime as a TV movie — will provide additional background for the show, which is based on an original concept by Ellenberg.
Aniston, who will make her first TV series regular return more than a decade after Friends, will exec produce via her Echo Films banner. Witherspoon, fresh off the success of HBO’s Big Little Lies, will exec produce via her Hello Sunshine company. The series is written and executive produced by Emmy-nominated Jay Carson (House of Cards), who also serves as showrunner. Witherspoon, who memorably guest starred as Aniston’s younger sister on Friends, have remained friends over the years with the morning show drama serving as an on-screen reunion. The package was taken out in July and drew interest from multiple outlets, including Showtime, sources say.
Since leaving his position as head of drama at HBO, Ellenberg has focused on development and has teamed with Bron Studios to launch Media Res. The company’s first project in the works is Scenes From a Marriage, a limited-series take based on the five-hour 1973 film, with In Treatment’s Hagai Levi and playwright Amy Herzog attached.
The Aniston-Witherspoon drama becomes Apple’s second straight-to-series order and joins Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories as the first projects the tech giant has picked up under programming heads Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht. The Amazing Stories anthology is execu produced by Spielberg in partnership with Bryan Fuller, who serves as showrunner. The drama will transport the audience to worlds of wonder through the lens of today’s most imaginative filmmakers, directors and writers. Amblin Television’s Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey and Hart Hanson exec produce the drama from Universal Television.
What remains to be seen, however, is just how Apple will roll out its original scripted series and if it could utilize its streaming music service to do so and if the company — with $260 billion in cash surplus — will turn assets like iPhones to market its programming.
Aniston, who earned five Emmy nominations and won one for her role as Rachel Green on NBC’s Friends, is repped by CAA, Lighthouse Management and Hansen Jacobson. Witherspoon, who has been active on the development side, won an Oscar for her role in Walk the Line and also scored a nomination for Wild. More recently, she scored an Emmy nom for her starring role in HBO’s Big Little Lies with the limited series likely to return for a second season after taking home the win in the category. She is repped by CAA, LBI Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson.
Carson, repped by Management 360, has been with Netflix’s House of Cards for the past three years, serving as a supervising producer and political consultant.
Reese appeared on UK daytime chat show Lorraine today, to promote Home Again. She chatted about her film, growing up, Legally Blonde, Wild, her producing work, and her upcoming TV show with Jennifer Aniston. Here’s the clip:
Jennifer Aniston briefly mentions Reese, their upcoming TV Project, and Friends in a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar:
Amy Sedaris: Comedy—you’ve got it. It must be great to branch out into roles like that and The Good Girl, where you’re willing to look unglamorous. Now you’re going to do a show with Reese Witherspoon. Are you excited about going back to TV?
Jennifer Aniston: Always. Lately all the great work has been on television. Reese was my little sister on Friends. She had just given birth to Ava, who’s 18 now, so it was like, “Oh, my God, a baby with a baby!” [Laughs]
Reese appeared on CBS’s This Morning earlier today – she chatted more about Big Little Lies, how she changed the course of her career in recent years, her upcoming project with Jennifer Aniston, and Draper James. Watch the video below and find HD screencaptures in our gallery:
Reese and her Home Again co-stars Candice Bergen, Jon Rudnitsky and Pico Alexander continued their promotional tour with an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen last night. As well as their movie, Reese chatted about her upcoming TV show with Jennifer Aniston and Big Little Lies. The show had various games involving Reese and Candice’s movies, including Four Christmases, This Means War, Fear, Sweet Home Alabama, Legally Blonde, The Man In The Moon and Just Like Heaven – it was pretty funny seeing Reese’s reactions to these movies! She also re-created the Bend & Snap and explained how and when to use it. It was a really fun and lively interview, and nice to see Reese alongside Candice. She wore a dress by Bottega Veneta with Alaia shoes. Below are a few clips including their ‘after-show’ Q&A, and in our Gallery you can find photos of Reese arriving at the show studios, backstage, stills from the show, and HD screencaptures from the full interview:
Reese chatted about Home Again, roles for women in TV/film, Big Little Lies, A Wrinkle In Time, and her upcoming TV show with Jennifer Aniston on Good Morning America today. She also talked about her kids and Ava’s upcoming 18th birthday! Reese was then joined by her Home Again co-stars and director to chat more about their film. Watch the interview below, and find stills and HD screencaptures in our Gallery:
Reese appeared on ‘Chelsea’, Chelsea Handler’s weekly Netflix show, yesterday to promote Home Again. She also chatted about Big Little Lies, her producing work, her upcoming show with Jennifer Aniston, her love of dogs, and being a responsible adult! It’s a really fun interview! Below is a video of the full interview and I’ve added HD screencaptures to our Gallery:
The Morning Show (2019) Seasons 1 & 2 available now on AppleTV+
Season 3 coming in 2023 Role: Bradley Jackson Genre: Apple TV+ Series - Drama News / Info / Photos / Official Site
Your Place Or Mine (2023) On Netflix now Role: Debbie Genre: Romantic comedy News / Info / Photos / Official Site
Legally Blonde 3 (202?) In production Role: Elle Woods Genre: Comedy News / Info / Photos / Official Site
Glamour Reese Witherspoon is an unofficial fansite dedicated to supporting and promoting the career of Reese Witherspoon. We have no contact with Ms Witherspoon or her family or management. No copyright infringement is intended through the use of content within this website ...
The Morning Show (2019)
