Apple TV+ Launches With Jennifer Aniston's 'Morning Show'

Where to Watch: Apple TV+

Premiere: Nov. 1

Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Crudup, Brett Butler

The Morning Show could hardly feel more ripped from the headlines. In the highest-profile offering from the new streaming service Apple TV+, which launches Nov. 1, the beloved male anchor (Steve Carell, 57) of a top-rated a.m. news program suddenly gets fired following sexual-misconduct allegations. Before you can say “the Today show,” the program carries on with a pair of female hosts, played by Jennifer Aniston, 50, and Reese Witherspoon, 43.

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Aniston shines in her first TV-series role since Friends (which Witherspoon guest-starred on as her sister). She exudes the gravitas of a small-screen stalwart like Diane Sawyer, yet also allows us to see her character's vulnerability as she's forced to deal with a potential career cataclysm in real time, live on morning TV.

Witherspoon's character seems more muddled at first. She's a local correspondent for a Fox News Channel-like network whose confrontation with a protester at a coal mine goes viral, launching her onto the national stage. It's an unlikely plot twist, but Witherspoon ultimately sells it with her plucky charisma.

Carell brings surprising shades of sympathy to his Matt Lauer-like character. In the three episodes made available for review (Apple has ordered two 10-episode seasons), we're never quite sure how much of a creep he is. That's especially the case when Martin Short, 69, guest-stars as a movie director who, by contrast, is a genuine predator. The SCTV alum, who won an Emmy in 2010 for Damages and hosted the last AARP Movies for Grownups Awards on PBS's Masterpiece, continues to excel as a dramatic actor.