Apple TV’s hit The Morning Show, starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, has been renewed for a fifth season.
The renewal of the workplace comedy drama happened just hours before the show’s fourth season began streaming. No further details have been shared about the plot of the fifth season or who will remain in the cast.
It is not unusual for the streamer to hand the show an early renewal, since it did the same thing last year.
The series, which launched in 2019, follows a fictional breakfast show in the aftermath of a prominent news anchor being hit with a series of allegations. It also stars Billy Crudup, Karen Pittman and Nestor Carbonell.
The fourth season, released on Wednesday, is set in spring 2024, almost two years after the events of season three. The newsroom must grapple with the newfound responsibility of navigating hidden motives in a polarised America, as the completion of the UBA-NBN merger causes a shakeup among the staff.
Aniston – who is executive producer o the show alongside Witherspoon – stars as TV anchor Alex Levy, host of UBA’s morning show, who is now dealing with things from a new position. Witherspoon plays Bradley Jackson, who is back at work despite quitting her job and facing punishment over helping her brother hide his involvement on the 6 January 2021 US Capitol attack.
New cast members have joined for season four, including Aaron Pierre, William Jackson Harper, Boyd Holbrook and Academy Award winners Marion Cotillard and Jeremy Irons. It also stars Mark Duplass, Nestor Carbonell, Karen Pittman, Greta Lee, and Nicole Beharie.
In a recent interview, Aniston revealed that the plot for the new season is “complicated”, adding that the show is “just a beast to film”.
“It is layered, it's complicated, it's emotional, it hits on a lot of topics and current events, so let's just say, it's not Friends,” she told People, referencing the Nineties show in which she played Rachel Green from 1994 to 2004.
She continued: “We're involved in every single aspect of the show, on top of just the performance side, which is a big piece of it. But I've got incredible support, and we have such an incredible team.”
Season three of The Morning Show saw a romance begin between Aniston’s Alex and the space tech billionaire Paul Marks, played by Jon Hamm. Meanwhile, Witherspoon’s Bradley attempted to salvage her reputation as a journalist after she chose not to reveal video evidence of her brother’s involvement in the Capitol insurrection.
The Morning Show is now streaming on Apple TV+
