Bytes to Binge:
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Genre: Drama and Satire
Duration: 55 minutes each
Season: 1
No. of episodes: 10
Where: Apple TV/Netflix/Amazon
Creator: Jay Carson
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Anniston
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An in your face look at what really goes on behind the camera within a popular TV Network company! Reece is brilliant for me in this, she always is. It’s a great show with smart story lines.
The Morning Show is a satirical show that pulls in from real-world scandals for the plotlines. It is one that has been inspired by a book written by CNN’s chief media correspondent, Brain Stelter. This one makes for a refreshing watch with (wait for the drumrolls) female leads that have produced the show as well apart from being the protagonists of the series. Appropriate for us this week, seeing as we are celebrating women. The show deals with some pretty grim topics like sexual misconduct allegations in the truest way one can depict on television without it being crude but making sure it tells the story to make a positive impact.
The character played by Jennifer Aniston, Alex Levy is the anchor of The Morning Show is seen by most Americans as they wake up each morning. It’s a popular program broadcast from Manhattan on the UBA network and has excellent ratings which the network heads play hard to keep, at any cost! In fact, this is exactly the plot of this show. Her on-screen partner and co-host of the show is fired, leaving her to flamboyantly present the show as a one-man band, (ahem, the pun is not intended as it’s a popular idiom and yes it can be considered sexist, take it up with the Dictionary!). This is when the mayhem in her life and in others really begins. A tantalising reveal into a side of the workplace existing for some, but little light shed on it. Reece Witherspoon’s character, Bradley Jackson is a field reporter- an impulsive, reactive and perhaps a true reflection of high-flying ambitious women. Though she saves the day and brings in a ball of energy and rawness to not only her characters story but also to TV journalism.
For me it was a little hard to see Jennifer Aniston be this serious but that’s because you’ll still catch me watching ‘Friends’ and therefore, she is deeply embedded into my brain as the hair flicking, funny and gorgeous Racheal. Steve Carell plays Mitch Kessler, the recently fired co-host and is just impeccable and carving out his character. For him to immerse himself into the whole #MeToo mind frame must have been stomach gagging and hard to portray at the best of times. Apart from the strong story line, you’ll love watching this, and I do hope season 2 comes with a vengeance! It’ll have me watching and rooting for equality within the workplace too!
The show, blends in Broadcast News alongside entertainment, fact and fiction, opinion and propaganda. But everything reckons with the #MeToo era. Perhaps, it won’t be incorrect to state that it sends a little bit of a warning to the ageing actors and directors who following the Weinstein judgment will be doubly-careful and look over their shoulder for everytime they think about abuse of power.
