Apple's Upcoming Morning Show Drama Gets New Showrunner

Tuesday April 3, 2018 6:01 PM PDT by Juli Clover
One of the TV shows Apple has in the works, a "morning show drama" starring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, is getting a new showrunner, reports Variety.


The original showrunner and creator, Jay Carson, had planned to work with Apple on the series, but he has departed over creative differences. Kerry Ehrin, known for "Bates Motel," is instead set to take over and is close to inking a deal with Apple.

Ehrin was the co-creator, executive producer, and showrunner of "Bates Motel."

Apple has signed a deal for two seasons of the as-of-yet untitled morning show drama, each with 10 episodes. The show, based on the 2013 book "Top of the Morning" by Brian Stelter, takes a look inside the cutthroat world of morning television. Stelter's book was based on the rivalry between NBC's "Today" and ABC's "Good Morning America."

Apple has multiple TV shows in the works, all of which are outlined in the original content section of our Apple TV roundup. Rumors have suggested the first of Apple's TV shows could debut in 2019.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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A_A
20 weeks ago

Does every show on have to drop the f-bomb 50 times per episode, have at least 2 nearly X-rated sex scenes including at least one same sex, and the stars getting high on camera?

Would people subscribe to Apple Music if it is only the clean radio edits of songs? No, so why the hell is Apple meddling with shows so much when they go after all these creators on letting them create what they want to create.
Rating: 7 Votes
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DocMultimedia
20 weeks ago
Ugh. Why do I see Apple having a lot of creative differences in the next few years. G rated junk will be the result.
Rating: 6 Votes
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DocMultimedia
20 weeks ago

Does every show on have to drop the f-bomb 50 times per episode, have at least 2 nearly X-rated sex scenes including at least one same sex, and the stars getting high on camera?

I don't think I mentioned any of those things. Story is what matters. No sex, language, or drugs in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but would Apple allow that? I'm guessing no. I really think they want humdrum kid stuff, with no story that you'll remember two days later. But...provided stock and/or dividend goes up, I'm ok with anything they create.
Rating: 2 Votes
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Mirice99
20 weeks ago
That sounds beyond awful and completely unwatchable.
Rating: 2 Votes
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MoreRumors?
20 weeks ago
I will always see them as sisters from Friends...
Rating: 1 Votes
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deanthedev
20 weeks ago
Interesting how people blame Apple for the "creative differences", which is nothing more than an industry catch-all for various conflicts that can arise.

Based on history (and there's a LOT of history of this type of thing happening in the entertainment industry) it's more likely that Aniston/Witherspoon were unhappy with the direction things were going. It's often the big-name stars who have more say over where a project goes, and causes a "junior" member to leave the project. And make no mistake, Aniston/Witherspoon are the "seniors" on this project.

But hey, keep blaming Apple if it makes you feel better.
Rating: 1 Votes
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acctman
20 weeks ago
Apple has always been family friendly ... stop hating just to be hating
Rating: 1 Votes
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filmantopia
20 weeks ago
I wonder if the parting was related to Apples 'family friendly' restrictions.
Rating: 1 Votes
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genovelle
20 weeks ago

Ugh. Why do I see Apple having a lot of creative differences in the next few years. G rated junk will be the result.

Does every show on have to drop the f-bomb 50 times per episode, have at least 2 nearly X-rated sex scenes including at least one same sex, and the stars getting high on camera?
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
wigby
20 weeks ago

Would people subscribe to Apple Music if it is only the clean radio edits of songs? No, so why the hell is Apple meddling with shows so much when they go after all these creators on letting them create what they want to create.

Apple does edit their own DJs on Beats One because they create and control that content. Since they are putting up the money to create this streaming video content, they also want to control that to some degree. It's understandable.
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Interesting how people blame Apple for the "creative differences", which is nothing more than an industry catch-all for various conflicts that can arise.

Based on history (and there's a LOT of history of this type of thing happening in the entertainment industry) it's more likely that Aniston/Witherspoon were unhappy with the direction things were going. It's often the big-name stars who have more say over where a project goes, and causes a "junior" member to leave the project. And make no mistake, Aniston/Witherspoon are the "seniors" on this project.

But hey, keep blaming Apple if it makes you feel better.

I think people are knee jerk blaming Apple here but it's based on past stories arising from Apple's control over content creation. Some content creators (app developers and TV writers) have accused Apple of trying to make everything family friendly. This could just be isolated misunderstandings or could be a deeper plan by Apple to forsake creative freedom for guaranteed revenue.

I don't think it will matter much in the end. Apple is obviously trying to appeal to broad audiences through many genres and some of those genres are really aimed at adults. So they hobble their own effort directly. The problem with these stories is that possible content creators who are being pursued by Netflix or Amazon might not consider working with Apple for fear that Apple will enact their own rating board mentality. No real creator counts seconds of nudity or gallons of blood or number of curses but that's all that ratings boards and TV standards and practices do. The golden age of TV has only come about because creators are able to bypass the TV networks who employ content with traditional family values (whatever that means). So viewers of Apple streaming TV will judge shows based on their individual merits but creators and studios will judge Apple streaming TV based on their ability to tell a story the way they want and overall audience potential (as well as payment).
Rating: 1 Votes
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