The Morning Show Season 2 Release Date, Cast, And Plot - What We Know So Far

"The Morning Show" was one of the first shows to debut on Apple TV+ in 2019. The show touched on the #MeToo movement, with the first season primarily focusing on allegations coming out against a notable TV anchor. The show only became more topical as a few weeks after "The Morning Show" was announced, Matt Lauer's alleged sexual misconduct came to light. "The show got picked up. We sold it to Apple with an outline," Jennifer Aniston told Variety. "Then, about four months later, the whole s*** hit the fan and, basically, we had to start from scratch." Town & Country noted that one detail from Season 1 seemed ripped from the Lauer allegations, as Steve Carell's Mitch Kessler had a button under his desk that closed his door.

"The Morning Show" was nominated for multiple Emmys, with Mark Duplass and Billy Crudup against each other for their roles on the show (Crudup won). Aniston won a SAG award for her role on the show, and the show holds a 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Obviously, fans are excited for Season 2 to get underway.

In February 2021, during the TCA press tour, Apple TV+ dropped a trailer for its slate of 2021 shows. As reported by Entertainment Tonight, the trailer smushed "The Morning Show" in with other pieces from the streamer like "The Mosquito Coast" — starring Aniston's ex Justin Theroux — as well as "Schmigadoon!" with Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key. Many of the shows teased in the trailer have come out in the time since, so fans predicted that it would be only a matter of time until Apple TV+ dropped the new season of "The Morning Show."

And they were right. On June 14, 2021, Apple TV+ unleashed a teaser for "The Morning Show" Season 2 that confirms its release date: Friday, September 17, 2021. New episodes will hit the streamer weekly, and Season 2 will run for 10 episodes total.

The major stars of "The Morning Show" are expected to return for Season 2. Series stars Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell were all seen in the Apple TV+ trailer, so we know for sure that they are coming back. Aniston and Witherspoon play co-anchors on the titular morning show on the fictional UBA news network. Aniston plays Alex Levy, the veteran anchor on "The Morning Show." Witherspoon's character, Bradley Jackson, replaced Carell's ousted anchor. Also returning are Billy Crudup and Mark Duplass, who play behind-the-scenes figures.

Many new stars are coming to "The Morning Show" Season 2. Julianna Margulies, famous for "ER" and "The Good Wife," is joining the show as "Laura Peterson, anchor at UBA News," per Entertainment Tonight. Also joining the cast are comedian Hasan Minhaj, "The Spanish Princess" actor Ruairi O'Connor, and "Russian Doll" star Greta Lee.

Season 1 of "The Morning Show" ended with Alex and Bradley using their live TV platform to try and take down UBA president Fred Micklen (Tom Irwin) for covering up years of misconduct on the show. Billy Crudup told Entertainment Tonight that he was excited to see how his character, UBA head of news Cory Ellison, would react to the big changes in his world. "Cory thrives in situations that he has to learn from and operate on his feet. And needless to say, the end of the season gave him a strong indication that things were going to change in pretty unpredictable ways," he said.

We also know the plot was changed dramatically by the COVID-19 pandemic. "We had a good six or maybe seven outlines already done, and we were in the middle of shooting [episodes] one and two," Aniston said, as reported by Hello! "And then the COVID crisis happened. Now, Kerry [Ehrin, "The Morning Show" showrunner] is back to the drawing board, and we are incorporating COVID in a way that is so exciting." Just like Season 1, real-life events forced the writers to rework their fictional news show.