“The Morning Show” gets a “Mad Men” for its return to Apple TV +

After Steve Carell, here is Jon Hamm. To cope with its two high-flying main actresses, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, “The Morning Show” has taste in the choice of its male performers. The series from the Apple TV + platform (also available in Canal offers) depicts the ambitions and struggles of two female journalists while the television channel that employs them found itself at the heart of a scandal.

The flagship morning host was in fact accused of sexual assault. The latter, played by Steve Carell, died in a car accident in season 2. This season, broadcast two years ago, ended in the middle of the Covid pandemic.

The new episodes, the first two of which are put online this Wednesday, September 13, resume the action two years later and here we are in March 2022 on the screen. The UBA channel managed to prosper during the health crisis in particular thanks to the launch of its streaming platform, UBA +. However, the euphoria was short-lived and the group once again faced economic difficulties. President Cory Ellison then decides to approach a billionaire, Paul Marks, so that he can buy the media company.

The fantastic performances of the actors

The newcomer is played by Jon Hamm, the star of the excellent series “Mad Men” (2007-2015) and recently seen in “Good Omens” or “Top Gun: Maverick”. Her character is the head of an aerospace group, under contract with NASA, and journalist Alex Levy (played by Jennifer Aniston) must participate in the maiden flight of her new rocket. The 52-year-old actor is perfect in the skin of the man who looks like Elon Musk. This common thread throughout the season – the possible takeover of UBA – is particularly successful.

It’s a shame, however, that this third round of episodes – which has ten – devotes entire sections to subplots, which are not uninteresting, but which only seem to serve as fillers. Because it is when it refocuses on its main heroes that the series “The Morning Show” is most relevant.

So yes, there is talk of institutional racism, the war in Ukraine or the end of the guarantee of the right to abortion in the United States, but none of these subjects is in-depth enough. In the end, this edition suffers from the same faults as the previous ones: it is full of good ideas without following through on its intentions. We will therefore be satisfied with the formidable performances of the actors, which are enough to captivate the attention.