‘The Boss of ‘The Morning Show’ Discusses Getting Political in Season 3′
In its third season, The Morning Show introduced an Elon Musk-inspired tech billionaire, a Jan. 6 insurrection storyline and multiple backstabby corporate takeover plots. But the point of all that high-stakes drama — on one of TV’s most gleefully over-the-top shows — is to remind us all to be a little more humble. So says Michael Ellenberg, executive producer of the Apple TV+ hit, who spoke to THR on the occasion of The Morning Show’s 16 Emmy nominations about how the series managed to tackle heavy storylines without taking itself too seriously and why it’s more fun to make a TV show without a multiseason master plan.
How did The Morning Show hit its stride in season three?
The show is still exploring its core themes— what does it mean to be a professional woman in America, a powerful woman in America? How does the world treat you? But in season three, the show was able to become itself. We’ve always strived to tackle these serious themes, but with an edge of self-awareness that our characters are over-the-top and narcissistic and misbehaved. The show walked a fine line this year of acknowledging and engaging with weighty themes but having a sense of humor about itself.
Is finding that tone a function of casting or writing?
The writing and casting are an essential marriage. We’re always looking for actors who are wonderful dramatic actors, but also have a funny bone. The writing has that in mind, too. Just when the show runs the risk of being dreadfully earnest, we want you to be pretty angry at the characters and bring it down a notch. Because, ideally, what we yearn for is more humility in our culture. Cory [Billy Crudup’s UBA network CEO] is a very helpful character in that. He’s wicked and devilish and loathsome, but he’s also so intelligent and poetic that you’re dazzled by him. He’s someone who says so many horrible things, but when you look at his face, you kind of assume he only believes a few of them. The show is oddly unpredictable in that fashion. Some of that’s because of the grand gestures we take in terms of topicality. Some of that’s because the characters are so over-the-top.
Among the topics that you waded into this season was Jan. 6. How did you approach tackling such an overtly political issue?
There was a truth that [showrunner Charlotte Stoudt] was after, which is that you have families torn apart by politics across this country. If you’re trying to make a show for everyone, the cliché is you end up making a show for no one. But you can make a show that’s as open to as many people as possible. This is why it’s very important that the characters misbehave and get things wrong and aren’t perfectly good or bad. The show isn’t trying to tell you we know everything, either.
Do you know at the end of season three where season four will start?
Absolutely not. The Morning Show is classic television. There was a period of prestige TV where there was a false view that these shows are novels. They’re not. It’s exciting being part of something that has a response from the audience. Charlotte and [director] Mimi Leder are watching what storylines pop, what actors pop, and the show makes a new season based on that. Every question is analyzed and obsessed over. There’s a pressure to keep elevating what we’re doing.
This story first appeared in an August stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.