‘The Morning Show‘ is certainly not short of drama or compelling storylines, but to dive deeper into this smash hit show, producers Lauren Neustadter and Kristin Hahn sat down to discuss working behind the scenes on Season 3 and how it feels to have a show pace and change as much as the news does in the real world.
What drew you to this show in the first place and how have you seen it grow?
Lauren Neustadter: Without speaking for Reese or Jen, I think that so much of it was that they wanted to work together, and they wanted to work together in front of the camera and also behind it. It’s been such a privilege for us to get to be part of that sisterhood and that partnership over the three seasons. I will also say, when we heard the concept, it felt so exciting and so undeniable because every morning you wake up and you’re watching these morning shows, and what you see are these picture-perfect hosts that are telling you everything is going to be great and don’t worry, and it’s all going to be fine.
Then when the cameras stop rolling, you wonder if it is actually so perfect. And of course, it’s not. So the notion of going behind the curtain and actually seeing the world of these morning talk shows and [now] Alex’s late-night show this season, ‘Alex Unfiltered’—it’s just being able to look through the lens of all of these different sorts of outlets for communication, but [you’re] really looking at the honest communication that’s going on when the cameras are not rolling.
Kristin Hahn: I think for both of them (Reese and Jennifer), it’s fair to say the attraction also was two very complex female characters that are not written enough in the world we live in. So to have these two complex women to play side by side and also to really delve into power dynamics in the workplace specifically, it felt like we needed that.
It was something that hadn’t really fully been done before…Just focusing on gender dynamics in the workplace, and now we’re obviously opening the show up to other dynamics. There are a lot of isms to explore in the world, so we’ve opened the aperture up each season, but that original seed of you don’t have to work in the news world to relate to what it’s like to be in gender politics basically in whatever world you work in—that was exciting as a topic.
With so many compelling characters on the cast, both new and old, whose journey have you enjoyed watching unfold?
KH: It’s very hard to choose. I really enjoyed the addition of Paul Marks (Jon Hamm) as a force of nature in this season, because he really is this catalyst and this accelerator that forces each of the characters into a place of declaration of self: Who am I? Who am I going to be? Am I going to be the person who goes down this road? Where’s my moral line? Where’s my morality?
He challenges that in every single character he touches, which is most of them. So I really loved watching not just his arc this season, but what he did for every other character.
LN: For obvious reasons, I’m probably the most emotionally invested in Bradley Jackson (Witherspoon). And I feel like she’s really a part of me and my heart and soul in the way that she’s part of Reese’s, and I care so much about her.
Another character that I really love is Mia Jordan, who’s played by Karen Pittman. I just feel like where we saw her in Season 1, where she went in Season 2, and where she is in Season 3 and what she has achieved and what she’s willing to sacrifice for the love of her job, but also how much she cares about her team—it really resonated with me. And I felt like as a woman who cares so much about the people that I work with and also has really big goals and big dreams and hopes and aspirations, I feel a strong connection to Mia.
Current events always play a big role in the show. Will we see more of that in Season 3? If so, which storylines are you looking forward for audiences to see?
LN: I think as women who are at the center of storytelling in this moment in time in film and television, obviously there’s so much that’s going on in terms of the entities that are empowering us to tell the stories. What is the size of the screen? Is it network? Is it cable? Is it streaming? Is it a theatrical release? How are these stories being told and how is that landscape shifting? That’s a really interesting theme that we’re thoughtfully exploring here inside of this season.
But obviously, in terms of what is going on in Hollywood right now, it feels ever relevant and ever important. And I think we care so much about telling these stories and doing this work, and we’re sort of on this ride of watching this industry evolve. It was important to all of us to put a lens on that this season, and I love the way that Charlotte and our amazing group of writers explore that thoughtfully inside the context of what’s going on in Season 3.
KH: Honestly, I’m in love with multiple storylines this season. I think the racial reckoning aspect was important to all of us as well and to dig into that and give voice to conversations that are happening behind closed doors, but not enough as part of the conversation in the workplace. So for us, that was a really important storyline to highlight and to introduce this new character, a new host on The Morning Show. It was just a piece to add to the puzzle of the ensemble and open up that conversation.
‘The Morning Show‘ will premiere globally with the first two episodes on Wednesday, Sept. 13, followed by one new episode weekly through Nov. 8, on Apple TV+
