The Morning Show

Fred, what happened?

Good morning. Mitch Kessler, my cohost and partner of 15 years,

was fired today for sexual misconduct.

My on-air partner, my TV husband, is a sexual predator now?

I didn't rape anybody!

Hannah, you said you were looking for stories about strong women tomorrow.

Well, check this out.

Yeah?

You know you have over a million views on your video?

We wanna interview you about why the video is going viral.

The Morning Show?

I'm exhausted!

You seem a lot more relaxed today.

Yeah, well, this is a whole lot nicer than a coal mine protest,

I'm not gonna lie.

I think people want to trust that the person

that is telling them the truth about the world is an honest person.

This is Cory Ellison. I'm the president of the UBA network.

How would you like to come and meet me for a drink

and talk about your future?

Alex, they were going to replace you.

- What? - He came to me.

They said they wanted to make a change.

I don't believe you.

Bradley Jackson. Thank you so much for coming to meet me on such short notice.

Come on. You're the head of two divisions of a network.

You don't have to pretend to appreciate me dropping everything to show up.

You expect that, right?

I'll have bourbon on the rocks. Thanks.

So, what's this about? Late night meeting at a hotel...

No, you see, sorry, I'm one of those strange guys

who only likes sleeping with women who are actually attracted to him.

So, no, I'm not hitting on you.

- You see that woman over there? - Yeah.

That's Cecily. She's my New York assistant.

I'm sleeping with her.

Okay.

That was a joke.

I'm not worried. I don't scare easily.

- Well, that's abundantly clear. - Thank you.

- Thank you. - I guess they know you here.

Yeah, I come here a lot.

So, Bradley, what is your story?

- My story? - Yeah.

Who knows? I mean, it's probably the same as a lot of people's stories.

Kid grows up in the country around a bunch of cows and cornfields

and dreams of a life that's less about manure and more about ideas,

things that matter.

Only to grow up and realize manure matters a whole lot.

Actually, I don't think that's the same as a lot of stories at all.

What's your story?

I'm probably not supposed to ask you questions

'cause you're technically important, but... What the hell? You know?

Wow, being "technically important" is about the best description

of a network executive I've ever heard.

What is my story? Smart kid, dad left, I took care of my mom,

I vowed to own the world one day and kick everyone's ass into submission.

How's that working out for you?

Pretty well, actually.

Well, cheers to that.

Hell, yeah.

So, what do you want from me?

Do you treat every business meeting

like you're being interrogated by an enemy camp?

If you're even a little smart, you know that's what all business meetings are.

Then why aren't you further along in your career at this point, if you're so savvy?

"At this point"? You mean I'm too old to be the young, feisty journalist?

I should have landed somewhere more substantial by now?

Maybe.

You're incredibly smart, you're interesting,

you've got that "it" thing we're always looking for in this business.

What is it? What's held you back?

I don't know.

I mean, probably what you see as something "fresh" in me

is probably what held me back.

I don't think like other people.

I say whatever I mean. I don't play games. I don't fit the mold.

What mold is that?

Any mold, really.

Oh, right. A weirdo.

- What? - I don't mean that in a bad way.

You just wanted to meet me in person to see if I was crazy or not.

I can see why you do good interviews.

Thanks, I do.

So, aside from wondering if you were crazy,

here's the other reason that I wanted to meet you:

I think we might be able to use you as a field correspondent on The Morning Show.

What, you might be able to?

Well, I've looked into your past a little bit.

You have moved jobs a lot. You have a bit of a colorful local history...

Okay, Two-Fucks Jackson is... I can explain that...

"Two-Fucks" what?

- What? - What? No, I said it first.

No, I was just kidding.

I definitely wanna hear about Two-Fucks Jackson.

But right now...

right now I'm just trying to decide if I should give you a chance.

I wanna use this Mitch Kessler scandal to reinvent ourselves.

I want smart people with fresh perspectives.

Are you offering me a job right now?

Well, I don't wanna step on my producer's toes,

but I have arranged a meeting for you with Charlie Black tomorrow.

He's the executive producer of The Morning Show.

- I know who he is. - Course you do.

Can you be ready for a 9:30 meeting tomorrow morning?

I can do that.

Good.

Thank you for this.

That's it? I don't get to hear about Two-Fucks Jackson?

Another night. I gotta start prepping. I take my work really seriously.

- I knew I liked you. - Hey.

You don't know me.

Jason.

What are you doing here?

You cannot just come over like this anymore.

Alex, for fuck's sake,

I have had our daughter on the phone, freaking out,

asking if I know where you are.

Okay, well, here I am.

I'm home, and I'm fine.

I'll call Lizzy, and I'll tell her that I'm fine. Thank you.

Where have you been?

I was just... I couldn't sleep.

I couldn't sleep, so I just went for a walk in the park.

You went for a walk in the park in the middle of the night?

- Yeah. - In the rain?

Well...

- What is going on with you, Alex? - What...

- Are you okay? - Yes. I'm okay.

I went for a walk in the middle of the night.

When else can I go for a walk in the park without anybody bothering me?

Why are you looking at me like that? I...

Please, I've had the worst day of my life.

I haven't had a chance to process anything. So I went for a fucking walk.

- Okay, okay. Good. Yes. - It's fine.

I will see you tomorrow night for the event.

The fucking event.

Yes. I'm looking forward to it as well.

- Are you? - Yeah. Good night.

Okay.

Oh, fuck.

Oh, God.

I pushed all your calls because after the show

you'll meet with the UBA PR team to review your speech for tonight.

- They reviewed that last week. - It's from Fred's office.

Can't wait to see you get that award. I just got a new dress for it.

I can't wait to see it.

Hair and makeup at your house at 3:00. I put it in your calendar.

I don't care if it came from Fred's office.

I know what I wanna say, and I don't need them rewriting it today.

Please go call them.

You can't blame them for being a little nervous about your speech.

This is the first time you're in public since this whole thing happened.

Wait. What? You mean you think accepting an award for leadership in journalism

two days after my cohost of 15 years is fired for predatory behavior is touchy?

That event is gonna be a roomful of vultures waiting for you to fuck up...

Why are you stressing me out like this? Honestly.

Why don't you just give me a stroke by 7:00? Then I won't have to go.

I need to get out of this!

I understand. But I...

- I need this. - Okay.

Hey, Sarah.

Did you call me at 4:00 this morning?

I just woke up and saw this message flashing.

Yeah.

Okay... I need to ask you something.

In your opinion,

the way that the network has been dragging their feet on closing my new deal...

does that suggest...

anything unusual going on?

Like what?

Like...

them trying to replace me?

Or thinking about replacing me?

Well, it's never a good thing.

But it doesn't necessarily mean anything like that.

The good news is you have them by the short hairs now.

They need you in a big way.

Okay, you gotta get that deal closed. And I want every single thing we asked for.

Are you all right?

I'm fine. I'm fine.

Why does everyone keep asking me that?

I just want what I asked for.

And the most important thing is cohost approval.

Sarah, I just need to be able to control the narrative

so that I'm not written out of it.

Alex, why are you afraid of this all of a sudden?

It's just a feeling.

But it is really, really important.

Cohost approval.

You gotta push that through. And I mean it.

Get that.

And I wanna hear the minute that you hear back from them

and not when you feel that I can hear it.

Okay?

Okay.

Yeah. Right.

I never sent a message that I thought was inappropriate.

These women who have come forward did think it was inappropriate.

Do you think that that's valid? Do you think their response is valid?