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With the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show now streaming in over 100 countries and regions around the world, I recently sat down with creator Michael Ellenberg and Brian Stelter for an exclusive interview. If you’re not familiar with The Morning Show, the series is inspired by journalist Stelter’s book, Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV and stars Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell. As the series begins, Aniston and Carell are the hosts of the number one morning news program (think Good Morning America or the Today show) titled The Morning Show. But almost immediately, Carell’s character is fired for sexual misconduct in the workplace and the first two episodes deal with the repercussions of his actions and how Witherspoon’s character enters the picture. The series is incredibly timely to what’s been happening in the real world. The Morning Show is written and executive produced by Kerry Ehrin (who also serves as showrunner) and also stars Mark Duplass, Billy Crudup, Desean Terry, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Karen Pittman, Néstor Carbonell, Bel Powley, and Janina Gavankar. For more on The Morning Show you can read Adam Chitwood’s review or watch the trailer.

During the interview, Ellenberg and Stelter talked about the history of the project, the timing of the series, how morning TV has been reshaped by the Me Too movement, what they learned making the first season that they’ll take into season two, and more.

Check out what they had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.

Michael Ellenberg & Brian Stelter:

• How The Morning Show was originally going to be a Lifetime movie.
• How morning TV has been reshaped by the Me Too movement.
• The timing of the series.
• What did they learn making the first season that they want to take into season 2?

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  When was the last time Stelter got nervous or flustered on live TV?

Here’s the official synopsis:

Starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell, “The Morning Show” explores the cutthroat world of morning news and the lives of the people who help America wake up in the morning. Told through the lens of two complicated women working to navigate the minefield of high-octane jobs while facing crises in both their personal and professional lives, “The Morning Show” is an unapologetically candid drama that looks at the power dynamics between women and men, and women and women, in the workplace.