"The Morning Show" and "Lessons in Chemistry" (1 season- Apple+)

I figure these shows have enough in common that using one post to discuss both of them would be best.

As someone who never streamed any series before this year, I selected the series I chose to watch on a different set of parameters than most.
I saw a trailer for both of these shows years ago. They starred people I knew and that was it. I had no clue aside from the tiniest bit of detail I got from the trailers as to what they were even about.
And in both cases, the subject matter was about more than I bargained for… would it have changed my mind about watching them at all? I don’t know.
I just know I wound up with one series I chose not to continue and the other— it had one season and I might have watched more if there was more. But I was satisfied with the ending I did get.


The Morning Show


Initial impression- Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon play anchor women who butt heads on and off camera

Actual premise- a daytime show struggles to salvage its reputation after its lead anchorman is fired for sexual misconduct

Basically it’s a #MeToo series. Steve Carrel’s character Mitch being modeled after other disgraced anchors like Matt Lauer. And we find out through different characters how little accountability was taken and how deep the corruption went.
It isn’t until the last few episodes of season 1 we get a sense of how it all went down. The closest I’d personally been to this issue was the documentary about the gymnasts who spoke out against Larry Nassar so it was both eye opening and unsettling. I went from watching one episode a day to two the last few days because I had to see how it all resolved.
One season I watched ultimately ended in a way I was happy with: everyone who was involved or covered up for Mitch was ousted on air and fired. In case the subsequent seasons took this progress in reverse, I didn’t want to be there to witness it. I’ve gotten more in the habit of stopping certain series if all they do is annoy or upset me… life is too short.

During this latter portion, trigger warnings started to precede episodes. I understand why but part of them didn’t like them because they essentially spoiled what was going to happen. So I’d be bracing myself for whenever the thing happens and it compromised the whole experience.

Another thing I’m still kinda sad about was how the fallout of this impacted another relationship on set. They were keeping things quiet for a while not to attract too much attention but eventually they were out in the open. And one of Mitch’s accusers talks to the girl and her experience wound up convincing her the relationship wasn’t a good idea. Except for maybe rushing to a public dinner date, he never did a thing wrong… I don’t know if they eventually reconcile or not, but I was rooting for them.

The main cast was really good. Luckily Steve Carrel looks a lot different than he used so it’d be difficult to rewatch episodes of The Office after this. Not so much what he did but his attitude, ugh! There was zero admission of wrongdoing and he learned nothing from the whole thing.
We all know Jennifer Anniston. This role was different from Rachel in so many ways. It’s revealed through the season how the station was looking to replace her (because women apparently age out of show business and she lacked the same fire she used to have) but find themselves in a bind after what happened with Mitch. We learn she’s terrible at the work life balance and is getting divorced. And as the pressure gets to her, she has breaking points.
Then Reese Witherspoon- she’s so fiery as Bradley. This gets her in trouble a lot but her reporting is much fresher than what the majority of the morning show people are like. She goes viral when she tells off a protester and ends up getting recruited to join the show. Later Jennifer Aniston makes her co-anchor- not so much for her accolades but because it would get under the skin of her superiors. And having the option to choose her co-anchor was something she wanted in her updated contract.
I’d heard of Billy Crudup but never saw him in anything and he was good as the new creative director of the show. He’s a maverick when it comes to certain things and it tests his superiors a lot, particularly his attitude about being immune to being fired. Then Mark Duplass (I’d previously seen him as a midwife in The Mindy Project ages ago) as Chip the executive producer- he’s unfortunately culpable in the Mitch situation and I think he loses his job at the end of the season. Despite his flaws, he’s in a similar boat as a lot of the other main characters. Even if they do things I disagree with, I still find them very likable.

One storyline I remember most is when the two of them go to LA to cover wildfires and they sort of have a breakthrough moment as colleagues.
With California being what it is with climate-related disasters, this was always going to be timely but it was interesting and kind of eerie to watch this while California was dealing with the Eaton and Palisade fires earlier this year. And also how news during these times are covered. I think I remember there being a story of rich people paying extra for firefighters to protect their homes, drawing resources away from poorer neighborhoods. Not the type of stuff morning news shows cover (it’s more of slanted CNN/fox news type story) but I still found it interesting they went there. Also a huge yikes if that’s actually a thing.

My only other critique of this series… there was a lot of yelling laced with expletives. Maybe it’s just me but in normal conversation or in professional situations, you don’t talk to people like that. I get that frustration was there but… seriously, would it kill you to expand your vocabulary beyond using the f word every 5 seconds?!


Lessons in Chemistry


Initial impression- Brie Larson plays a chemistry teacher

Actual premise- Elizabeth Zott, a female lab tech in the 50's struggles to get support for her research and winds up becoming a TV personality… and finally a chemistry professor at the end of the series

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to talk about this series without giving everything away so consider yourself warned.
This series makes me think of an Ed Sheeran lyric about “watching shows they recommend that don’t get good until the end.”
The latter half of this series was loads better than the first half.
I know it’s based on a book and it’s about self reliance and overcoming adversity… but some things need to be said before I can go forward:

1) if a woman stabs a man with a pencil, there’s probably a good reason for it… she isn’t the one who should be forced to apologize
2) Don’t make me fall in love a character…and kill them off. Especially when they’re the one ally the main character has
3)if a woman states they don’t want to be a parent, don’t make them a parent because “biology”— this is just something that annoys me. Writers need to get more creative and write more female characters who find success and happiness with every other aspect of their lives.

Now that that’s out of the way…
Elizabeth reminds me a little of Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. Maybe it’s just a genius thing but both of them are very matter-of -act and don’t always notice sarcasm. Her tendency to take things at face value ruffles some feathers but these quirks help bring levity to the story.

It’s a little disappointing in retrospect that she doesn’t achieve the goal she set out to do- earn recognition in the science community for her research.
But she does achieve a lot through the series. After losing Calvin Evans, the love of her life, and dealing with the challenges of being a single parent, she gets a gig doing her own cooking show on public broadcasting.

This was when where things started to get really good. She’d already become good friends with neighbor Harriet Sloane (I’d previously seen her as one of Keating 5 in “how to get away with murder”) who has her own storyline fighting for their neighborhood— they’re putting a freeway through it specifically because it's predominately a black neighborhood— probably one of the best integrations of civil rights in a recent series I’d personally seen. I don’t think they won the fight to keep the neighborhood but she definitely fought tooth and nail for it.
At the TV station, they had Dwight from The Office being a not-always nice guy and Stuart from Big Bang Theory helping her get her foot in the door. His character also gets progressively braver and willing to take more chances to help her succeed.
Then of course her daughter Madelyn, being the product of two geniuses, becomes a prodigy. So much so that her teachers are constantly annoyed at her for being smarter than them.

So the supporting cast overall is super strong. It’s also nice to have the military husband angle for the neighbor and he comes back home alive from Vietnam… I guess the show didn’t want to kill off more than one significant other.
We also learn more about Calvin's backstory- how he grew up in an orphanage and when his father came looking for him, the orphanage people kept them apart because they were using his genius for their own gain.

The show within the show is different than the Julia Child show we’ve experienced or seen one way or another. She still cooks on set but she also grapples with product placement issues. Most of which she doesn’t approve because they’re not made with natural ingredients. Then at one point, she turns a lot of heads when she held up a box of tampax as their latest sponser.
I mean, the rabid fan base of the show was mostly housewives so it’s relevant but the fact she went there was a good laugh. She also makes a controversial stand for the local civil rights movement and thanks to her fans, they keep her on the network... and Dwight loses his job.

In the end, though, she sees how her newfound fame has been affecting her relationship with Madelyn- they dont see each other as much anymore- so she leaves the show. And finally becomes a chemistry professor… and it ends there. I kinda wish I saw more of her in that role but for everyone, it was a good stopping point.