After a long hiatus, due in large part to the pandemic, The Morning Show returns for season two this Friday.

The critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning Apple TV+ drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, launched two years ago and goes behind the scenes of a network morning news program. While the first season had its own themes, director and executive producer Mimi Leder tells ABC Audio season two adds a lot more on top.

“Season one was about the fallout and the repercussions of the Me Too movement, season two is about identity,” she reveals. “We pose a lot of questions we don’t necessarily answer about race, sexuality and cancel culture.”

Leder also dishes that the upcoming 10 episode season will incorporate the COVID-19 pandemic, adding, “COVID lingers in the background of our show, like a storm coming. You know how the news largely missed it.”

Speaking of the pandemic, like the rest of the entertainment industry, production for The Morning Show was shut down at one point, which Leder says made them “reevaluate” some things.

“We were shooting for 13 days when we shut down on March 12th, and basically had to reevaluate what we were, what was our story,” she explains. “We’re a news show, we had to really mirror what was happening right under our feet.”

Season two of The Morning Show premieres Friday, with the remaining episodes being released every Friday thereafter.

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