The Morning Show to end with Season 5 / Apple TV greenlights its first-ever dating series / Natasha Rothwell joins Hulu’s The Cable Guy-inspired pilot
PLUS: Today issues stricter security protocols for guests following last week’s intruder incident with Craig Melvin.
The Morning Show to end with Season 5
The flagship Apple TV original series, which launched with the streaming service on Nov. 1, 2019 after it was given a two-season order in November 2017, will end the fifth season that was ordered last September. Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and their fellow cast and crew members went into filming Season 5 knowing that it would be the last season. A Season 5 premiere date will be announced at a later date. “From the beginning, Apple has supported our vision for The Morning Show, and we feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to tell stories that reflect what’s happening in the world around us with a twist of dark humor,” Aniston said in a statement. “It’s been such a privilege to work with this insanely talented cast, and our extraordinary writers, producers and crew. We’ve become such a family and we’re all so excited to share this final season. And going in knowing it would be our last, we were so fortunate to craft the conclusion with intentionality, and honor these characters the way they deserve.” Witherspoon adds: “The past nine years producing and acting in The Morning Show have been the honor of a lifetime. This was always more than a show about a newsroom — it was a show about why the newsroom matters. About freedom of the press, and the journalists who protect the fourth estate, often at great cost. Telling that story has been the creative privilege of my career. Thank you to Apple for their unwavering support, to our visionary writers, our incredible crew, and our extraordinarily talented cast, who brought five seasons to life with a truth audiences believed every step of the way. It has been a stellar creative experience — one I will always treasure.”
Apple TV greenlights its first-ever dating series: The Last Person on Earth
Esther Perel, a world-famous couples therapist who consulted on Olivia Wilde’s new movie The Invite, will star in Apple’s first foray into the relationship genre. “In The Last Person on Earth, Perel and a team of matchmakers will bring together couples who appear to be polar opposites, before embarking on an adventure in one of the world’s most romantic and remote destinations,” according to Deadline. “Billed as a social experiment amid increasing levels of polarization and social isolation, the show will then explore across eight eps whether opposites really do attract.”
Today issues stricter security protocols for guests following last week’s intruder incident with Craig Melvin
Effective immediately, Today guests can only bring a maximum of two people with them to the studio. “This includes anyone accompanying the guest — PR representatives, hair/makeup, social media, photographers, stylists, studio representatives, or any other support personnel,” reads a Today memo. “We’ll defer to you on who those two individuals should be, but there will be no exceptions or additional personnel permitted in the studio during the interview.”
Natasha Rothwell joins Hulu’s The Cable Guy-inpspired comedy pilot
The White Lotus alum will play the sister of Damon Wayans Jr’s character, “an oddball with a dark sense of humor who lives at home with their parents in the aftermath of an injury.”
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms boss says Season 2 is “a f*cking bastard” that has been “10 times harder” to film
“Season one was so hard. So totally hard,” co-creator and showrunner Ian Parker tells The Hollywood Reporter. “The speed at which we had to shoot these things and how quickly we had to move around. It felt more like an indie film, or even a student film, than it did a Game of Thrones production. Then came season two, and it is somehow 10 times harder. This has been a brutal, brutal season. The biggest part has been this weather. We had to go somewhere for some heat and dryness because Book Two takes place in a drought.” Parker adds: “Yeah, the place we chose to shoot our drought in got a once-in-a-100-year storm. It kept getting water, and we got rained out of locations. We got flooded. There were national emergencies. We had to put the crew on hiatus. We were going to go back — and then it happened again. There’s been so much stopping and starting that it’s been hard to get into a real cadence. This has been going on too long for a six-episode season, and we still have three more weeks of shooting. But what’s helped is that Peter (Claffey) and Dexter (Sol Ansell) are a year more experienced and have their thing down. So we’ve sidestepped some of the growing pains of season one. Season two has been a f*cking bastard.”
Peacock reports its first-ever profitable quarter
The NBC Universal streaming service earned $189 million in profits for the second quarter, its first profitable quarter six years after launching in April 2020.
Taylor Sheridan’s The Run for a Million is coming to CBS
Each season of Sheridan’s CMT reality show The Last Cowboy culminates in The Run for a Million, an arena-based elite horsemanship event that has a $1 million prize. CBS will air it as a one-off The Run for a Million special event on Aug. 22.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians to return for Season 3 on Nov. 20
Season 3 of the Disney+ series will adapt Rick Riordan’s third book in the Percy Jackson book series, The Titan’s Curse.
Watch the trailer for Shane Gillis Tires Season 3
Gillis’ Netflix comedy series returns Aug. 13.