Turn The Morning Show Into A Sitcom
The worst-best show that cannot be missed is The Morning Show. It started as prestige TV and became the hottest of messes fast. In the process, the once damning coverage from critics and news outlets now laud it for leaning into being unintentionally funny, self-serious, and downright ridiculous.
GQ wrote in September, 2024, that the show “has become the most delightfully wacky show on television.” The Ringer stopped covering it as part of its Prestige TV podcast and believes it “Has Crossed the Cringe Rubicon”. It’s a “Camp Masterpiece” proclaimed The Atlantic while The Guardian awarded it the “most ridiculous show on television”. Slate was reverential, hailing it as a “triumph of bad taste”.
A production hard to categorize, The Morning Show combines soap, romcom, dramedy, alternative reality, infomercial, public service announcement, and quasi-docudrama. I expect the last episode will have Billy Crudup’s character staring into a snow globe.
The Morning Show is a twitcom and I cannot avert my eyes. The over-the-top plotlines and often really poor writing stretch credibility. There’s a parade of fading actors making it The Love Boat of this century. It’s also a gameshow of characters who evaporate and disappear with no explanation.
In season three, Jennifer Aniston’s character yells at Crudup, “I’m so sick of your self-righteous monologues!” Which is great because every character spouts self-righteous monologues, that’s the content and cadence of the show.
The handling of the conflict in Ukraine, racism, America’s polarization, the pandemic, abortion are so poorly done that I say, Pack Up the Tent! Let’s retool this baby. The pieces are all there to be a truly whacky sitcom. Let’s mash it up and borrow bits from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Friends (makes sense, huh?), and Party Down.
Oh, and The Office, it must be done mockumentary style! Reese Witherspoon arches an eyebrow right into the camera after every revelation. John Hamm hoists a mug that reads, “American Oligarch”. And Billy Crudup would not really have to change at all, except he would start playing pranks on the news anchors.
The news studio would merge the old sets of Murphy Brown and NewsRadio. Other action would take place at a local martini bar where staff include actors Michael Richards, Zendaya, and Martin Shore as servers while Joaquim Phoenix plays the bonkers bartender. The oyster shucker could be Dana Carvey. And there would be scenes at the private plane airport lounge. Every episode features a real-life person in the lounge mixing with the characters. Think Bezos, Obama, Taylor and Travis, Bill Murray, and Bene Brown.
I would tune in for that and dance to The Rembrandts theme song, I Will Backstab You. And let me at the merchandise. I’d be first to buy the branded lunchbox, cellphone cover, and cashmere throw. The sitcom would be fabulous chaos. Or as Jennifer Aniston’s character has said, “It’s all f*cked up, it’s just a mess.” A mess to be watched.
