Robert Lloyd for the Los Angeles Times:
Apple TV+ has launched upon the streaming seas of television, and out front of the flotilla is “The Morning Show,” about a network morning show, called “The Morning Show,” in the wake of a sexual misconduct scandal…
Up until a day before the Friday premiere, only the first three episodes, out of 10, were available to review; many reviews were written off them, and though it wasn’t hard to see that something interesting was happening, it wasn’t clear exactly what — especially as regarded Carell’s character… As the series goes on — I have watched it to the end now — Carell works to make Mitch human…
One aspect of the show that requires a little adjustment is that it has assembled a cast of actors skilled in comedy — not just the leads but support that includes Duplass, Ian Gomez, Nestor Carbonell and Fred Melamed and significant appearances by Martin Short, Mindy Kaling and Brett Butler — and given them no comedy to play. There are times the merest change in emphasis might turn a scene comic, but this appears to have been intentionally avoided; perhaps it was deemed disrespectful to the subject. And yet the show is not weighed down by solemnity; it’s fleet, propulsive…
As a mix of melodrama and well-written interactions that feel genuinely human, “The Morning Show” is fairly entrancing… The ending is almost operatic; not quite believable yet emotionally satisfying. It killed me, I must confess.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, when Apple TV+ shows are reviewed by those without an anti-Apple agenda, the reviews are excellent. Raves, in fact. Read the reviews closely and, in some, you can clearly see the anti-Apple sentiment colors their reviews.