The Morning Show — an Entertaining Review

Really enjoyed season 1; enjoyed season 2, but less so; will definitely watch season 3. "Watchably stupid" pretty much sums it up.

The acting is bad? Why are they so bad at doing pretend tv?

It's better than I expected. I'm looking forward to season 3.

It’s stupidly watchable

I couldn't get through Season 1. I liked Aniston in it, Reese less so. But it became laughably bad when Karen Pittman delivered a speech in the newsroom on speaker about her affair with Steve Carell. They lost me then.

It’s a good waste of time tv. Fast forward the intro section though, it’s way too long. Billions (in the same category as an ok, if unbelievable, waste of time tv) understands its place and has a 3 second intro.

It’s a bit overwrought.

It really is a mess. You can sense there is no one clear singular vision as to what the show should be. A lot of these actors like to grab executive producer credits for these series so you have to blame them for greenlighting these scripts and storylines.

They lost me a bit with the lezbo stuff. But I’ll watch S3.

The writing is execrable. It was clear that Steve Carell told his agent to get him off this goddamn thing however he could.

The "very special episode " of Aniston getting covid was one of the most entertainingly bad things I've ever seen. Or is that "watchably stupid?"

I liked the first season OK, had trouble getting through the second. The scenes with Carrell and Valeria Golino were horrible and felt endless. Ditto the shit with Reese's brother, why was that done? I also agree with this review that Cory Ellison's motivations and principles seem to entirely shift from one episode to another and the fact that he's still probably the most interesting person on the show is completely to Crudup's credit.

At least they got rid of Daniel, the most unpleasant and poorly acted character on the show.

I would rather watch paint dry

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It's so stupid. I watched a few episodes of season 1 and turned it off in disgust.

I remember thinking that no thinking journalists or adult humans would behave this way. There was so much noise, but nothing really was at stake, and there was no one to care about. The writing was dumb without any compensating humor or camp that would have at least made it fun.

You could see tons of money up there on the screen but Apple didn't spend anything on the scripts.

WTF with Reese's I'M EXHAUSTED!!

I thought the first season was one of the best explorations of what #metoo is on about that I've seen. The fact that the Carrell character was so personable, and so genuinely unable to see that he'd done anything to hurt anyone, was a great starting point. As it unfolds we have it explained to us, as it is to him, why the power imbalance is such an important factor.

But it was a one-arc show and should have stopped there. The only thing interesting in Season 2 was Carrell's arc.

OP - If I wanted watchably stupid, I'd turn on cable news.

All the Botox is creeping me out.

If any other clams made this bullshit show, it never would've made it past a pilot.

Reese and Aniston are every frau's favorite movie stars. Reese sells fucking Buicks, for god's sake. There's a massive contingent of loopy American broads who will pay to see these two in anything.

Yes the premise is so stupid. As if a major New York tv station would hire a 15 minutes of fame hick reporter to be their new co-anchor.

It's been known to happen, R22.

I want to watch Season 3, but not enough not to wait until the season is over and I can watch it all at once with a one-month subscription.

Aniston needs to lay off the fillets. She’s starting to resemble Miss Piggy.

[quote] Yes the premise is so stupid. As if a major New York tv station would hire a 15 minutes of fame hick reporter to be their new co-anchor.

R22 The network didn't make the hire. Alex did it. Bradley was a 15-year regional field reporter who went viral in a video that someone in the crowd at one of her stories (a West Virginia coal mine protest) had posted to Twitter. She was booked on the show in NY as a guest, to talk about the viral video. In the segment, which Alex thought was ridiculous and made it a somewhat tense on-air exchange, Bradley happened to catch Cory's eye (head of news) because for a pregnant pause Bradley had responded to Alex's hostile questioning in a way that put Alex on the ropes on her own national TV show. You're wondering, is Bradley going to plunge the knife and finish Alex off or throw her a life line? (Of course, she helped Alex save face.) That got Cory's attention, because here's a reporter from out of nowhere who could go toe to toe with an egomaniac like Alex and do it on her own turf. Cory then talked to Bradley about possibly doing some field reporting...Alex assumed he was talking to Bradley as an anchor replacement for her (early on it's made clear Alex thinks *everything* is a potential job threat/takedown)...Alex had a public moment at a dinner in her honor where she went off script and announced Bradley as her co-host on the show. Alex backed the network into a corner. They had to play along, or else admit with inevitable PR fallout that they'd been played by Alex.

Is it super soap opera? Yes. But there was more to the story than the way you described it. The writers developed a whole sequence of events to lay it out.

[quote] Yes the premise is so stupid. As if a major New York tv station would hire a 15 minutes of fame hick reporter to be their new co-anchor.

Even more unbelievable a major NYC station having their lead news anchors be two 50ish white women.

Is it a NYC TV station?

I watched the first season, mostly in misery, but I remember the show as being a national network morning show like Good Morning America, not a NYC affiliate.

Same point applies….never would see a couple of blonde white chicks sottin’ around talkin’. And for good reason.

R29 - Well, unless it was on Fox News.

Horrible acting. I couldn't get past the first season and even that was a hate watch.

I've never understood why Aniston is as famous as she is.

[...]

I’m convinced Aniston and Witherspoon are just too famous to really commit to delivering interesting characters, at this point. You can tell they’re both concerned about their America’s Sweetheart images - neither is willing to “go there” the way Billy Crudup does, for example. Alex’s lust for power and Bradley’s constant blundering should be veering into antihero territory, but both of these actresses are fixated on remaining “likable” and thus won’t commit to explicit villainy or the soapy antics that would be truly fun to watch. You can tell they’re holding back. I can’t help but wonder if the show might have been much better with two actresses who aren’t “brands” the way Aniston and Witherspoon are.

I don't know. I thought Aniston was the best thing about Season 1 - at least as far as I got - but like all shows these days they had multiple plots which distracted from the best one. And Billy Crudup's acting is like a cigar store Indian.

The Atlantic posted an article the other day basically saying exactly what R33 said.

Weird that Reese wasn't in the latest episode. Also weird that they're visiting the race issue yet again and that they're doing it without even mentioning Daniel.

R36 - Is it a race to the botox center?

The Morning Show is one of the few TV projects these days with perfect hair and makeup. The show is trash, but Reese and Jenn are gorgeously lit and styled in Season 3.

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The black anchor who appears in episode 1 was perfect. She definitely gave off that obnoxious morning show co-host vibe.

This show is ridiculous and I’m loving it. I think it finally managed to find some of its original voice, which was silenced by the Me Too storyline. I only recently learned the original concept focused on the rivalry between The Morning Show and the show hosted by Mindy Kaling.

I loved that Bradley went into space without bothering with months of conditioning. I love Jon Hamm as a tech billionaire. I love that Mark Duplass is collecting a paycheck for doing absolutely nothing.

I just realized there are several scenes in which Jennifer and Reese aren’t filming with each other. It’s clear they’re using stand-ins when Alex and Bradley interact.

[quote]I just realized there are several scenes in which Jennifer and Reese aren’t filming with each other. It’s clear they’re using stand-ins when Alex and Bradley interact.

I've never heard of such a thing!

"Either get on the Alex Levi train or stay behind at the station."

How the writers must have hated Aniston to put those words into her mouth. I thought the point of being a star is that you could throw a fit when you were given idiotic things to say.

I have never been an Anistan but I thought she did “go there” in the first season and deserved the praise she received for her performance. Crudup is fucking brilliant despite the shite writing and amateur hour acting from Witherspoon. He still steals every scene he’s in. Duplass represents the audience. Often bewildered as to why he’s still there and if it’s ever going to get better.

R45 I've been having a blah day but your comment really cheered me up....it's so true, and I love the part about Duplass!

Are the real-life morning shows even a big deal like they are portrayed on this series? I haven't watched one since the days of Matt and Katie!

They do generate cash flow —so many ads

The show is cartoonishly and exhaustingly self-righteous.

Is Julianna Marguiles still scissoring with Reese Witherspoon?

No…her character was with someone else in the 2nd episode, and the first episode went out of its way to establish Bradley was having one night stands with various women.

It's entertaining trash.

R33, an example of this in season 2 was when Alex daintily barfed in her bath tub when she had Covid, (was the toilet too crass, or were the camera angles not ideal?) and did hair and make-up before going on camera to “be real” about how awful COVID was. One could say that was part of Alex’s character, but why build it up to be this big, daring thing when she pretty much looked like she always does?

I barely made it through Season 1. they already were running out of ideas.

Billy Crudup is great at playing a total asshole.

The show is NOT great, but I’d actually say Season 1 is hands down the best. There haven’t been any exceptional moments like Alex and Corey’s Sweeney Todd duet, but it’s been very watchable. Also, unlike a lot of shows, the new characters and expanded roles of previously supporting characters, have done a great deal to make TMS even better.

Sorry, I meant to say Season 3 is hands down the best.

Did Corey and Bradley sleep together? I can't remember.

The biggest improvement in season 3 is no Steve Carrell. I hate when shows keep a character around after their storyline has come to a logical conclusion simply because the actor is popular. Way too many shows have tried this and it never works out well.

R56 - I hated that duet. It was cringeworthy. But who knew Jenny could sing?

I love this show. Though I’m such a procrastinator I haven’t made it through season 2. The only I thing I don’t like is the way Reese plays Bradley. She is the weak link, and she is usually a great actress.

Lordy help me, Bradley is an asshole and Reese Witherspoon is at her limits as an actress. I was recently watching The Bear and Ebon Moss-Barach plays a character fearlessly without fear of being disliked. He doesn’t veer into comic broadness or cultivated vulnerability when it’s time to be obnoxious, and Reese is unable to play ugly humanity. (Kate Winslet has the same fears.)

Surprisingly to me, Jennifer Aniston can play convincingly hard-nosed and controlling.

Didn’t even notice Daniel was missing this season. 😂

What an improvement. The actor was *perfectly cast for the part, annoying af, cringy and exhausting. Either means he’s a great actor or the part was written for him.

Watchably stupid sums it up. Love Anniston for reasons I can’t describe. Reese is godawful in absolutely everything. The rest of the cast is very talented and the script is spectacularly mediocre.

It bears repeating that the opening credits and theme song are the worst on tv.

This writer has had sufficient!

This last episode was insane. Jennifer Aniston and Jon Hamm have fantastic chemistry and it was fun to see them interact. But the Stella scenes were…yikes.

Post-menopausal Pap

I thought to myself—-never in a million years would Stella go along with that “tip” request. But a few minutes later she was telling Mia no big deal if her reporting asset gets in harm’s way…

The writing is not very good.

It wasn't perfect by any means, but I really liked season 1. Season 2 was pretty terrible, and season three isn't any better. There are moments though in even the worst episodes that actually are pretty good, but most of the writing sucks. I did enjoy Jenn and Jon in Coney Island.

He face is marshmallow-y. Little puffs here, there. And she cannot enunciate if her life depended on it

Her—Aniston^

I hate Stella and I hate the actress.

I feel like I'm over being lectured to about how problematic attitudes are. Obvs Cybil Aunt Jemima thing was out of line - terrible even - but I still do not get why her saying "anyone in that anchor chair should be grateful' was a rallying cry for racism. I would have thought that ab jenna hager, savannah guthrie etc too. Why did everyone freak when she said that? I don't want to right the wrongs or be educated on race during a TV show I jsut want to be entertained. AITA?

R73 It's because of how it initially came across to the audience. It sounded condescending. Cybil obviously meant something different than how it came across and immediately tried to elaborate, but as the saying goes, if you're explaining you're losing the argument.

R68, those two interactions are completely consistent. I thought the way Greta Lee played the restaurant scene was great.

The writing was bad—I didn’t mention the actor. I like her.

The restaurant scene was stupid. Do you really think in a climate where everyone is terrified of being canceled that anyone would actually pull that kind of toxic shit in the middle of a restaurant? It was also obvious that they cast an Asian woman as the waitress because they wanted the two straight white men to be seen as as monstrous as possible by tormenting a woman of color, but couldn't risk Stella also seeming "problematic" by casting a black or brown woman as the waitress.

r73 the reason you couldn't understand the insult is why these stories are being told on TV. If anyone comes to their boss with a legitimate complaint and their ultimate response is that "you should be grateful to have your job". Of course you'd be insulted. Let's not forget, she compared her to a black syrup selling character, the network was gleefully underpaying her, and she had to jump through more hoops then any else that's taken the job.

After all that racism, financial discrepancies, and discrimination, Sybil comes back with, "Be grateful." Naw, old gurl needed to kick rocks and bounce.

r77 yes, that can happen in the middle of a restaurant. And that restaurant was closed by the time they were ready to close out. They were the last customers or it was next to empty from what we can see. Would it happen? Yeah, I can see drunk assholes doing that, ever heard of Vegas, Cannes, or Dubai?

But I agree it could have been written a little bit better and they should have had them in a private backroom though I doubt Stella would want to be actually alone with them.

All the white males on this show are toxic.

The white womenfolk ain’t all that either…

The most toxic man on the show is Cuban American.

You would think with all the money that Apple is throwing at this show, it would be a hell of a lot better. I can’t believe it got renewed for another season.

I love how all of the black women are saintly and flawless.

84 put down the pipe.

I hate Reese Witherspoon's character and her relationship with Juliana Margulies.

Billy Crudup looks successively smaller in each episode.

Mia the show producer is always sad, and it's getting boring.

Except for Corey's house, this was not a great show.

Is Jon Hamm any good in this?

Jon Hamm is great…and he and Jennifer Aniston surprisingly have a lot of chemistry. He’s one of the few late additions to a show who manages to seem like he’s appeared in every episode since season 1.

This show is so cringey sometimes. First, there's the deadly seriousness with which everything about a morning news show is treated. Never mind that half of every morning news show is cooking segments and book clubs. Then there's "the great Alex Levy!" who I guess really must be great because everyone feels the need to remind us of her greatness every five seconds despite her never actually doing anything all that great onscreen. Next there's the sledgehammer that the writers bring out anytime there's a discussion about gender, race, or sexuality. I've had explosive diarrhea that was more subtle. And of course let's not forget Reese's annual lectures about east coast liberal elites wrongly looking down on middle America while everyone from middle America is then portrayed as dimwitted bigots who deserve to be looked down on. The only highlight of the last episode was Julianna Margulies calling Reese out for her hypocrisy about the shitty red state mother that she hated when she was still alive.

Why are we getting this extended and tedious flashback?

Tonight’s episode was egregiously bad. As noted by R90, at this point who the fuck wants to see a “connect the dots” story of the pandemic and George Floyd? It adds nothing, and is done badly on its own terms. Are we supposed to think—oh, that’s how he found that Hamptons house…good to know? 🤕

The best part of the last episode was the montage featuring the sexy war correspondent daddy! 🤤

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We're just finishing season 1........ Late?? Liking it so far.

If you like Season 1, you’ll love Season 3. It’s gorgeous trash.

I like Bradley’s loft in season 3.

I’m sorry, but Season 3 has been a fucking blast…especially this past episode.

This show is fucking ridiculous. I laughed out loud when Bradley's source insisted she meet her in a dark parking garage like she was sharing state secrets. And then I laughed even harder when the woman used that clandestine meeting to insist they meet later at another location. Why not just put that info on the Starbucks cup? (Which was also hilariously campy.) Then of course there was Cory and Fred's meeting in the car where Cory nonsensically sat in front of Fred pretending like they were undercover CIA agents. Wtf.

Cory and Fred didn’t meet in the car. It was Jon Hamm’s assistant that met Fred.

Sorry, you're right. It was Tig Notaro, not Cory. I think my memory is playing tricks on me because I was laughing so hard at the absurdity. I also love that they ended on a tribute to Hannah who I honestly don't think anyone in the audience still cares even a little bit about at this point.

Trying too hard to attack the major issues of our time each season. Preachy and smug. Don’t bother watching fiction to get a break from politics on Netflix.

Preachy and smug are a great description! Plodding through this show is like a slow moving car wreck. I had to stop for awhile.

Reese Witherspoon and Juliana Marguiles are totally unbelievable as a couple of muff divers. I just can't see Reese with a pussy juice mustache.

Maybe it's the way they're bringing more supporting characters to the forefront but it feels like Reece has taken a back seat with this in a way that Jennifer hasn't.

Greta Lee was amazing in the restaurant scene with the two arseholes, but WTF is that haircut? Karen Pitman is great and Nicole Beharie is very strong. Her scenes with Holland Taylor were very well done.

And please can Miss Lindsay stay away from American accents forever?

Greta's haircut is truly terrible. I'm really hoping she's growing it out and it just looks so bad now because it's in a weird in between stage.

Juliana is believable as a lesbian, but Reese is not. I just keep thinking of that Friends episode where Rachel insists she once made out with a girl and Phoebe says "Which means she had a couple spritzers and a quick peck on the cheek." That's basically the level of lesbian Reese gives off on this show.

Also Stephen Fry - what's the point?

Does this show have the worst theme song of any current series? My husband and I call it “Mahjong” because we can’t make out the words.

Juliana is only 3 years older than Jennifer but they look very different.

Juliana has obvious lines and wrinkles whereas Jennifer is so unblemished she looks CGI at times.

R107 He’s singing “March on,” but I think of it as the Mahjong song, too.

The problem with Reese and Julianna is they have zero chemistry. And Reese is completely miscast in the role. I’ve never seem a series so widely inconsistent. Some weeks it’s awful. Other weeks it’s unwatchable. And then it’s pretty good. It’s maddening. I’m just hate watching at this point.

R110 hit the nail on the head. The Alex and Paul scenes are enjoyable because Anniston and Hamm actually have chemistry. But Reese and Julianna have zero spark between them. Even when Bradley and Laura kiss, it comes across as, “Hey, look at us award-winning actresses doing the lesbian thing for our Emmy reel!”

Hopefully, Chip is gone for good.

A little trivia regarding this past episode:

Elizabeth Perkins, who portrays the president of a rival network, co-starred on Weeds with Mary Louise Parker, who Billy Crudup famously dumped for Claire Danes.

S3 E9 is legitimately good…on every level. It sucks the first few Seasons were trash, but the writing and addition of Jon Hamm have elevated everything about The Morning Show.

After this week's episode, another Emmy for Crudup!

Silly, soapy and heavy-handed at times. I'm watching it anyway - usually after a few drinks. Billy Crudup is the best thing about it, and I like Nestor Carbonell. Jon Hamm, meh.

Agree with R108 about the CGI. And Aniston delivers lines like her jaw is partially wired shut. I don't really like her as an actress.

Once I came across the comparison of Jennifer Aniston and Miss Piggy, I can’t unsee it.

At least she has great hair and a fabulous body.

Her hair on the show is most likely a wig or extensions.

Also it bugs me the way her hair always covers one side of her face, making me wonder what she’s hiding.

I don't like Aniston's hair on the show. It's distractingly long and poofy and not particularly realistic for someone in TV news. I also don't understand the way her character is written. They keep having her behave like an asshole yet the show acts like we're supposed to be rooting for her.

Well that was a dramatic penultimate episode or as I like to call it a drampenepi.

Billy is so beautiful but Corey needs some scenes where he's getting facials, botox and has a make up artist to touch him up throughout the day.

Great episode, everybody was acting their asses off.

John Hamm seems to still be playing Don Draper.

Never have thought Jon Hamm was a good actor. He plays the same character in everything. He bores me.

After an OK S1 and a horrendous S2 this one is actually not too bad. This latest episode was a lot of fun.

Are they telegraphing that because Hyperion safety measures aren’t up to snuff that Hamm’s character will somehow end up being snuffed out, maybe after he marries Alex and his death leaves her in charge of the whole shebang?

I predict Laura and Bradley get back together, they get married and spend their honeymoon in Israel where Laura is raped and murdered by Hamas terrorists and Bradley manages to record it all on her phone from inside a bush (no pun intended) before her miraculous escape.

It can go from very credible prestige TV one moment to an unintentional comedy in the next. The most recent episode was buzzing along quite nicely until the Roe decision came down and the show tried to make us believe that every character needed a moment to express their liberal credentials by decrying the decision. When Hamm's tech billionaire walked in the room and immediately started pontificating about the Supreme Court decision, I roared.

I had my suspicions throughout the season, but it’s so clear Chris + Yanko = TJ Holmes + Amy Rohrbach

Wow, that finale was bad. Once again, the show seems to have zero relationship with reality.

First there's Chip's on air rant. In what world would that have been considered impressive or moving? Never mind that he comes off as an unhinged lunatic, but he literally spends the entire time making the exact case for why legacy media is a dinosaur. The idea that people on both sides of the aisle would be applauding his rant is also laughable--someone like Ted Cruz would be using it to mock the unhinged liberal media.

Then there's the takedown of Paul Marks. It speaks pretty poorly of the show that when he's confronted by Alex, Stella, and Kate my first reaction is to think just how unlikeable and unsympathetic I find these three characters. Putting that aside, though, the bombshell of Paul's manipulations during the space flight might have been interesting if it had been played out as an ongoing mystery and investigation over several episodes. Instead it's just tossed out there in the most perfunctory manner possible because this is the finale and Paul needs to go now. Frankly, they may as well have just had Paul get suddenly hit by a bus because it would have had the exact same impact. The show also made a huge deal all season over Bradley sitting on the Hal story and then of Paul blackmailing Bradley, but the season treats Alex's blackmailing of Paul by offering to sit on a story about him as a moral victory. Huh?

Last, there's Alex's last minute deal to save UBA. Like the story of Paul's flight manipulation, this lands with a thud because it comes completely out of nowhere with no buildup or backroom intrigue whatsoever. The deal also makes zero sense on a practical level and even less sense on a story level when it's acknowledged much of the UBA staff be unemployed thanks to the deal. Also, I know Alex wanted a board seat, but did we ever actually see her get one? Because otherwise her being in the boardroom during the vote also made no sense.

There were way too many loose ends for this to have been a series finale, but I don’t see how Aniston, Witherspoon, Hamm, or even soon-to-be Oscar nominee Greta Lee (Past Lives) think this shit is worth their time. I’m surprised none of them begged to have their character killed off.

Also, this show couldn’t juggle the storylines introduced at the beginning of the season. I don’t know why Chris and Janko’s budding romance was introduced at the 11th hour.

R129 the series has already been renewed for a fourth season.

The series is such a hot mess and yet I can’t look away. I will say though that Billy Crudup had a hell of a season. He was phenomenal throughout. Reese Witherspoon is still hilariously miscast. Jon Hamn was scary as the villain and this is the best work Jennifer Anniston has done in a long time. They all elevate the material. The problem is the storytelling is problematic and proposterous. How do you put a merger together in 12 hours? What about antitrust laws? Paul folded like a house of cards and was supposed to be this scary guy and he just walks? None of it makes sense. And yet I still watch and will continue to. LOL

The Jennifer boardroom scene reminded me of one of Bette Midler’s 80 comedies. Probably Big Business but possibly Ruthless People - is there a boardroom scene there? And a dash of Romy & Michele.

When Don Draper followed her into the studio for the big reveal with Greta and other woman I thought the lights were going to come on and he was being filmed live or something.

Tig Notaro’s line delivery was like Rosie in the bus movie.

[quote] Tig Notaro’s line delivery was like Rosie in the bus movie.

She is dreadful in this.

Tig Notaro really was amateursville every sungle time she showed up on screen.

I guess we were supposed to think that at some point Paul was going to push Alex off the balcony in their final scene? I wish he did.

Question and I apologize for the spoiler . . .

Alex was sending a text to Bradley. She started to tell her to go to WV but, at the last minute, changed it to Hanover. When she was in the studio with Paul, after presenting her idea to board, he specifically mentioned Hanover. Was that a trap so that Alex could confirm Paul had hacked her/Bradley's phone(s)? I want to watch the full season again to catch anything I missed.

Yes.

Thanks, R135!

[quote]Last, there's Alex's last minute deal to save UBA. Like the story of Paul's flight manipulation, this lands with a thud because it comes completely out of nowhere with no buildup or backroom intrigue whatsoever. The deal also makes zero sense on a practical level and even less sense on a story level when it's acknowledged much of the UBA staff be unemployed thanks to the deal.

Here in Hawaii, the NBC and CBS local news stations were both struggling, and it looked like a tossup as to which would fold first. They overcame the problem by merging. They are still considered separate network shows, but they share the same reporters and online personalities. It's only during commercials and when they segue to their respective national newscast (NBC News with Lester Holt and CBS Evening News) that you realize they are not the same networks. That merger was brilliant and actually saved a lot of jobs. FYI, the man who managed that deal (Rick Blangiardi) is now the mayor of Honolulu.

If there are any awards for this series they should go to:

1. Greta Lee. The restaurant scene was very good and she made a lot of the other implausible scenes work

2. Holland Taylor. The interview with Nicole Beharie was perfect

3. Billy Crudup. Perfect at playing a psychopath.

Nothing for Tig Notaro, Stephen Fry or Lindsay Duncan who were all pointless.

R137 you do understanding that is operated by a separate como at that only affiliates with the network —in this case networks. That is fundamentally different from a network that owns and operates local stations / a cable network. Apples vs.-well-watermelons

* company