Ah, the irony in Apple TV+ launching their new streaming service with a show about breakfast TV just as Nine was announcing their new line-up for Today.
Morning Wars starts with Mitch (Steve Carrell) being fired for sexual misconduct, leaving co-host Alex (Jennifer Aniston) bereft without her “TV husband”. Television executive Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) then tells the show’s producer that Alex will now need to be replaced, because “who wants to see a TV widow getting fucked by someone else”. Ouch.
In announcing Today’s next hosts, Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon, Nine talked about its “bold decision to try something new with two women hosting”, thereby throwing Georgie Gardiner and Deborah Knight under the bus while saying nothing about disastrous male sports presenter Tony Jones, who was responsible for the show’s most excruciating moments. (Jones is also departing.)
Back on Morning Wars, where it’s hard to separate fact from fiction, Alex outwits her male bosses by announcing to the press that Bradley, is her new TV partner, and “two women hosting” is something new for American TV too. Luckily, there is no gaffe-prone sports presenter because who needs anybody else when you have Jen and Reese.
The Crown (Netflix from Sunday) now has Olivia Coleman (Queen Elizabeth) and Helena Bonham Carter (Princess Margaret) and they are both delightful in their roles. Like the first two seasons, the attention to detail is stunning and the relationships still compelling. Changing the entire cast suggests there has been a major time jump since Claire Foy and Vanessa Kirby played the sisters, but it’s only been a few months.
Days of Our Lives had a bigger leap when Jennifer (Melissa Horton) went into a coma and woke up to learn that a whole year had passed. The next episode, which was crucial in understanding the all-new plots in which everything had flipped around, then did not screen in Australia. Instead, we saw the following episode, which made no sense, not that anything ever makes sense in Salem. Confused?
Well, so too is the media who all jumped on the bandwagon that Days of Our Lives was ending. Yes, the entire cast contracts have not been renewed but “contract negotiations” also go on around this time of the year. Also, check out our recent interview with executive producer Ken Corday in which he surprisingly reveals that Days is NBC’s most streamed show. Doesn’t sound like an axe falling to me.
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Top Photo: Olivia Coleman in The Crown with the Corgis