‘The Morning Show’ to End With Season 5

Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston in a first-look photo for 'The Morning Show' season five.

Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston in 'The Morning Show' season five. Apple Logo text

The Morning Show has set its final broadcast.

The already renewed fifth season will be the last for the hit Emmy-winning series when it returns in 2027, Apple announced on Thursday. The media drama starring and executive produced by Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston was renewed back in September 2025, just hours before season four premiered.

Now months later, the star-studded creative team is revealing that they went into making season five knowing it would be the end of the show. The season five release date will be announced at a later date.

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“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,” says Aniston. “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.”

The Morning Show was among the flagship original titles that launched Apple TV’s streaming service in 2019. Since its debut, the series produced by Media Res, Echo Films and Hello Sunshine has racked up four Emmy Awards and one Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award among critical acclaim.

Along with Aniston and Witherspoon, the ensemble cast is led by Billy Crudup, Mark Duplass, Nestor Carbonell, Karen Pittman, Nicole Beharie and Jon Hamm, along with new additions for season five including Jeff Daniels, Reneé Rapp, Jesse Williams, Sean Hayes, Lizzy Caplan and more.

Season four took place in spring 2024, almost two years after the events of season three with the earth-shattering UBA-NBN merger complete, and ended with the ensemble coming together to save one of their own. The fourth season welcomed new guest stars Aaron Pierre, William Jackson Harper, Boyd Holbrook, Marion Cotillard and Jeremy Irons.

Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston in a first-look photo for season five. Apple

Zack Van Amburg, Apple’s head of Worldwide Video, acknowledged the show’s legacy with Thursday’s news: “Our first order was an important one, and seeing this incredible Apple TV series through from start to finish has been the joy of a lifetime and career. Jennifer, Reese, Michael and Mimi not only created a series that continually challenged audiences, sparked conversation and stood at the forefront of television over five unforgettable seasons, they also helped launch an entirely new streaming platform with their signature series.”

Jamie Erlicht, Apple’s head of Worldwide Video, added, “Working alongside storytellers like Jennifer, Reese, Michael, Mimi and Charlotte has been one of the great privileges of building Apple TV. Their extraordinary creative partnership has made The Morning Show one of the defining series of our time. We’re profoundly grateful to the artists who poured their talent and passion into this remarkable series, and incredibly proud that the impact of The Morning Show will continue to resonate long after its final season.”

Michael Ellenberg, CEO and founder of Media Res, said, “The Morning Show is the ultimate labor of love for everyone involved, from the writers, to the crew, to the directors, to the cast, led by our incredible partners, Jen and Reese, who from the very beginning set the course for the fearless, timely, provocative, ambitious and rousing show we’ve poured our hearts and souls into these last years.”

The Morning Show is showrun and executive produced by Charlotte Stoudt, executive produced by Mimi Leder, who also directs, and is executive produced by Ellenberg for Media Res, Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter for Hello Sunshine, and Aniston and Kristin Hahn for Echo Films. Zander Lehmann and Micah Schraft also executive produce. Leder and Stoudt both have overall deals with Apple,

Stoudt took over as showrunner in season three from Kerry Ehrin, who developed The Morning Show and who served as showrunner on the first and second seasons.

“For five seasons, these messy, resilient journalists have chased their dreams. Now we’ll see where their endeavors lead them — what story will they ultimately choose for themselves,” said Stoudt of what to expect from season five. “It’s been a thrill and a privilege to write for this generous, extraordinary cast.”

Leder added, “It has been the honor and the privilege of my career to birth this series from conception to its final conclusion with this brilliant cast, stellar crew, and the extraordinary writers who, through our indelible characters, put a microscope on our world, and implored our duty to speak truth to power to protect the freedom of the press at all costs. It’s been a beautiful and meaningful journey.”

Stoudt referenced the challenge of landing the Morning Show ship when speaking in depth to The Hollywood Reporter about season five after season four concluded. “We have been in the room for a few months. It’s a big cast, so it just takes a while to chip away. With Bradley and Cory, are they twin flames? Are they mirrors of each other and have similar pathologies? The idea of letting them go is very difficult, because they have this connection,” she told THR of where season four left the on-and-off pairing played by Witherspoon and Crudup, respectively.

As for the heart of the show — the friendship and working relationship between Witherspoon’s Bradley and Aniston’s Alex — Stoudt said, “They are ride or die. There’s no question about that. But they’re always going to disagree on the way to do things. That is their fundamental tension.”

And for the rest of the cast, she teased, “Now we’re getting into five seasons of the show, and, do people learn anything? That’s the question. These people have not learned everything they need to know about themselves. There are still areas where they haven’t integrated things into their personalities, and are still reaching. … They’re just like us. Can they get their shit together? Can they figure out what they could be better at? Can they think differently about themselves? And that is what every show has to be about in the end. Can a character move forward and become smarter? An attempt to either find their mission or find some contentment, and once they do that, then the story is over.”

Beyond The Morning Show, Apple TV remains a partner for several of the cast and producers, including Witherspoon, who executive produces Lucky starring Anya Taylor-Joy; Hamm, who stars in and executive produces Your Friends and Neighbors; and Aniston, whose banner Echo Films is developing projects for the streamer.