I’m sorry but I’m sensing a fairly brittle vibe here. Tension, arched backs, porcupine needles. Par for the course for a series about a Today-like show, right? Maybe, but I really don’t want to watch this.

Boilerplate: “Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) runs The Morning Show, a popular news program that has excelled TV ratings and changed the face of American television forever.

“After her partner of 15 years, Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell), is fired amidst a sexual misconduct scandal, Alex fights to retain her job as top newsreader while sparking a rivalry with Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon), an aspiring journalist who seeks to take Alex’s place.

In an 8.12.19 HE riff about the teaser, it seemed as if Carell was going to play, as I put it, “some kind of pompous asshole, or perhaps a character based in part on Matt Lauer.”