Steve Carell Joins Jennifer Aniston & Reese Witherspoon’s Apple TV Drama

[dricia]

Steve Carell is the latest actor to sign on to one of Apple’s seemingly imaginary television series, as the former star of The Office joins the cast of the as-yet-untitled morning talk show drama alongside Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Although it has yet to produce a single show, Apple has been gathering top-notch talent for what someday soon may be a lineup of television shows fans of Apple’s products can watch for free on any number of devices. This latest bit of casting news is for one of the tech company’s longest-in-development series, which was given a 20-episode order in 2017. 

The morning show series is one of several Apple has in the works. It joins the troubled reboot of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories, as well as Chris Evans’ legal drama, Defending Jacob, an Emily Dickson drama starring Hailee Steinfeld, and Ron D. Moore’s sci-fi drama, starring Joel Kinnaman (Altered Carbon), Sarah Jones (The Path), and Michael Dorman (Patriot), which is reportedly titled For All Makind. This is in addition to Little America, from creators Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, a future-set drama starring Jason Momoa, and an adaptation of Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits, to name a few. With news of Carell’s casting, it’s worth wondering how close the series is to beginning production, or, perhaps just getting a title. 

As reported by TVLine, Carell will play Mitch Kessler, a morning show host who, unsurprisingly, finds himself struggling with the expectations of an ever-changing television news industry. The series will be Carell’s first time back on television following his departure from The Office, which was then followed up by roles in films like Foxcatcher, The Big Short, Battle of the Sexes, and this year’s Beautiful Boy, opposite Timothée Chalamet.

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With the talent already attached to the series — not to mention the other purported Apple television series — it’s not too surprising to see Carell take a break from feature films for this project. His casting is certainly another vote of confidence that the untitled drama is going to be a worthwhile endeavor, for the stars involved, for Apple, and for potential viewers. Whether or not this means those potential viewers will be seeing more details — or actual footage — from these series anytime soon is another question altogether. 

For now, Apple seems satisfied just building the idea of content and releasing casting announcements and other press releases. Hopefully there will be more than that in the very near future.