How real is Morning Wars?

There are backstage fights, power games, brinkmanship, tantrums, #metoo and journalists wielding power….

Apple TV’s Morning Wars has been hailed as a hit and a warts-and-all exposé on breakfast television, including landing a Screen Actors Guild Award for star Jennifer Aniston.

But how real is it compared to the brutal world of television in Australia?

Morning TV insiders from 3 different networks gave their verdict to TV Tonight, on strict anonymity.

They all loved the show. Here’s what they said….

Presenter: “Morning Wars was VERY close to the bone for this breakfast show presenter. The dreaded early alarm, the coffee, the adrenaline, the race to get on the scene for outside broadcasts, and an Executive Producer who never seems to sleep. There are some BIG differences though: There’s no limo packed with producers picking me up from home every morning, I’m not out every night (and on the booze!), and we wouldn’t dare swan into the studio with seconds to spare before air time. Our floor manager would kill us! As for any behind the scenes hissy fits…my lips are sealed.”

“This isn’t the television world I know.”

Presenter: “Morning Wars didn’t start well. The first few episodes didn’t do the rest of the series justice. But the ripped from the headlines story evolved into a very addictive series, with brilliant performances from Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon and an amazing turn from Billy Crudup. The great thing is the characters aren’t cardboard cutout, good and evil types, rather everybody’s motives are questionable. I heaved a big sigh of relief that this isn’t the television world I know.”

Producer: “Morning Wars takes a while to get started and saves the best bits for last.. an exact opposite to how an actual brekkie show works. I do recommend holding on until episode 8.. not just to see an almost realistic look at a day in the life of a breakfast TV show host but also for some powerful scenes. Morning Wars shows a side of TV production that for years nobody spoke about and many kept covered up. I hope and believe that no longer happens. Many of the characters ring true, and capture the personalities that you encounter working on morning TV. Just like in real life these characters have big egos, large tempers & short fuses. They are paranoid, delusional and totally unaware of their shortcomings. And that just those behind the scenes.

“I wondered if they were word for word ripped from an Australian breakfast TV show.”

“Two takeaways for me were a reminder to always treat every microphone as if it’s live and some of the ‘on-air’ scripts were so spot on that I wondered if they were word for word ripped from an Australian breakfast TV show. The Morning Wars (Show) made me yearn for more of Get Krack’n and especially a Frontline style look at Breakfast & Morning TV in Australia.”

Producer: “People constantly ask me about Morning Wars once they find out I work in breakfast TV. Is it real? Is it accurate. Funny thing is, most of the time my answer is yes. Surprisingly.

“I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes, hairpiece removal and all.”

“Take for example Chip, the executive producer of fictitious breakfast staple The Morning Show. His obsession with his show is not uncommon. His lack of sleep and grumpy demeanour is true to life. And there’s even a scene where Jennifer Aniston’s hilariously nuts character, host Alex Levy, comes off air and has a huge fight with Chip. She rips out her hair extensions while she rips into him. I know for a fact this has happened in real life. I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes, hairpiece removal and all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVsM4gvkQXo

“A lot of what we see on this show rings true for Aussie breakfast TV. The episode where they fly to the wildfires to broadcast their show happens in our market too – just without the private jets and makeup trailers.

“The take-no-prisoners TV writer Maggie, played effortlessly by Marcia Gay Harden, reminds me of similar types here in Australia. Even the nuances – trying to trap people while off the record. Thinking everything is Watergate when it’s just TV.

“But there were parts of the show that didn’t ring true to me at all. There’s a scene where Aniston’s character refuses to go on air until she gets her way in an argument with her boss. I can’t see that ever genuinely happening.

“Would I watch more though? Absolutely. Bring on Season Two.”

“Much of the show is very dark too. It’s about abuse of power and predatory behaviour. I am happy to say I have not witnessed this in my career, although Australian TV has not come through the Me Too reckoning unscathed. The end of the season becomes so heightened and so dramatic, it didn’t reflect my own experiences in Australian breakfast TV. Would I watch more though? Absolutely. Bring on Season Two.

“One more thing that didn’t ring true – the executives and hosts on Morning Wars don’t talk about ratings as much as everyone does in real life. Not even close.”

Morning Wars is now screening on Apple TV+