"The Morning Show" Season 1

Welcome back to Analyze Scripts, where a psychiatrist and a therapist analyze what Hollywood gets right and wrong about mental health. Today, we are analyzing season one of "The Morning Show" on AppleTV+. This series stars an all-star cast including Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carell, Billy Crudup, Karen Pittman, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Mark Duplass, to name just a few. We examine this season's expert and thoughtful portrayl of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace by comparing and contrasting the complex power dynamics between Mitch and Hannah, Mitch and Alex, Mia and Mitch, and Yanko and Claire. We discuss that the "freeze" response is one of the most common reactions to trauma, and analyze how this may contribute to shame, guilt, and confusion experienced by victims (as well as broaded misunderstanding about sexual harrassment and assault). We also explore depictions of narcissistic personality traits (once again! seems like Americans can't get enough!), substance abuse, and grief. We really enjoyed this drama and hope you enjoy this episode!

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[00:10] Dr. Katrina Furey: Hi, I'm Dr. Katrina Fury, a psychiatrist.

[00:12] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And I'm Portia Pendleton, a licensed clinical social worker.

[00:16] Dr. Katrina Furey: And this is Analyze Scripts, a podcast where two shrinks analyze the depiction of mental health in movies and TV shows.

[00:23] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Our hope is that you learn some legit info about mental health while feeling like you're chatting with your girlfriends.

[00:28] Dr. Katrina Furey: There is so much misinformation out there and it drives us nuts.

[00:32] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And if someday we pay off our student loans or land a sponsorship, like.

[00:36] Dr. Katrina Furey: With a lay flat airline or a major beauty brand, even better.

[00:39] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: So sit back, relax, grab some popcorn.

[00:42] Dr. Katrina Furey: And your DSM Five and enjoy. We get started. We just wanted to include a trigger warning for this episode. This episode could include discussion about some themes and topics that might be upsetting, including, but not limited to things like substance abuse, suicide, self harm, disordered, eating, and harassment and assault. So if any of those topics are too upsetting, we totally get it. Please feel free to skip this episode and join us next week. Otherwise, we hope you enjoy.

[01:31] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Welcome back to another episode of Analyzed Grip.

[01:34] Dr. Katrina Furey: Woohoo.

[01:35] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: We're really excited to be talking about The Morning Show, season one for this episode. I feel a little late to the game as this came out in November of 2019, and I'm just discovering it and it was phenomenal.

[01:48] Dr. Katrina Furey: It is phenomenal. It really is.

[01:49] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Did you watch it earlier?

[01:51] Dr. Katrina Furey: I watched it earlier, but only like, last year. I wasn't watching it in real time, but I did watch it. I feel like the three COVID years are kind of a blur, but I remember watching it and doing a puzzle and so I think that must have.

[02:08] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Been during COVID Yeah, there were a lot of puzzles. I don't know if that's a trauma memory memory in a long time.

[02:17] Dr. Katrina Furey: And I think it's just like, I can't that makes sense. But no, I mean, the Morning Show is such a good show, so we're excited to be covering seasons one and two ahead of the release of season three this fall. And of course, we'll be covering that as well, like, in real time. But gosh, what an all star cast. One thing I love about it is that a lot of the main know jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carell are like, known comedic actors.

[02:47] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Lighthearted.

[02:49] Dr. Katrina Furey: Like, sure, they've all done some serious stuff here and there, but like, man, they all really pack a punch. And they're so good. And I love seeing them in these bigger, grittier, more complicated roles. I love seeing Jennifer aniston like this.

[03:05] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: I was shocked. We were talking a little bit about this before we started recording, and I have no idea how I was sleeping on the show. I think we kind of said it's like Apple's probably, unfortunately, like one of the last streaming services people think of.

[03:25] Dr. Katrina Furey: Yeah, it's like you get like Netflix, right? And then you probably get Hulu and.

[03:29] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Then you're like, do I really want.

[03:31] Dr. Katrina Furey: To pay for Apple or not? By the way, Apple, if you want to sponsor us...