Holland Taylor Is Cancelled on 'The Morning Show'

By Dustin Rowles | TV | September 21, 2023 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | September 21, 2023 |

This week’s episode of Apple TV’s The Morning Show was one of its best since the opening season in large part because it’s taking advantage of Nicole Beharie — who plays new anchor Chris Hunter — and addressing race issues in a way that’s not completely clumsy (it helps to have a Black writer (Joshua Allen) penning the script!)

The episode picks up soon after the data hack into the network. Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup), the CEO of UBA, is trying to sell the company to Jon Hamm’s Paul Marks but is being met with resistance from board member Cybil Reynolds (Holland Taylor). Cory’s plan is to surface an email exchange found in the hack where Cybil makes a very misguided reference to Aunt Jemima while negotiating Chris Hunter’s contract.

Deservedly, the knives come out for Cybil, who pleads with Alex (Jennifer Aniston) to give her a friendly interview and let her clear the air and redeem herself. Alex wants nothing to do with Cybil. Chris, meanwhile, is entirely dispirited, having not only learned that the board — or at least Cybil — only sees her as a Black anchor. At the same time, instead of taking real action, Cory Ellison only throws money at Chris to silence her.

In the midst of all this, Alex proposes that Chris interview Cybil. She agrees, and Chris eats Cybil’s lunch in part because Cybil can’t just apologize. She also has to defend herself and, at one point, even suggests that Chris should be “grateful” for her job. Yikes. It does not go over well. Cybil’s attempt to spare herself from cancellation completely backfires, and while the entire experience is grueling and humiliating for Chris, she comes out of the interview with some newfound confidence. Cybil had said that she was initially reluctant to hire Chris because of her lack of experience; Chris illustrated precisely why she was qualified for the job by demolishing Cybil under intense public pressure. It was amazing to watch.

The interview also led to Cybil’s ouster from the board, which paved the way for the board to approve the network’s sale to Paul Marks. In a fantastic twist, however, Paul Marks decides against buying the network because it’s toxic now. The very act of sabotage that Cory orchestrated to oust Cybil from the board to clear the way for a sale is precisely why Paul Marks changes his mind. That’s fun writing.

— In the first two episodes, we referred to Jon Hamm’s character as Hamm Musk because of his resemblance to Elon Musk. I take that back. Paul Marks may be a billionaire and a prick, but he’s a savvy one that avoids toxic situations instead of creating them.

— For those keeping count, after Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston spent 90 seconds on screen together in the first two episodes, they shared zero screen time this week. Reese Witherspoon was not in the episode. We have no idea what the fallout is from the leaked video she sent to her then-girlfriend, Laura Peterson.

— Yanko (Nestor Carbonell) is the anti-woke toxic-masculine asshole in the office. Still, I also loved that a drunk Mia (Karen Pittman) and Stella (Greta Lee) couldn’t resist talking about how “problematic but hot” he is. Also, Mia and Stella’s relationship is what we were all hoping for from Alex and Bradley’s relationship.

— After I watch an episode of almost any TV show I write about, I check to see what viewers of that show are searching on Google. This week, most of the searches involved “Who is Chris Hunter,” “What has Nicole Beharie been in,” and “All Rise,” which suggests that there were at least a few people who were confusing Nicole Beharie (Sleepy Hollow) with the judge on All Rise, Simone Missick. Missick and Beharie are aware that they are sometimes confused with one another.

Some people think we look alike(I wish I was this beautiful)😘@NikkiBeharie UR gorgeous inside and out! #afropunk #BlackGirlMagic 👸🏽#brooklyn pic.twitter.com/tXjOgVeTTi

— Simone Missick (@SimoneMissick) August 27, 2017