Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon & ‘The Morning Show’ Cast Tee Up Season 2 (VIDEO)

Nearly two years after it launched, Apple TV+’s soapy social commentary drama The Morning Show is, in the words of star and exec producer Jennifer Aniston, “finally!” back. And time away has not made things any easier at UBA’s wake-up chatfest.

The Morning Show Season 2 Jennifer Aniston Reese Witherspoon

When we last saw the team, iconic cohost Alex Levy (Aniston) and newbie partner Bradley Jackson (fellow EP Reese Witherspoon) had essentially hijacked the show to unleash a litany of charges against the powers-that-be following revelations of sexual misconduct by Alex’s ousted longtime cohost Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell). Names were named, lives were ruined (and ended—one of Mitch’s victims died by suicide), and as we cut to black, everything was up in the air.

Now? “Get me to a comedy!” jokes Aniston of the harrowing storyline Alex endures in these 10 new episodes. Not only is there fallout from her televised attack on her bosses, but her relationship with Mitch is also the subject of a tell-all that is about to be published.

For Witherspoon, Season 2 is about “picking up the pieces” and trying to move forward. Which, as it turns out, becomes a bit more complicated when newly minted lead anchor Bradley intersects with one of UBA’s legendary talents, Laura Peterson (played exquisitely by Julianna Margulies). “I could not have asked for a better costar,” Witherspoon raves, adding that a secondary story involving Bradley’s addict brother helps the newswoman see just how important connections can be when the chips are down.

And speaking of Chip, we also chatted with Mark Duplass, whose character is lured back into the morning-show game by a turn of events involving Alex, and TMS‘s Emmy winner Billy Crudup. As “a lot weird” network exec Cory Ellison, he must navigate a new landscape at the studio now that its toxic culture has been exposed.

On top of all of that, the season begins on New Year’s Eve 2019…and you know what 2020 had up its sleeve around that time, right?

The Morning Show, Season 2 Premiere, Friday, September 17, Apple TV+