Film

Morning Glory

Name: Morning Glory
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Released: 2010
Cast: Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum

Other titles called Morning Glory: the 1933 film.

Workplace drama

A scrappy TV producer rescues a failing morning show by recruiting a grumpy news veteran to co-host. It's a workplace comedy that loves its setting—there's real affection for the people who make live television work, the chaos of daily broadcast, and the messy human drama behind the scenes. For anyone who's ever watched a morning show and wondered how they pull it off.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy workplace comedies where capable people bicker their way toward respect, and you don't mind a crowd-pleaser that trades sharpness for warmth; the veteran-versus-newcomer sparring is the draw.

Skip it if you want the newsroom fire of a sharp media satire, since this one keeps its teeth filed down and leans on gentle Hollywood-style charm.

What it asks of you: Expect a brisk, chatty hour and three-quarters where the jokes land fast and the emotional beats arrive on schedule, asking little more than a willingness to be charmed.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Network1976

Caustic satire about television news that remains scarily prescient. Chayefsky writes dialogue like poetry, and the film never stops interrogating what we're willing to watch and why networks push it.

But It's a vicious film about venal people, and the tone is relentlessly dark. If you want warmth or hope, this isn't the place to find it.

Broadcast News1987

James L. Brooks' masterpiece about a morning newsroom—smart, funny, and genuinely moving about the collision between good journalism and good television. The ensemble work is flawless.

But It's long and talky, and the romantic triangle that drives it can feel dated. Some of the early-'80s gender politics will make you wince.

The Morning Show2019

Apple's prestige drama about a real morning show in crisis, starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Sharp, glossy, and genuinely gripping about power and complicity in live television.

But The first season stumbles tonally and sometimes feels more like a soap than a workplace drama. Later seasons improve considerably, but you have to sit through some rough patches.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Morning Glory

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Singin' in the Rain1952

Both are about an industry in crisis trying to reinvent itself, and the people scrambling to keep it alive by staying relevant, entertaining, and—somehow—honest.

A musical about the Hollywood studio system at a moment of radical change—sound cinema's birth. It's joyful, brilliantly made, and obsessed with what happens when old media collides with new technology and public taste shifts overnight.

But It's a 1952 musical, so if you don't like song-and-dance numbers, you'll be frustrated. The plot is thin and the gender politics are of another era.

Murphy Brown1988

Candace Bergen as a legendary news anchor returning to her show after rehab. Laugh-out-loud funny, character-driven, and it treats the mechanics of broadcast television as genuinely interesting.

But It's very much of the late '80s—the references will whoosh past you, and the pacing is slower than modern TV. Some jokes land harder than others.

The Newsroom2012

Aaron Sorkin's love letter to broadcast news, set at a cable network where idealism and reality collide. Impossibly fast dialogue, genuine stakes, and Jeff Daniels delivering one of TV's great angry speeches in the pilot.

But Sorkin's sanctimoniousness can be suffocating. He wants you to admire his characters' moral clarity, even when the writing doesn't earn it. And it gets worse as it goes on.

Spotlight2015

Methodical, gripping film about the Boston Globe's investigation into Catholic Church abuse. It's about real journalism—the tedium, the collaboration, the slow accumulation of truth. Tom McCarthy directs with remarkable restraint.

But It's deliberately unglamorous and procedural. There are no big speeches or romantic subplots; it's entirely about the work. Some find it dry.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy2004

Will Ferrell as a '70s news anchor—stupid, vain, and oddly endearing. It's a comedy that clearly loves the artifice of broadcast news and the absurd egos it attracts.

But The humour is broad and sometimes juvenile. If you don't find Will Ferrell's commitment to ridiculous characters funny, this won't change your mind.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy poster

The Paper1994

Ronny Howard's frantically paced love letter to newspaper journalism. Glenn Close, Michael Keaton, and Robert Duvall in a film that captures the adrenaline and camaraderie of a newsroom in real time.

But It's a relic of '90s cinema—dated in small ways, and the sentiment can feel forced. The pacing exhausts rather than exhilarates for some viewers.

The Comeback2005

Both are about people trying to make a show work under impossible circumstances, and the strange intimacy required when you're performing live—or pretending to—while cameras capture every misstep.

Lisa Kudrow in Christopher Guest's mockumentary about a fading sitcom star attempting a comeback. Painfully awkward, deeply funny, and genuinely interested in the gap between how people see themselves and how they appear to others on camera.

But The humour is almost entirely cringe comedy. If secondhand embarrassment makes you uncomfortable, this will be unbearable. It's also of a very specific comedic moment.