Steve Carell to play anchor on Apple's Jennifer Aniston-Reese Witherspoon morning news show drama

Deadline

In his first regular TV series role since leaving The Office in 2011, Carell will play the male lead on Apple's untitled drama set behind the scenes of a morning news show, based on Brian Stelter's book Top of the Morning and written by Kerry Ehrin. Carell will co-star with Aniston and Witherspoon, playing Mitch Kessler, a morning show anchor who is struggling to maintain relevance in a changing media landscape. As Deadline points out, "this is a familiar territory for Carell who played weatherman Brick Tamland in the Anchorman feature comedy franchise." Since leaving The Office, Carell has focused on acting in movies, earning an Oscar nomination for Foxcatcher in 2015. His last TV role, other than The Office's Michael Scott, was on Showtime's Web Therapy in 2013.