Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon to Star in Apple's First Scripted Series

Apple is venturing into new territory: scripted series. The company revealed details about their first scripted series efforts, with a morning talk show-themed series starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon and a revival of Steven Spielberg's anthology AMAZING STORIES, as reported by Variety.

The Aniston-Witherspoon untitled drama series is inspired by CNN senior media correspondent Brian Setlter's book Top of the Morning, which documented the rivalry between NBC's TODAY SHOW and ABC's GOOD MORNING AMERICA. Multiple networks were fighting to buy this drama, but Apple's bid won the drama for two 10-episode seasons. Former HBO executive Michael Ellenberg is the creator, while HOUSE OF CARD's Jay Carson will pen the script. Ellenberg's Media Res studio, Aniston's Echo Films and Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine will produce the drama. This project marks the debut for Media Res, which was launched in June.

Less information is available about Apple's production of AMAZING STORIES. It will be produced by Universal Television, Amblin Television. Spielberg, Bryan Fuller, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey from Ambling and Hart Hanson (BONES) will executive produce the anthology. AMAZING STORIES originally made its debut on NBC from 1985-1987, with Spielberg at the helm. Each episode documented a different fantasy, horror or Science fiction story. The original series won 5 Emmy awards. The revival will feature different filmmakers and actors each episode.

Both shows were ordered straight-to-series to push start Apple's television series venture. Former Sony Picture TV presidents Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg were recruited for Apple Video to spearhead this transfer into premium television. It is not clear right now whether Apple's television service will be available through a subscription fee, like Netflix, or just through iTunes.