Up All Night (TV series)

Up All Night is an American television comedy series created by Emily Spivey that premiered on NBC on September 14, 2011, at 10 p.m. (E/P), before assuming its regular time slot on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, at 8 p.m. (E/P).^[1] The show stars Christina Applegate, Will Arnett, Jennifer Hall and Maya Rudolph.^[2] The series will be moved to Thursdays, to air after The Office starting on January 12, 2012.

Synopsis

The series follows Reagan (Christina Applegate), a producer on her best friend Ava's (Maya Rudolph) talk show, and Chris (Will Arnett), Reagan's supportive, stay-at-home husband, as they try to adjust to life with their new born baby Amy.

Production

Conception

The series was based on creator Emily Spivey's life when she went back to working on Saturday Night Live after giving birth to a baby boy.^[3] Due to the nature of her job, she was required to take care of the baby and work late nights.^[3] She decided she wanted to make a show based off those extremes.^[3] NBC executives were "supportive and excited" for the new series.^[3] On February 1, 2011, Up All Night received a pilot order, written by creator Spivey and directed by James Griffiths, under the title Alpha Mom.^[4] The series was officially picked up for 13 episodes at the NBC upfronts on May 15, 2011 under its final title, Up All Night.^[5]

After the success of Maya Rudolph's movie Bridesmaids, Up All Night went through some retooling which now has her character Ava, as a talk-show host, and Reagan now as the show's producer, instead of them being PR executives.^[6] Spivey said the character change allowed Ava to be more fun.^[6] Some media critics compared the character change to Rudolph's impersonation of Oprah Winfrey on Saturday Night Live.^[6][7] The series was later given a full-season pickup on October 4, 2011.^[8] On November 21, 2011, NBC added two additional episodes to season one, bringing the total to 24 episodes.^[9] This is so the series could air along side the eighth season of The Office.^[9]

Crew

The series is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Media Studios.^[10] The series was created by Emily Spivey who serves as executive producer along side Lorne Michaels, Jon Pollack and Erin David.^[10] David had worked with Spivey and Michaels on Saturday Night Live while Pollack had worked with Michaels on 30 Rock.^[10] Series co-star Christina Applegate also works as a producer on the series alongside Eric Kranzler and Andrew Singer.^[10]

Cast and characters

The main cast includes:

• Christina Applegate as Reagan Brinkley, a producer for the Ava show, who goes back to work after giving birth to a baby. Applegate was interested in the series early on, especially because she had recently had a child.^[3] Applegate was also offered several other roles for the pilot season.^[3] Applegate was the first cast member signed on to the series.^[11] She is credited as a producer for the series.^[10]
• Will Arnett as Chris Brinkley, a former lawyer and now stay-at-home dad. Arnett was the third main cast member to sign on to the series.^[12]
• Maya Rudolph as Ava Alexander, the host of the Ava show and Reagan's best friend. Rudolph was the second main cast member to sign on to the series^[13] Rudolph had previously worked with the series creator on SNL and Spivey had wanted to work with Rudolph before the series plot was established.^[3]
• Jennifer Hall as Missy, Ava's assistant. Hall was the final member to sign on to the series and was initially a recurring actor.^[14] She was officially added to the main cast list in the fifth episode, "Mr. Bob's Toddler Kaleidoscope".

Several actors who are part of the recurring cast on Up All Night, include:

• Nick Cannon as Calvin, Ava's co-host on her talk show.
• Matt Braunger as Gene, Terry's husband and Reagan and Chris's next door neighbor.
• Jean Villepique as Terry, Gene's wife and Reagan and Chris's next door neighbor.
• Jason Lee as Kevin, Reagan and Chris's next door neighbor who is dating Ava.^[15]
• Molly Shannon as Nancy, Amy's babysitter. Shannon was initially a one-time guest star, before the producers asked her to appear in another episode.^[16] Her second episode will air in early 2012.^[16] She is a former cast member of Saturday Night Live and previously worked with Michaels on the series.^[16]

Several guest actors have also appeared. Richard Schiff appeared in "Parents" as Reagen's dad.^[17] Blythe Danner has appeared twice on the series in "Parents" and in "First Christmas".^[18] Two former Saturday Night Live cast members and writers have appeared on the show: Will Forte and Jorma Taccone. Both appeared in "Working Late and Working It".^[19][20]

Reception

Broadcast

Up All Night premiered in the 10:00pm timeslot behind America's Got Talent with Free Agents following it.^[1] The following week it was moved to its regular timeslot at 8:00pm, and was eventually the only comedy after Free Agents was cancelled.^[1][21] Starting January 12, the series will be moved behind NBC's hit series, The Office, switching timeslots with Whitney.^[22] Some media critics have said that the goal for moving the series was in order to make it more of a ratings success, like The Office.^[23][24]

Reviews

Up All Night has received mainly positive reviews from critics. The first season currently holds a score of 64 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating generally positive reviews.^[26] Phillip Maciak complemented the cast and the show's "hackneyed conventions as hip cultural satire" writing that it "rang surprisingly true".^[25] Many critics said that the series felt like two different shows in one.^[27][28] HitFix reviewer Daniel Feinberg gave the series pilot a positive review, but disliked the office settings and the writing for Rudolph's character commenting that "Will Arnett and Christina Applegate are playing parents, but Maya Rudolph is playing a sitcom character".^[27] Despite this, the performance of the main cast members has received praise from critics.^[25][29][30] Some critics compared Rudolph's role to her impersonation of Oprah Winfrey while she was on SNL, which Rudolph firmly denied saying "I have yet to see the similarities between my character and Oprah".^[7] Some publications declared it among the best TV shows of 2011, new or old, including Slant Magazine,^[25] Metacritic,^[31] Esquire,^[32] Hulu,^[33] and The A.V Club.^[34]

Ratings

Up All Night has proven to be a success in the ratings by NBC standards, NBC being the fourth highest rated network out of five networks. The series currently ranks as NBC's third highest rated scripted series after The Office and Whitney among adults between the ages of 18 and 49.^[35] The series also ranks as one of the most DVR'd series this season.^[36] Due to the moderate success, the series was given a full season pick up alongside Whitney.^[8] Bill Gorman of TV by the Numbers has also stated the series is most likely to be renewed for a second season.^[37][38] The cost for an ad for the series is approximeatly average of $82,617 per 30-second commercial.^[39]

Awards and nominations

The series is currently nominated for "Favorite New TV Comedy" at the 38th People's Choice Awards.^[40] Rudolph has also received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for a Series, Miniseries or Television Film at the Satellite Awards.^[41]

References

External links

• Official website
• Up All Night at the Internet Movie Database