Tuesday, October 30, 2012
NBC Orders Additional Up All Night Episodes, Switches It to Multi-Camera Format; Yahoo Comedy Show Burning Love Gets Two More Seasons
NBC has ordered three additional episodes of Up All Night, which will bring their season two total to 16 episodes. The series will go on a winter break after episode 11 airs in December. When the show comes back in the spring 2013, it will return as a multi-camera sitcom for the final five episodes of the season. The sophomore comedy, which stars Christina Applegate, Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph, and Luka Jones, has struggled in the ratings on Thursday nights. It has averaged around only three million viewers.
NBC tried a switch like this before in 2003 with Watching Ellie. The series, which starred Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lauren Bowles (Julia's real life half-sister) and Steve Carell, originally aired as a single-camera comedy from February-April 2002. When they returned almost a year later in April 2003, they switched to a multi-camera format. Unfortuntely, the format change didn't work for them as they had even lower ratings. A couple of other sitcoms made the switch from single-camera to multi-camera with much better success. The Odd Couple's first season was shot single-camera with a laugh track added. The other four seasons were shot with three cameras and in front of a studio audience. Happy Days is the best-known series to switch formats. Their first two seasons were shot single-camera with the laugh track added. When they made the switch to the multi-camera format in season three, they became a huge hit.
What do you think of NBC's decision? Discuss it on our Up All Night message board. They have a couple of other multi-camera sitcoms in Guys with Kids and Whitney. They had much success with multi-camera sitcoms like Friends and Seinfeld in their glory days, so this seems like a good move.
Paramount's Insurge Pictures and Yahoo! announced yesterday that Burning Love, the popular comedy series that spoofs reality dating shows, will return for two more hilarious seasons on Yahoo! Screen in 2013. The break-out video program premiered June 4 domestically on the Yahoo! Comedy Channel to critical acclaim.
Burning Love is a web spoof of the series The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. The series follows fireman Mark Orlando (Ken Marino) in his search for the perfect woman to marry or at least be engaged. Many familiar actors from film and television have appeared in the scripted comedy series. Michael Ian Black appears as the host, Bill Tundle. Other characters are played by Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Adam Scott, Mo Gaffney, Mather Zickel, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Ryan Hansen and Paul Scheer. The contestants on the show include Kristen Bell, June Diane Raphael, Ken Jeong, Malin Akerman, Natasha Leggero, Abigail Spencer, Noureen DeWulf, Jennifer Aniston, Beth Dover and Janet Varney.
The series is written by Erica Oyama (Children's Hospital) and directed by Ken Marino. Seasons two and three will feature returning cast members Ken Marino, June Diane Raphael and Natasha Leggero as well as new characters in their quest to find true love. Season Two, which is coming in January 2013, will follow Julie (June Diane Raphael), who failed to capture Mark Orlando's heart in Season One of Burning Love, as she searches for love in a group of guys who are hopefully all there for the right reasons. In Season Three, Burning Down the House reunites our favorite rejected guys and girls as they return to the Burning Love mansion to compete for a hefty prize and for each other's affection.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Tuesday, February 11
St. Denis Medical - "Nobody Even Mentions the Brownies!" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Joyce pushes the staff to upsell patients on hospital procedures, kicking off some fierce competition and a case of mistaken identity; Bruce and Ron try to play plumber for a day.
Night Court - "Ab-ventures in Babysitting" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
An old friend returns and leaves Abby saddled with taking care of a baby during court; the gang tries to stop an influencer from publicly embarrassing the courthouse.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 10)
Tuesday, February 11
- Anthony Mackie (Twisted Metal) - Catch Anthony on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Lizzy Caplan (Party Down/The Class/The Pitts) - Lizzy appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - Fred is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Mikey Madison (Better Things) - Mikey appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. She is telling Drew about working on Oscar nominated film Anora, how director Sean Baker molded the role to her and some of her earliest acting influences on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. Plus, she's making her baking debut and sharing her chocolate chip cookie recipe with Drew.
- Margaret Cho (All-American Girl) - Margaret is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Cecily Strong (Schmigadoon!), Rachel Dratch (Grimsburg/Imaginary Mary/30 Rock), Ana Gasteyer (American Auto/People of Earth/Lady Dynamite/Suburgatory), Cheri Oteri (Sit Down, Shut Up) - Cecily, Rachel, Ana, Cheri and Laraine Newman are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
- John Lithgow (Trial & Error/Twenty Good Years/3rd Rock from the Sun) - John stops by to talk about New York City Ballet's Carnival of the Animals on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Rickey Smiley (The Rickey Smiley Show) - Rickey sits down for a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE on the unexpected miracle of learning he's the father of twin girls on Tamron Hall, so check your local lisitngs.
- Selma Blair (Anger Management/Kath & Kim/Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane) and Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Selma is telling Drew about being a boy mom to a 13-year-old son, dating in her fifties and how she has spoken about her health to help others feel seen on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. Plus, Selma is sharing one of her favorite simple breakfast dishes with Drew and Valerie Bertinelli.
- Laverne Cox (Clean Slate) - Laverne talks about starring in the new Amazon series Clean Slate on Sherri, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
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