NBC Orders Additional Up All Night Episodes, Switches It to Multi-Camera Format; Yahoo Comedy Show Burning Love Gets Two More Seasons

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.

Burning Love

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

Wednesday, August 21

The Goldbergs - "The Wedding Singer" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Barry and Lainey’s wedding date is right around the corner, and Beverly is in her element as she tries to make everything perfect for her schmoopie’s big day. Geoff is concerned about Adam’s shortcomings as a wedding videographer. Meanwhile, Barry begins to have second thoughts.

Schooled - "Be Like Mike" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
It’s 1990-something, and since Lainey still hasn’t achieved rock ‘n’ roll greatness, she returns to William Penn Academy as the new music teacher. Lainey has a hard time adjusting to being an authority figure, but she realizes she might not be so bad at it when she discovers a kindred spirit in Principal Glascott’s niece, Felicia. Meanwhile, Coach Mellor struggles with Michael Jordan’s influence on modern-day basketball.

Modern Family - "The Wild" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mitch, Cam and Phil crash Jay’s annual hiking trip to find an elusive bald eagle after Gloria asks them to keep an eye on him. Meanwhile, Gloria, Alex, Claire and Haley get together to plan her baby shower.

Single Parents - "Pilot" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Will Cooper has been so focused on raising his daughter, Sophie, he’s lost sight of who he is as a man and has headed deep into the parental vortex. When the other single parents – Angie, Douglas, Poppy and Miggy – at his daughter’s school see just how far down the rabbit hole of PTA, parenting and princesses Will has gone, they band together to get him out in the world and make him realize that being a great parent doesn’t mean sacrificing everything about your own identity.

Younger - "It's All About the Money, Honey" (TV Land, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Liza is shocked to see an unexpected costar in her Infinitely 21 ad campaign. Kelsey and Charles head to Chicago with a plan. Josh considers his options beyond Inkburg.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 19)

Wednesday, August 21

Donald Glover (Atlanta/Community) - Watch on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place/Barry) - D'Arcy appears on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place) - Selena is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
Joe Namath (The Waverly Wonders) - Joe appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Fred Savage (What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage/Friends from College/The Grinder/Working/The Wonder Years) - Fred is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jane Lynch (Angel from Hell) - Jane drops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men/Partners/The Famous Teddy Z) - Jon is a guest on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Kevin Hart (The Big House/Undeclared) - Kevin stops by LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Jennifer Aniston (Friends/Muddling Through/Ferris Bueller/Molloy) - Jennifer appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Iain Armitage (Young Sheldon) - Iain is a guest on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
Brian Austin Green (Anger Management/Freddie) - Brian talks about BH90210 on Access Live, so check your local listings.
Melissa Peterman (Reba/Working Class/Baby Daddy) - Melissa guest co-hosts Access Live, so check your local listings.
Justine Lupe (Cristela) - Justine will be on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Queen Latifah (Living Single) - Queen Latifah opens up about how she balances her personal and professional life and her latest mission to combat the stigma of mental health on a repeat of The Dr. Oz Show, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie talks about Kids Baking Championship on the BUILD Series at 2pm.