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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, April 1

St. Denis Medical - "Anything to Push Zaluva" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ron's teasing makes Joyce question whether her friendship with a pharmaceutical rep is genuine; Alex has trouble letting Serena take on a new task; Matt finds a mentor in Bruce.

Night Court - "Hot to Trot" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Abby's friendship with her ex-boyfriend's mother leads to romantic complications; when Julianne's wealthy aunt passes away, the gang vies for a piece of her inheritance.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Love At First Swipe" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
C.J. and Janine receive marital advice from an unlikely source; Peanut seeks help with his newfound online lover.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Failure 2 Launch" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Assisted Living is the new situation comedy by Tyler Perry about three generations who must make a new start in the rural backwoods of Georgia.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Tuesday, April 1

Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down) - Catch Adam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kevin is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Lopez vs Lopez/Corporate) - Vinny, Paul and Aparna are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) and Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Chase and Kathryn are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Will Ferrell (The Office) and Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - E! News has interviews with Will and Jennifer at 11pm on E!.
Román Zaragoza (Ghosts) - Román talks about Ghosts on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny talks about Dying for Sex on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah talks about Hacks on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tasha Smith (Survival of the Thickest/Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse/The Tom Show/Boston Common) and Tone Bell (Survival of the Thickest/Fam/Disjointed/Truth Be Told/Bad Judge/Whitney) - Tasha and Tone talk about the new season of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Kathryn is dishing on her new comedy series The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Brenda Song (Running Point/Dollface/Dads/The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Brenda talks about Netflix's Running Point on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.