Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! A few weeks ago, I looked at several sitcoms that, like 30 Rock, were produced by Broadway Video, SNL creator Lorne Michaels’ company. I bumped Up All Night from that post because it ran for 35 episodes over two seasons… and I actually had a lot to say about it. So, enjoy this potpourri pop-out where I share some of my thoughts!
UP ALL NIGHT (Sept 2011 – Dec 2012, NBC)
Premise: A neurotic TV producer juggles her high-stress job and the difficulties of first-time motherhood with the help of her supportive stay-at-home husband.
Cast: Christina Applegate, Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph, Jennifer Hall, Luka Jones
Writers: Emily Spivey, Jon Pollack, Caroline Williams, Tim McAuliffe, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mintz, David Iserson, Brian Rowe, Tucker Cawley, Alex Reid, Barbara Adler, DJ Nash, Chadd Gindin, Austen Earl & Joel Church-Cooper & Rene Gube, Vera Santamaria, Kayla Alpert
Thoughts: This semi-autobiographical work-plus-home single-cam from former SNL scribe Emily Spivey has a strong cast of three comic titans at the helm – Christina Applegate, Will Arnett, and Maya Rudolph. And it’s got a decent narrative setup as well, offering a twist in an otherwise familiar situation, as the gender dynamics for a married couple struggling to adapt to being new parents are flipped, and not as a matter of cliché, for while the pa stays home and the ma goes to work, the show avoids the comic parody that usually accompanies this stay-at-home-dad logline on sitcoms. That is, this series doesn’t do dumb dad stuff and is wisely centered on Applegate as the mom – Spivey’s proxy – which means, in the grand tradition of the work-plus-home sitcoms of yore, like The Dick Van Dyke Show or The Mary Tyler Moore Show, we’re following this lead as she goes between her two worlds, with comic problems existing on both fronts. Now, that is a reliable low-concept setup, enabling opportunities for great characters to make big fun in both realms, united by an anchoring star presence who allows them to mix and mingle. But I’m afraid Up All Night pulls too many figurative punches with its characters and never settles into a groove where the situation, in total, clicks. On the career side, the show is overly familiar, for Applegate works in TV and has a goofy, mercurial boss who’s an on-air talent (like Alan Brady). Said boss is played by the hilarious Maya Rudolph, whose initial big-laugh sensibilities as an outrageous character get watered down over the course of the first season (and she’s instead subjected to some terribly hacky rom-com tripe), and this tempering was likely due to initial criticism about how out-of-place she felt in an otherwise more realistic show… particularly given the home, where the “everyday struggles of new parents” premise intended to be more true-to-life than wacky. Ultimately, tamping down Rudolph (even slightly) means the show becomes less funny than it could be, for at home, Arnett’s character lacks specific comic attributes that would make him stand out, and while I appreciate Up All Night for not making him a caricatured dummy, it’s hard to pinpoint specific laughs and story that arise as a direct result of who he is and how he’s defined in relation to others. Accordingly, with Rudolph muted and Arnett vague, the show turns to Applegate to become a bigger comic force.
And that, I think, may actually be most ideal – for if the show can guarantee laughs and plot points based on her depiction, then it’s going to have a solid foundation wherever it decides to find story within the premise. But, unfortunately, I’m afraid this is where the series really pulls its punches, for despite recognizing that she’s a Type A micromanager who is frazzled by having to work outside the home and thus be away from her new baby, the show hesitates to be bold, let alone consistently bold, in allowing those traits to deliver boffo laughs and memorable story ideas. Instead, the show is too committed to being more down-to-earth, and although it’s seldom unfunny, I’d say it always has far fewer laughs than the best of this era (like 30 Rock and Parks And Rec). Yes, I appreciate some of the big guest stars who appear or recur (Megan Mullally, Molly Shannon, Jason Lee), and I think the best thing the series does is try to reiterate that Applegate’s leading lady is competitive – that’s the start of a recurring comic attribute that can be extrapolated out into story. Also, I like the suggestion that they’re a couple of former partiers who now have to settle into domesticity. It’s just that the show so often uses these hooks, and there’s not much support from them in the regular situation to make Up All Night feel like it has a strong command of itself and can deliver reliable results in that capacity…. Things then get vaguer in Season Two, which becomes more low-concept by dropping the workplace angle and putting Applegate back at home – a way, I guess, for the couple to be together more often and in the domestic parenting arena where the show feels most comfortable (while her brother also joins the ensemble, and Sean Hayes recurs as Rudolph’s new sidekick) — but, again, the characters themselves still don’t have enough in them to yield worthwhile situation comedy, and the end result just feels hazy and undefined: a show about new parents that can’t really come up with funny stories about them being new parents. Sadly, I don’t think a switch to a multi-cam format for five more episodes – which was the plan before Spivey and Applegate dropped out amidst a forced production hiatus – would have helped, for despite having funny people and an initially decent construction, Up All Night doesn’t commit to helpful choices with character and comedy. It’s never bad, it’s just never great.
Episode Count: 35 episodes produced over two seasons (24 + 11). | Episodes Seen: All 35.
Key Episodes: #1: “Pilot” (09/14/11)
#10: “Week Off” (11/23/11)
#11: “First Christmas” (12/07/11)
#12: “New Year’s Eve” (01/12/12)
#15: “Day After Valentine’s Day” (02/09/12)
#19: “Couple Friends” (03/08/12)
#21: “Daddy Daughter Time” (03/22/12)
#26: “Home/Office” (09/27/12)
#29: “Another Saturday Night” (10/18/12)
#35: “The Wedding” (12/13/12)
Why: Early entries try, but nothing lives up to the promise of the premise established in episode #1. I suppose #10 comes close with Applegate’s Reagan being temporarily off work and home with the baby herself, while #12 and #19 are notable for playing up the idea that her character is competitive, #15 has some affable physical comedy, and #21 capably mixes Reagan’s personal and professional worlds while Henry Winkler guests as Ava’s dad. From Season Two, #26 is the best display of the change to the situation, while #29 shows flashes of the original premise, and #35 (unintentionally) ends the series on a flashback show that honors its brief history. (Oh, and I’ll also note #11, which is elevated by the guest performance of Blythe Danner.)
Come back next week for a new Wildcard! And stay tuned Tuesday for more 30 Rock!