Up All Night (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Up All Night is an American television comedy series created by Emily Spivey
Emily Spivey
Emily Spivey was a winner of the 2002 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program and 2008 Writers Guild of America AwardsWriters Guild of America Awards...

 that premiered on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 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). The show stars Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate is an American actress. She is best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married... with Children. Since then, she has established a film and television career, winning a Primetime Emmy and earning Tony and Golden Globe nominations...

, Will Arnett
Will Arnett
William Emerson "Will" Arnett is a Canadian actor and comedian best known for his role as George Oscar "G.O.B." Bluth II on the Fox comedy Arrested Development. He is also known for his role as Devon Banks on the NBC comedy 30 Rock. Since his success on Arrested Development, Arnett has landed major...

, Jennifer Hall
Jennifer Hall
Jennifer Hall is an American actress. She is most known for portraying herself on HBO reality show Unscripted and Missy on the NBC comedy series Up All Night...

 and Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph
Maya Khabira Rudolph is an American actress, comedienne and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007, and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups, A Prairie Home Companion and MacGruber...

.

Synopsis

The series follows Reagan (Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate is an American actress. She is best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married... with Children. Since then, she has established a film and television career, winning a Primetime Emmy and earning Tony and Golden Globe nominations...

), a producer on her best friend Ava's (Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph
Maya Khabira Rudolph is an American actress, comedienne and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007, and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups, A Prairie Home Companion and MacGruber...

) talk show, and Chris (Will Arnett
Will Arnett
William Emerson "Will" Arnett is a Canadian actor and comedian best known for his role as George Oscar "G.O.B." Bluth II on the Fox comedy Arrested Development. He is also known for his role as Devon Banks on the NBC comedy 30 Rock. Since his success on Arrested Development, Arnett has landed major...

), Reagan's supportive, stay-at-home husband, as they try to adjust to life with their new born baby Amy.

Conception

The series was based on creator Emily Spivey
Emily Spivey
Emily Spivey was a winner of the 2002 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program and 2008 Writers Guild of America AwardsWriters Guild of America Awards...

's life when she went back to working on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

after giving birth to a baby boy. NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 executives were "supportive and excited" for the new series. 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. The series was officially picked up for 13 episodes at the NBC upfronts on May 15, 2011 under its final title, Up All Night.

After the success of Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph
Maya Khabira Rudolph is an American actress, comedienne and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007, and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups, A Prairie Home Companion and MacGruber...

's movie Bridesmaids
Bridesmaids (2011 film)
Bridesmaids is a 2011 American romantic comedy film written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, directed by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, and Clayton Townsend. The plot centers on Annie ....

, 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. The series was later given a full-season pickup on October 4, 2011. On November 21, 2011, NBC added two additional episodes to season one, bringing the total to 24 episodes.

Crew

The series is produced by Broadway Video
Broadway Video
Broadway Video is a media production and distribution company located within the Brill Building on Broadway, New York, United States. Founded in 1979 as a production house tasked with post-production work on Saturday Night Live, Broadway Video has since become one of the largest independent...

 and Universal Media Studios. The series was created by Emily Spivey
Emily Spivey
Emily Spivey was a winner of the 2002 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program and 2008 Writers Guild of America AwardsWriters Guild of America Awards...

 who serves as executive producer along side Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...

, Jon Pollack
Jon Pollack
Jonathan Pollack is an American television producer and writer.Pollack has worked on shows such as Spin City, Just Shoot Me!, Father of the Pride, Joey, Andy Barker, P.I., Home Improvement and 30 Rock...

 and Erin David. David had worked with Spivey and Michaels on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

while Pollack had worked with Michaels on 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...

. Series co-star Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate is an American actress. She is best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married... with Children. Since then, she has established a film and television career, winning a Primetime Emmy and earning Tony and Golden Globe nominations...

 also works as a producer on the series alongside Eric Kranzler and Andrew Singer.

Cast and characters

The main cast includes:
  • Christina Applegate
    Christina Applegate
    Christina Applegate is an American actress. She is best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married... with Children. Since then, she has established a film and television career, winning a Primetime Emmy and earning Tony and Golden Globe nominations...

     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. Applegate was also offered several other roles for the pilot season. Applegate was the first cast member signed on to the series.
  • Will Arnett
    Will Arnett
    William Emerson "Will" Arnett is a Canadian actor and comedian best known for his role as George Oscar "G.O.B." Bluth II on the Fox comedy Arrested Development. He is also known for his role as Devon Banks on the NBC comedy 30 Rock. Since his success on Arrested Development, Arnett has landed major...

     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.
  • Maya Rudolph
    Maya Rudolph
    Maya Khabira Rudolph is an American actress, comedienne and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007, and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups, A Prairie Home Companion and MacGruber...

     as Ava, the host of the Ava show and Reagan's best friend. Rudolph was the second main cast member to sign on to the series Rudolph had previously worked with the series creator on SNL and Spivey had wanted to work with Rudolph before the series plot was established.
  • Jennifer Hall
    Jennifer Hall
    Jennifer Hall is an American actress. She is most known for portraying herself on HBO reality show Unscripted and Missy on the NBC comedy series Up All Night...

     as Missy, Ava's assistant. Hall was the final member to sign on to the series and was initially a recurring actor. 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
    Nick Cannon
    Nicholas Scott "Nick" Cannon is an American actor, comedian, rapper, entrepreneur, record producer, radio, and television personality. On television, Cannon began as a teenage sketch comedian on All That before going on to host The Nick Cannon Show, Wild 'N Out, and America's Got Talent...

     as Calvin, Ava's co-host on her talk show.
  • Matt Braunger
    Matt Braunger
    Matthew "Matt" Braunger is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian. Outside of performing stand-up, Braunger is most notable for being a cast member on MADtv during its final season in 2008-2009 and for co-starring in the web series IKEA Heights....

     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
    Jason Lee (actor)
    Jason Michael Lee is an American actor and skateboarder known for his role as the title character on the NBC television series My Name is Earl, his portrayal of Syndrome in the film The Incredibles, his role as Dave Seville in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and his work with director Kevin...

     as Kevin, Reagan and Chris's next door neighbor who is dating Ava.

Broadcast

Up All Night premiered in the 10:00pm timeslot behind America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent
America's Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of...

with Free Agents
Free Agents (U.S. TV series)
Free Agents is an American re-make of a British workplace sitcom that premiered on NBC September 14, 2011, in the 10:30 pm Eastern/9:30 pm Central time slot, before assuming its regular time slot on September 21, 2011, where it aired at 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central on Wednesday nights...

following it. The following week it was moved to its regular timeslot at 8:00pm, and was eventually the only comedy after Free Agents was cancelled. Starting January 12, the series will be moved behind NBC's hit series, The Office, switching timeslots with Whitney
Whitney (TV series)
Whitney is an American sitcom that premiered on NBC on September 22, 2011, where it airs in the 9:30 pm /8:30 pm Thursday night timeslot. The show stars Whitney Cummings...

. 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.

Reviews

Up All Night has generally received positive critques. The first season currently holds a score of 64 out of 100 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

, indicating generally positive reviews. Many critics said that the series felt like two different shows in one. HitFix
HitFix
HitFix, or the HitFix.com is an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information and providing reviews and critiques of film, music and television...

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". Despite this, the performance of the main cast members has received praise from critics. Some critics compared Rudolph's role to her impersonation of Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...

 while she was on SNL, which Rudolph firmly denied saying "I have yet to see the similarities between my character and Oprah".

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 second highest rated scripted series after The Office among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The series also ranks as one of the most DVR'd series this season. Due to the moderate success, the series was given a full season pick up alongside Whitney
Whitney (TV series)
Whitney is an American sitcom that premiered on NBC on September 22, 2011, where it airs in the 9:30 pm /8:30 pm Thursday night timeslot. The show stars Whitney Cummings...

. Bill Gorman of TV by the Numbers
TV by the Numbers
TV by the Numbers is a website devoted to collecting and analyzing television ratings data in the United States. It is run by Bill Gorman and Robert Seidman, both of whom founded the website in 2007.-History:...

has also stated the series is most likely to be renewed for a second season. The cost for an ad for the series is approximeatly average of $82,617 per 30-second commercial.
Season Timeslot (EST) Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Rank Viewers
(in millions)
18-49 Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...

 rank
18-49 Nielsen ratings
1 Wednesday 8:00/7:00c
Thursday 9:30/8:30c
September 14, 2011 Spring 2012 2011-2012
2011–12 United States network television schedule
The 2011–2012 network television schedule for the five major English commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers primetime hours from September 2011 through May 2012...

6.63 (to date) TBA 2.5

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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