Christina Applegate quits 'Up All Night'
How many revamps can one sitcom endure?
Christina Applegate on "Up All Night."
Christina Applegate has quit "Up All Night," which means it's time once again to keep track of all the many, many, many changes that have been made since NBC debuted the sitcom a season and a half ago:
* In the original pilot episode, Applegate and Maya Rudolph's characters were PR specialists. By the time the series made it to air, Rudolph was a talk show host, and Applegate her producer.
* Midway through the first season, the talk show got new management, and Applegate had a new boss to deal with.
* At the start of the second season, the talk show was canceled, and all the characters who worked on it other than Applegate and Rudolph's were eliminated from the show.
* Where the original premise had involved Will Arnett's lawyer choosing to be a stay-at-home dad while Applegate worked, in the new season, Applegate became primary caregiver, and Arnett went back to work — not as a lawyer, but as a contractor, working alongside Applegate's previously-unseen brother.
*
When none of that worked, NBC put production on hiatus and announced plans to retool it as a traditional multi-cam comedy shot in front of a live studio audience.
* While that retooling was underway, the show's creator Emily Spivey quit — no doubt in frustration over how little the show now resembled the one she had devised.
And now Applegate is leaving — in a statement, she said, “It’s been a great experience working on Up All Night, but the show has taken a different creative direction and I decided it was best for me to move on to other endeavors. Working with Lorne Michaels has been a dream come true and I am grateful he brought me into his TV family. I will miss the cast, producers and crew, and wish them the best always." — even though she, Rudolph and Arnett are the only reasons this ridiculous experiment is happening. NBC could have canceled the show and tried to start over with this same cast, but they'd have been releasing the actors from their contracts — which, given Applegate's exit, weren't that iron-clad to begin with.
NBC wouldn't comment on Applegate's departure, but Deadline's story on the departure suggests that NBC executives still won't give up the ghost, and are looking at other actresses like Lisa Kudrow to step in and play Reagan.
Give it up, guys. It's over. You can keep reshuffling the deck chairs, but the ship be sinking.
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Next 59 CommentsLiz
February 8, 2013 at 4:55PM EST Reply to CommentDoes Lorne Michaels have incriminating photos of someone? That is the only explanation I can think of for NBC going through all this nonsense.
bjssp I can see wanting to stay in business with him, but again, wouldn't it make more sense to just get him and everyone else involved with something new?
February 8, 2013 at 5:03PM ESTJason
February 8, 2013 at 4:55PM EST Reply to CommentWhat would even be the point of bringing it back when it gets bad ratings and would have a totally different lead actress, new showrunner, new format, and a brand that has no value? I don't see a single reason not to move on at this point.
bjssp Given that the old show was kind of non-existant to a lot of people after it moved to Thursdays, it would kind of have been like having a new show, right? But now that Applegate is gone...
February 8, 2013 at 5:05PM ESTGotta make you wonder what was happening on set. Did they start filming?
David
February 8, 2013 at 4:55PM EST Reply to CommentWow, this story would be a good pitch for the next season. I'm not sure if it should be comedy or drama, though.
Peter
February 8, 2013 at 4:57PM EST Reply to CommentWould they continue the show in this state?
I'm with you Alan, I think they could do something incredibly funny with a Michaels produced, Arnett/Rudalph starring show if they started from scratch with a new premise. I can't see why they would continue working with a hollowed out version of a show that wasn't that great to begin with.
bjssp NBC ordered a ton of comedy pilots next season, so it's not as if they are lacking options to put them in something else. Nor it not make sense to do what you said, which would be number 19(!) when it comes to pilots.
February 8, 2013 at 5:07PM ESTFloggy Bottom
February 8, 2013 at 4:58PM EST Reply to CommentGood for her. Applegate is a class act. I enjoy the show, but it's not worth it.
ed w
February 8, 2013 at 5:00PM EST Reply to CommentAt this point I'd rather see a comedy based on the making and remaking of this show.
Liz Did you ever see the movie "The TV Set"? That's sort of the premise of it, although the show within that movie was just in the pilot stage. But if you're interested in inside-baseball, behind-the-scenes TV turmoil stories, it's worth checking out.
February 8, 2013 at 5:09PM EST
February 9, 2013 at 2:42AM ESTalynch
February 8, 2013 at 5:01PM EST Reply to CommentAt this point the show is such a mess that they really should just stear into the skid and make the remaining episodes as weird and surreal as possible. Do crazy stuff like having a different actor playing Applegate's character each episode, maybe do a foreign language episode without subtitles. Assuming these remaining episodes even get made, which seems shakey, there's not much chance of getting renewed, so come one, just go nuts.
AL "Til Death" did this in its final season, but it was more train wreck than funny.
February 11, 2013 at 2:30PM ESTsajid anwar
February 8, 2013 at 5:02PM EST Reply to CommentGood lord, is Lorne going to be THAT pissed off if they cancel this show? I really can't recall anything else like this.
JuiceBox
February 8, 2013 at 5:02PM EST Reply to CommentAre my girlfriend and I the only people that consistently liked this show? We both thought it was funny and charming and we actually liked the main characters.
Jim Yes.
February 8, 2013 at 5:45PM ESTzzk I liked the show and even the second season re-tooling, acting and characters were great even given the shaky premise. Its absurd to think it could work without Applegate though.
February 8, 2013 at 7:47PM ESTchuchundra My wife and I enjoyed the first season. The premise of the first season was interesting, a stay at home dad that wasn't a goof or loser. That, combined with the sweet chemistry between Arnett and Applegate made for enjoyable TV, even when there weren't a lot of yuks to be had.
February 8, 2013 at 8:41PM ESTI stopped watching the second season after the Thanksgiving episode. More specifically, about halfway through that episode.
I turned to my missus and said, "I'm just not real interested in watching this anymore" and she agreed.
Lorilei I love the show, it is one of my "must see" shows. Can't believe the ratings are so low.
February 14, 2013 at 8:50AM ESTbjssp
February 8, 2013 at 5:02PM EST Reply to CommentThis is just nutty.
On another board, I commented that if NBC really wanted to stay in business with these actors, which makes perfect sense, it shouldn't do what it planned on doing, which seemed like it wouldn't work. Instead, it should either (a) give Spivey control over a new show, based on the ORIGINAL concept, and just let her do her thing, which is a way of saying she was probably forced into doing those changes or (b) just sign everyone to a new deal, even if they don't end up on the same show. And now this...
Why bring back Kudrow for THIS show? Wouldn't it make more sense to put her, and/or Applegate, into one of the many comedy pilots NBC has ordered for next season?
Hey Alan, did you ever see the original pilot? It was supposed to be pretty good.
Brandon
February 8, 2013 at 5:06PM EST Reply to CommentAnd yet, Community keeps getting the runaround.
Haik Mendelovich This is the part I don't get.
February 9, 2013 at 10:21AM ESTCommunity, P&R... eh. Maybe they'll be renewed, maybe not. Who cares.
This idiocy and the genuinely evil Whitney? Nope, they stay 'till the cows come home.
And it's not like Michaels has been knocking them out of the park... in this century.
LJA Bingo. NBC's commitment to this mess is a real head-scratcher.
February 9, 2013 at 4:25PM ESTwatt d fark it's bizarre but I chalk it up to "It's LORNE MICHAELS' project"
February 13, 2013 at 12:51PM ESTMalazarte
February 8, 2013 at 5:14PM EST Reply to CommentIsn't (or wasn't) Christina also a producer on this show? Now I'm waiting for Will to bail as well. I loved it when Chris was a stay-at-home dad.
Ken
February 8, 2013 at 5:16PM EST Reply to CommentGod, what a mess. We really liked the show at first, and kept mostly liking it after they brought in the new management, though that was a bad move (though it made me realize early on I don't want to see Stephen Pasquale in anything other than Rescue Me, so it saved me from wasting time on his Jekyll & Hyde thing). The new revisions, with the show canceled and the new brother, were fairly terrible, though, and it's a shame. They should have left it alone.
jenfullmoon
February 8, 2013 at 5:21PM EST Reply to CommentWow, "Valerie's Family" is going to be really awkward with a baby.
Clint Ha! Awesome.
February 8, 2013 at 8:48PM ESTJ I was just about to ask if Sandy Duncan was available.
February 9, 2013 at 1:19AM ESTOaktown Girl
February 8, 2013 at 5:22PM EST Reply to CommentI actually liked the show just fine in its incarnation with Ava as daytime talk show host. It wasn't must-see-TV or anything, but I would record it sometimes or On-Demand it.
When they took away Ava's talk show, the whole thing just seemed to lose any sense of direction. What a waste.
M
February 8, 2013 at 5:30PM EST Reply to Comment"Christina Applegate quits Up All Night"
Well, that only makes her a year behind the rest of us.
Seriously, though, there is no point in keeping this going. NBC should just throw the Anne Heche sitcom it has sitting on the shelf on the air in the spring and be done with it. I can't understand why they're wasting so much money trying to fix this dog of a show.
Interrogation Bear They've only produced 2 episodes of "Save Me" so far and fired the showrunner in January.
February 8, 2013 at 5:48PM ESThttp://www.deadline.com/2013/01/save-me-showrunner-alexa-junge-exits-darlene-hunt-in-talks-to-replace-her/
bjssp @NTERROGATION BEAR:
February 8, 2013 at 8:43PM ESTI wonder when NBC will put this show on the air, if at all. The Deadline link says it is a favorite of the NBC brass, and the concept does seem interesting, but it's getting late in the season and the creative changes aren't necessarily a good sign.
Greg
February 8, 2013 at 5:34PM EST Reply to CommentI think at this point they already spent money turning the sets into multi-camera sets, so they might as well shoot the damn episodes. Still, this is just bizarre. They could just rename the show now and launch it as something completely new. It's not like it has a high-concept premisse that would make it unique.
Dezbot
February 8, 2013 at 5:35PM EST Reply to CommentI was going to quit the show after they yanked it to turn it into an even more traditional sitcom, so at least I'm spared that version. What a waste of a talented cast.
XantaKlaus
February 8, 2013 at 5:39PM EST Reply to CommentSince the series seems to be indestructable, Andrea Anders should be considered for the role. She deserves to play a character for several years in a row (but for her sake not in that show).
Jim
February 8, 2013 at 5:48PM EST Reply to CommentDidn't they do this story on Episodes?
Michael Ray Richardson
February 8, 2013 at 7:30PM EST Reply to CommentYou be a plagiarist, Sepinwall.
Adam
February 8, 2013 at 8:08PM EST Reply to CommentFinally, FINALLY, they're making the version of this show that was greenlit by Immortal Kenneth...
chuchundra
February 8, 2013 at 8:45PM EST Reply to CommentI'm a little curious about how she could just quit. Isn't she under contract?
LJA There are some unsavory rumors floating around about this which, unfortunately, I think might be true, given the recent status of the Arnett/Poehler marriage.
February 9, 2013 at 4:27PM ESTClint
February 8, 2013 at 8:47PM EST Reply to CommentAs a student of geology, I have learned about the process of fossilization, by which the original chemical components of an organism are replaced over time by crystals of a different mineral composition. Over time, the original material is completely replaced.
Up All Night has been fossilized.
Action_Kate In mythology, that's represented by the ship of Theseus. The ship was repaired repeatedly, board by board, until nothing of the original ship remained, but it was still somehow the same ship.
February 8, 2013 at 11:01PM ESThttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
Ernest
February 8, 2013 at 9:22PM EST Reply to Comment"no doubt in frustration over how little the show now resembled the one she had devised."
Great chemistry..at first. It's a shame it wasn't left alone.. But the talent will land somewhere else. They were great.
Reno
February 8, 2013 at 10:49PM EST Reply to CommentI am pretty sure the plot on 30 Rock where the CEO is intentionally tanking the network isn't fiction.
Col Bat Guano
February 8, 2013 at 10:54PM EST Reply to CommentOther than the two leads, this show never gave me any reason to care. The characters weren't particularly likable and the stories weren't very memorable. Seemed like a star vehicle looking for a reason to live.
amg
February 8, 2013 at 11:23PM EST Reply to CommentYeah, this is probably for the best. The show, which I really enjoyed early on for the fresh approach to presenting a tv couple, and the great chemistry between all involved, was declining with all the reconfiguring. A multi-cam version of it would have likely killed all that was left in it that was good. I'll miss the show at its best, and what it could have been--but am glad to see Applegate calling enough enough, and hope NBC will see the writing on the wall and just let that last ep aired be a somewhat fitting goodbye.
Jaxemer11
February 8, 2013 at 11:35PM EST Reply to CommentSurely Will Arnett isn't desperate enough to need this show, is he? Rudolph probably needs it, but since I have always found her to be the biggest problem with the show and never really funny in anything, I could care less if she has a show. Arnett should just leave and put the show out of its misery.
prettok I would think that Arnett needs a job more than Maya Rudolph does. She has a hit movie and a big shot husband in her corner.
February 9, 2013 at 8:37PM ESTHe does have the new Arrested Development coming up though. That might give him some buzz.
Michonne is a Cylon
February 9, 2013 at 1:41AM EST Reply to CommentRun Will Arnett, RUN!!!
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