EXCLUSIVE: We will get a glimpse of what a multi-camera Up All Night would look like after all. I have learned that NBC plans to film one multi-camera episode of the sophomore comedy without star Christina Applegate, who departed the series on Friday. I hear the episode will be directed by master multi-camera helmer James Burrows, who is doing three pilots this season. When NBC in October decided to turn softly rated single-camera comedy Up All Night into multi-camera, the network ordered five episodes to be shot in front of a live audience. That order has now been cut to one. It is unclear whether Applegate will be replaced; there had been rumors that NBC was eying other actresses, including Friends alumna Lisa Kudrow. The future of Up All Night is still up in the air while co-stars Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph are getting pilot offers. NBC had no comment.
The multi-camera version of Up All Night is being shepherded by Linda Wallem, the show’s third showrunner following Jon Pollack and Tucker Cawley. Up All Night creator/executive producer Emily Spivey left the show last month. At TCA last month, NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke called the multi-camera revamp “a bit of an experiment”, but “we think it’s really one worth taking.”
In its original incarnation, Up All Night was a family comedy about new parents played by Applegate and Arnett, which was inspired by Spivey’s real-life experiences going back to work soon after giving birth. The workplace element was expanded and switched from a PR firm to an Oprah-like talk show when Rudolph was cast as Applegate’s boss, and there has been speculation that the series will shift even further in that direction when it becomes multi-camera.
Get more from Deadline.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter