"Entertainment on Jeff's Terms" is once again in effect, children. First off, my thanks to the two(?) of you who joined me yesterday for my look at The CW's Ringer. I shall keep my fingers crossed that the lack of interest was only proportionate to America's (wholly understandable) lack of interest in anything The CW has to offer.
Today however, I bring you the first of two new entries in which I'll be taking a look at NBC's two-pronged attempt to stake a claim on Wednesday night comedy.
We begin with a look at a show chock full of star power and television comedy pedigrees--in addition to being created by a graduate of my alma mater, UNC Greensboro alum and Parks and Recreation staff writer Emily Spivey--it's Up All Night.
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THE GIST OF IT
Christina Applegate and Will Arnett star as talk show producer Regan and her lawyer husband Chris, who we meet sitting on their bathroom floor arguing about what the symbols mean on a pregnancy test. Two blue lines and nine months later, cut to our lead couple standing over the crib of their new daughter Amy, gushing with profanity-strewn sentiments about their first child. An indeterminate amount of time later (seriously, this isn't covered very well and I don't know how maternity leaves work), Regan returns to her position as right hand lady and in many ways, conscience to daytime talk show host Ava (Maya Rudolph, in a slightly toned-down variation on her Oprah impression from SNL), while Chris takes a leave from his law firm to be a stay-at-home father. After about a week of their new arrangement, Regan and Chris call in a babysitter and celebrate their seven-year anniversary with a raucous night on the town, only to realize their days of being up all night (hey, that's the name of the show!) doing irresponsible things are very much over.
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MOVING FORWARD (SPOILERS AHEAD...BUT ONLY KIND OF.)
Given that the show was very notably retooled between its Network Upfronts presentation in May and its present form, I really don't know what to tell you. Originally, Christina Applegate's Regan and Maya Rudolph's Ava were simply colleagues in some advertising agency/law firm/random occupation that most sitcom characters have, so...yeah, what can I tell you? Other than that, all I can gather from the "next week" preview is a wacky encounter with some new neighbors and that according to Wikipedia, the following episode is about our headlining couple buying a new car. It's a comedy, so...not much more to say.
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IN ESSENCE, MY FRIENDS...
...I'm sad to report my original analysis of this show back in May was pretty much dead-on. Now, I'll be the first to admit...I'm probably not the best person to be gauging the quality of a sitcom about new parents. Not to get too personal, but in the last five years or so, I've seen so much irresponsible parenting and so many "broods of failure" as Patton Oswalt would put it, that I've developed a pretty powerful disdain for not just the young, irresponsible, Teen Mom-loving idiots who pervade my current location, but most new parents, in general.
Even beyond that though, there's just so much about this show that simply DOES NOT WORK. Believe it or not, I'd start with casting. Regardless of how much I love them, Applegate and Arnett are too old for these characters. Regan and Chris were clearly originally envisioned as young adults in their late 20s-early 30s, working their way up the corporate ladder IN ADDITION to being new parents. This is especially evident in the unfunny C-plot about Chris' life as a co-op video gamer. I feel very certain that they're not going solely for the "Hey! It's 41-year-old Will Arnett having pseudo-meaningful conversations with the teenage surfer dude he met playing Halo" joke, but the thing is, whatever the joke is actually supposed to be isn't remotely funny or entertaining either. By the same token, Applegate's Regan feels like some bizarre combination of Chelsea Handler and Jennifer Aniston circa the first season of Friends, which I don't have to remind you (but I will anyway) was ALMOST TWENTY YEARS AGO. No...just...no.
So, what does work?--Not much, as you might have gathered. The clear bright spot of the show is Maya Rudolph, who deserves much, much better. Truth be told, I would love to just watch a 30 Rock-style show about the behind-the-scenes shenanigans at her character Ava's talk show. This show comes to us from A LOT of the creative minds behind both 30 Rock (Lorne Michaels, most notably) and Parks and Recreation (the aforementioned Spivey), and I just wish their collaboration had been something that felt more...well, collaborative. Seriously, can you imagine the amazing creative marriage of Parks' documentary style and 30 Rock's acumen for backstage hilarity?--THAT...I would love to see. This, not so much.
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THESE ARE BLURBS
A few more things before I say a swift goodbye to Up All Night...
- There's something inherently creepy about Will Arnett raising a baby girl named Amy. Am I alone on this one?
- I don't mean to repeat myself, but seriously...I want to see an Ava-centric spinoff RIGHT NOW. The fact is, the character just feels like she belongs in a different (and much funnier) show. Keep her beleaguered assistant Missy (Jennifer Hall) and God help me, even keep the randomly-cast Nick Cannon as Ava's overly-enthusiastic Kevin Eubanks-esque DJ Calvin. This is a show that I would watch. Like a combination of Fernwood Tonight and an actually-funny (SNAP!) version of The Larry Sanders Show.
- I will admit, the sight of Maya Rudolph and Will Arnett doing a karaoke duet of The Weather Girls' "It's Raining Men" made me giggle...but then again, that's amazing no matter where you're seeing it.
- ...and on a related note, I demand that Maya Rudolph put out a music album. I don't care if it's something to be taken seriously or if she does it in the comical, overly-empassioned way in which she serenaded us with Fleetwood Mac's "Edge of Seventeen" here. I would buy that album in a second. Lady's got pipes...but we already knew that.
- UP ALL NIGHT AIRS WEDNESDAY NIGHTS AT 8pm ON NBC!
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So yeah...disappointing, but I saw it coming. So I got that going for me, which is nice.
I'll be back as early as sometime tonight with my look at NBC's other new Wednesday night comedy offering Free Agents. Will the combination of Hank Azaria and Anthony "Rupert MOTHERFUCKING Giles" Head be as wonderful as I hope? We shall soon see.
Until then, ladies and gentlemen...Maya Rudolph's mother, the legendary Minnie Riperton.
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