(June 15th, 2011.)               Christina Applegate (Samantha Who?), Will Arnett (Arrested Development), Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live, Bridesmaids) and James Pumphrey (High Road) star in the half hour comedy Up All Night, coming to NBC Wednesdays at 8pm starting this fall.

Up All Night is a modern take on parenthood that shows the challenges of balancing a career, marriage and a new baby. Reagan (Applegate) is a successful public relations executive, and Chris (Arnett) is her supportive, stay-at-home husband. The two have just become parents, a surprise that has set their lives on a new path as responsible adults, for the most part. Ava (Rudolph) is Reagan’s outlandish boss and best friend, whose whirlwind social escapades serve as constant reminders of Reagan's former carefree life. When the two worlds collide, and the new parents must deal with a screaming infant the morning after a night of partying, they suddenly realize they have no idea what they are getting themselves in to.

Problem one with this comedy is the slow pace of the pilot episode. There just is not enough laughs and that will have to change, fast. Will Arnett delivers a very human character in the house husband with a new baby. There is room for his character to slowly transform from the uncertain and stumbling caregiver he is being forced to become, into a strong parent and a good example for their young daughter. But if the audience is going to bond with this character, we will need more than just a guy changing diapers. The scripts will need to explore the challenges of being a lone male in the female dominated world of child care. They will need to explore his feelings as he watches his wife succeed at a career and he stays at home. Likewise time should be given to the conflict that Applegate's character will go through as she faces guilt at leaving her baby to go to work. And the trouble she will have at giving her husband credit for achieving things that she will see as a mother's place to do. These are hard issues to explore and while trying to be funny.

The choice to have the two female characters be co-workers in a large publicity firm should allow this series to poke a little fun at some of the more outrageous stars in Hollywood. But as David Spade learned during his SNL days with "The Hollywood Minute" be careful who you poke fun at, because they may not get the joke.

I like the ideas I am seeing in the pilot episode. But if this effort is going to survive, there needs to be an injection of humour. This comedy will not be given the luxury of a lot of time to hit its stride. This one had better hit the ground running.

 

 - Editor

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