‘Up All Night’ not officially canceled yet … but close

Whoever knew a show with such terrible ratings would be drawing so much publicity? If this was any other major network we were talking about here, “Up All Night” would already be canceled based surely on its terrible ratings from this past fall. But this is NBC we are talking about here, and this is the network that manages to make a mess about anything comedy-related these days. (Just as Dan Harmon or Conan O’Brien.)

If you recall back to late last year, the plan was to slowly transition this parenting comedy into something more workplace-focused, and to also adapt it from a single-camera to multi-camera format to capitalize on stars Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph’s experience working in front of a live audience. However, the show has lost such key players as creator Emily Spivey and Christina Applegate in succession, and a new report from Deadline suggests that one of the other stars, currently unnamed, has some doubts about pushing forward with the series’ new plans to film just one episode in the new format that would serve as a pseudo-pilot.

While no firm decision has been made yet, the inability of the network to find a replacement for Applegate, coupled with the bad ratings to begin with and the lack of time until the end of the season in May, all suggest that “Up All Night” is pretty much knocking on death’s door. As a matter of fact, sources say that network brass is even trying to cast Rudolph in one of their high-profile comedies in an effort to keep her talent on the network (and just on a show with more of a chance).

Don’t worry: as always, we’ll have more on this super-complicated situation pertaining to the future of “Up All Night” as it develops. If you want to read more about Applegate’s departure, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: NBC