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| image from Wikipedia |
As much as I like to rail against my conceived unfairness of NBC for its various mistreatment of Chuck, Community and, most recently, Bent, I do have to admit that the flailing network has come up with the most number of relevant freshmen comedy series since fall of last year compared to other networks.
The 2011-2012 TV seasons yielded freshmen sitcoms Suburgatory from ABC, New Girl from FOX, and 2 Broke Girls from CBS.
On the other hand, NBC gave me Up All Night, the short lived Free Agents, and Bent, and I’m seriously considering adding Friends with Benefits to the list. And the much-hyped-but-never-quite-fully-lived-up-to-the-expectations Are You There, Chelsea? did make me laugh half the time.
In any case, I’m suspending my leftover feelings of NBC bashing from when I wrote a post about Bent‘s six episode run, and will give it the love it deserves for giving me Up All Night. Unless they don’t renew it, then my I-hate-NBC list will continue to grow.
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| image from buddytv |
Up All Night is the story of Reagan Brinkley (Christina Applegate) and Chris Brinkley (Will Arnett), whose lives are changed after the birth of their daughter Amy. Reagan returns to work as the producer of the talk show hosted by her best friend Ava Alexander (Maya Rudolph), while Chris leaves a lucrative career as a lawyer to become a stay-at-home dad. The show tackles the various adventures and misadventures of the Brinkley couple as they raise Amy, cope with the new family dynamic and keeping their relationship as a couple healthy.
In the beginning, much of the show’s focus was the couple dealing with parenthood. As the TV series progressed throughout the season, the show also dealt with introducing Reagan and Chris as individuals and as a couple outside of their roles as parents.
Much of the show’s success is attributed to the chemistry between Christina Applegate and Will Arnett as Reagan and Chris. They’re so believable as a couple, both when they’re showing affection to each other, and when they’re at odds with each other’s personalities that they have long suffered from and endured with. Reagan brings more of the crazy, especially when the situation calls for her to be competitive. I do have to admit that I had a larger appreciation for Will Arnett in Up All Night. I was so used to watching him turn up the hammy acting as G.O.B. Bluth in Arrested Development and as Devon Banks in 30 Rock, that it was refreshing to watch him play a normal role. I totally buy that he’s the doting father and loving husband in the show.
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Another important element of the show is Ava, who Maya Rudolph plays with fervor. She’s an egomaniac and absolutely neurotic, but is a great friend to Ava and Chris. And I find it totally hilarious that she has a barely concealed crush on Chris, which is highlighted with statements to Reagan like “When you die, I totally get him.”. The history of Reagan and Chris’s relationship is only matched, even surpassed, by the history of Reagan and Ava. By the way, I totally buy the love story between famous Ava and the humble handyman Kevin (Jason Lee), who should definitely be a regular character in the next season. On that note, NBC, do not fail me and renew the show.
As a bonus, the show also features a plethora of guest stars, including Blythe Danner, Richard Schiff, Will Forte, Molly Shannon, Megan Mullaly and Alanis Morisette.
I usually only tolerate a certain amount of crazy in my comedy series picks, but I absolutely enjoyed how cooky the main characters and guest stars can be. It works for me, because they temper everything with great family and friendship moments that feel genuine and just right. This is best showcased in the finale, which I won’t describe in detail, because sharing in the story of Reagan, Chris, Amy and Ava is something you need to watch yourself.
Although, I will share that it’s one of the most touching scenes involving the Bonnie Tyler song “Total Eclipse of the Heart”.
And if you’re still unsure whether to watch Up All Night or not, then I suggest that you check out the picture of Amy below, because every time that baby smiles, coos and reaches a milestone, you will go “awww…”
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| image from sidereel |
Happy viewing!!
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