If I had to guess, I'd say Tina Fey pitched an idea to NBC about this show. Just about every aspect of it is reversed from 30 Rock: Instead of a comedy variety show being produced, its a woman's talk show, LA instead of NYC, instead of a brainy maniacal egotistic male boss its a suggestible and pliable female boss. The show has far less characters on the palate to draw from and the one's that star are flat: Maya Rudolph ( the boss, I think) talent's are wasted in this show- her dynamic range and her abilities to emote various characters and dialects are severely squandered. Christina Applegate has the dubious distinction of being in yet another loser show, just like Jenna Elfman. Don't get me wrong, we all love Christina back to Married with Children, and more than enough time has passed for us to overlook any type of type-casting. But her performance is sleepy, and so is the script which is a dumbed-down version of 30 Rock, I suppose in the attempt to appeal to a broader demographic. The key connection to the audience is that new mom Reagan ( I really hate that name!) must now adjust to mommy -life while trying to assimilate back into her career. Nothing says connecting to a larger crowd by having your lead character work as an executive in TV. I guess they had to give her a high paying job so she would be a suitable bread-winner for her baby and her husband Chris ( Will Arnett) could stay home and play Mr. Mom. I saw lots of opportunities to make things really interesting, entertaining, and funny, but they never happened. I didn't chuckle once and I was really pulling for the show, because I have lots of respect for its 2 leading ladies. Its not clear to me whose vehicle this show is. Its also not clear to me what the title has to with the content of the show either. The baby has not woken them up at night, and Reagan had to work late one night because of freak occurrence, so they already played that card. She has already put her foot down to her boss regarding her availability , so I don't get it. Lastly,the chemistry is terrible in the show, Reagan talks bigger than what her eyes or body language convey not only to hubby but to baby too. Already makes me not like the character. I don't really understand why Applegate is assumed to do comedy as an adult. She'd be far more interesting in a real drama- say as a doctor, lawyer or even a criminal. You guys have serious retooling to do on this one if you don't want it pulled.
Review of Up All Night
