NBC’s Up All Night is going to switch formats from single-cam to multi-cam. But there’s a very specific reason this won’t work: In viewers’ minds, NBC doesn’t “do” multi-cam comedies, and the quotes from network officials smack of desperation:
The idea for the conversion came from Up All Night executive producer and SNL honcho Lorne Michaels, who had been looking for a way to infuse the show with more energy. Another single-camera NBC comedy he exec produces, 30 Rock, has done successful live multi-cam episodes. “We know what the multi-camera audience does for the live episodes of 30 Rock, plus after seeing both Maya and Christina do SNL within the past few months, we knew we had the kind of performers — Will Arnett included — who love the reaction from a live audience,” said NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt.
What are NBC’s main comedies? Community. 30 Rock. Parks and Recreation. The Office, for goodness’ sake. NBC aired an episode of Scrubs that satirized the multi-camera format!
CBS and ABC do multi-cam sitcoms. That NBC thinks that’s the problem and that viewers will flock to it after making that specific change… I mean, you’ve got very talented comic actors who have also shown they can handle more dramatic work. Why not shift further into the dramedy genre?
Just you watch: it’ll get cancelled after fewer than six episodes in the new format.