Not to be confused with The Undateables.
Undateable
Alt nameUndateable Live
GenreSitcom
CreatorAdam Sztykiel
Director
Starring
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Num seasons3
Num episodes<onlyinclude>36</onlyinclude>
List episodesList of Undateable episodes
Executive producer
CameraMulti-camera
Runtime21–23 minutes
Company
NetworkNBC
First airedMay 29, 2014
Last airedJanuary 29, 2016

Undateable is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from May 29, 2014, to January 29, 2016, and originally premiered as a mid-season replacement.[1][2] The series was created by Adam Sztykiel, based on the book Undateable: 311 Things Guys Do That Guarantee They Won't Be Dating or Having Sex by Ellen Rakieten and Anne Coyle.[3][4][5] In the show, bachelor Danny Burton has trouble getting into a relationship with various women he meets. On May 8, 2015, NBC renewed Undateable for a third season that consisted entirely of live episodes,[6][7] which premiered on October 9, 2015.[8] On May 13, 2016, NBC canceled the series after three seasons.[9]

Premise

Main article: List of Undateable episodes

Danny Burton is a 34-year-old carefree single guy who has watched most of his friends move on to serious relationships. When his last remaining single friend, Shannon, moves out to marry, Danny searches for a new roommate. A promising candidate is Justin, the owner of Black Eyes Bar (frequently mispronounced "Black Guys Bar") in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale. Justin and his friends—the creepy Burski, oddball Shelly, and recently out-of-the-closet Brett—all have certain qualities that make them appear "undateable". While Danny himself has good luck getting women into bed, he is unable or unwilling to form a lasting commitment with any of them. Danny's older sister, Leslie, has similar fears about being undateable, having the "baggage" of being a mid-30s divorcee.

Cast

Main

  • Chris D'Elia as Danny Burton, a womanizer
  • Brent Morin as Justin Kearney, Danny's roommate who is a bar owner and is awkward with women
  • Bianca Kajlich as Leslie Burton, Danny's recently divorced and alcoholic older sister
  • David Fynn as Brett, Justin's gay co-worker and friend
  • Rick Glassman as Adam Burski, Justin's nerdy friend who has a crush on Leslie and often goes by his surname
  • Ron Funches as Shelly, Justin's oddball friend who moves into the upstairs loft at the bar
  • Bridgit Mendler as Candace (Season 2–3), Justin's eccentric new bartender and later fiancée; she often scares the gang with bizarre stories from her childhood, living in cars and eating paper – but always delivers these tales with a strange optimism[10]

Recurring

  • Briga Heelan as Nicki, Justin's bartender, and later, ex-girlfriend (Season 1; guest in Season 2)
  • Eva Amurri as Sabrina, Danny's ex-girlfriend and Justin's new employee (Season 1)
  • Adam Hagenbuch as Trent, Candace's ex-boyfriend who wants her back, making him Justin's rival (Season 2–3)
  • Whitney Cummings as Charlotte, Justin's friend from school whom he sets up with Danny (Season 3)

Guest

Production

Development and casting

NBC purchased the script from Bill Lawrence in October 2012.[5][14] Casting for the pilot began in early 2013, with Brent Morin and Rick Glassman being cast in February and Bianca Kajlich and Chris D'Elia being cast in March.[15][16][17][18] Matthew Wilkas was also cast in March as Brett, Justin's gay friend.[19] Aly Michalka was originally cast as Maddie, a waitress in Justin's bar and Justin's love interest, but she left the show in April 2013 and was replaced with Briga Heelan in a guest star role as the similar character Nicki.[20][21]

Filming

In May 2013, NBC placed a series order for Undateable.[22] After the series was ordered, Wilkas left and was replaced with David Fynn in the role of Brett.[23] When both Undateable and Ground Floor, which stars Heelan, were picked up as series, Megan Park was cast to replace Heelan in the Nicki role.[24] However, by September of that year, the producers were able to arrange the schedules of the two shows so that Heelan could appear on Undateable as Nicki on a recurring basis, and she replaced Park.[25]

In March 2014, Lawrence, Morin, Glassman, Funches, and D'Elia launched an 8-city comedy tour to promote the show.[26][27][28]

On May 5, 2015, the show was presented live in a one-hour episode that featured numerous guest stars.[11] Based on the reception to that episode, NBC made the decision to feature all live episodes for Season 3, with each episode featuring a musical guest.[8] Starting with season 3, Undateable aired two feeds, one from the East Coast and one from the West Coast, both of which were available online after the show aired on its linear broadcast.[29][30]

On November 13, 2015, 30 minutes before air time, a decision was made to pre-empt the then-upcoming live program due to the November 2015 Paris attacks.[31] The next week, during the November 20 live episode, references were made about the attack.[32]

The Sixth Lead

The Sixth Lead is a five-part webseries starring Rick Glassman.[33] Each part runs for 4–7 minutes. It is described as "A web-series about an NBC Sitcom actor who doesn't really talk much." It is about Glassman wanting to contribute more to Undateable and become a more important cast member on the series. The first episode is titled "Meeting With the Showrunner".[34]

Reception

Critical response

Undateable initially received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 38% rating, based on 16 reviews, with the consensus reading: "Largely bereft of originality or humor, Undateable is underwhelming."[35] On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 49 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[36]

The third season finale "averaged a 0.8/3 in 18–49 and 2.7 million viewers overall, placing fourth among the Big Four but matching the show's top score since mid-October."[37] Due to the success of the Season 2 finale going live, the decision was made to renew Undateable for an all-live Season 3, broadcasting live for both the East and West Coast feeds.[38][39]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef
2015Art Directors AwardMulti-Camera Television SeriesUndateable – Episode: "Pilot"[citation needed]
Episode of a Multi-Camera, Variety or Unscripted SeriesCabot McMullen (production designer), Jeffrey Beck (set designer), Susan Bolles (graphic designer), Amber Haley (set decorator)[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "NBC Reveals Its 2013–14 Primetime Schedule". The Futon Critic. May 12, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
  2. ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (March 25, 2014). "NBC Announces Summer Premiere Dates for 'Crossbones', 'Undateable', 'The Night Shift', 'Taxi Brooklyn' & More". Zap2it. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  3. ^ Goldberg, Lesley & Rose, Lacey (May 10, 2013). "NBC Series Orders: 'Chicago Fire' Spinoff, 'Ironside' Remake, 'Undateable'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  4. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (May 10, 2013). "NBC Orders 'Undateable,' 'Ironside,' 'Chicago PD'; Cancels 'Go On'". Variety. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  5. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 12, 2012). "'Undateable' Comedy From Adam Sztykiel & Bill Lawrence Lands At NBC With Penalty". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  6. ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (May 8, 2015). "'The Night Shift', 'Undateable' Renewed by NBC". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015.
  7. ^ Goldman, Eric (May 8, 2015). "'Undateable' Renewed for Season 3 [sic] Entirely of Live Episodes". IGN. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  8. ^ "NBC Announces Fall Premiere Dates for 2015–16 Season". Zap2It. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  9. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 13, 2016). "'Telenovela' & 'Undateable' Canceled By NBC". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  10. ^ "Bridgit Mendler Cast in 'Undateable' — Season 2 on NBC – TVLine". TVLine. November 25, 2014.
  11. ^ Andrea Reiher (May 6, 2015). "'Undateable' nails its live show and fans love it – Zap2it – News & Features". Zap2it. Archived from the original on May 8, 2015.
  12. ^ Ryan Schwartz (May 6, 2015). "'Undateable' Live Episode Recap –– Ed Sheeran, 'Scrubs' Cast, Scott Foley – TVLine". TVLine
  13. ^ "Backstage at #UndateableLive with @katewalsh ! 4 minutes, West Coast!". Twitter
  14. ^ Rose, Lacey (October 12, 2012). "'Cougar Town's' Bill Lawrence Sells 'Undateable' Comedy to NBC". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  15. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (February 20, 2013). "NBC's Bill Lawrence Comedy 'Undateable' Casts Lead". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  16. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 20, 2013). "att Craven Joins ABC Pilot 'The Returned', Duo Cast In NBC Pilot 'Undateable'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  17. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 20, 2013). "Bianca Kajlich & Aly Michalka To Co-Star In NBC Comedy Pilot 'Undateable'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  18. ^ Kasperowicz, Leslie (March 3, 2013). "Whitney's Chris D'Elia Joins NBC's Undateable Pilot". Cinemablend. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  19. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 21, 2013). "NBC Pilot 'Undateable' Adds Actor". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  20. ^ Ausiello, Michael (April 9, 2013). "Pilot Scoop: Hellcats' Aly Michalka Out, Cougar Town's Briga Heelan In on NBC's Undateable". TV LINE. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  21. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (April 9, 2013). "Aly Michalka Exits NBC Pilot 'Undateable', Briga Heelan Expected To Replace Her". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  22. ^ Rice, Lynette (May 10, 2013). "NBC orders new comedy from 'Cougar Town' creator Bill Lawrence". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  23. ^ "David Fynn Joins NBC's 'Undateable'; Valarie Pettiford To Recur On 'True Blood'". Deadline Hollywood. July 3, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  24. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 16, 2013). "Megan Park Lands Vacant Regular Role On NBC Comedy Series 'Undateable'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  25. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 5, 2013). "Briga Heelan Back On NBC Comedy 'Undateable' As Recurring". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  26. ^ Juul, Matthew (February 21, 2014). "Cast of NBC's 'Undateable' coming to Boston on March 3". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 22, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  27. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (25 February 2014). "Bill Lawrence and 'Undateable' Stars Hit the Road to Promote NBC Comedy 'Undateable'". Variety. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  28. ^ Lawrence, Bill (28 May 2014). "The 'Undateable' Comedy Tour: How to Launch (or Not Launch) a TV Show in 2014". Grantland. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  29. ^ Fernandez, Maria Elena (13 November 2015). "Inside Undateable, the Live TV Show Where Chaos Reigns — and That's the Point". Vulture. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  30. ^ O'Connell, Michael (23 October 2015). "NBC's 'Undateable' Doubling Up With Live Telecasts for Each Coast". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  31. ^ Carroll, Larry (13 November 2015). "'Undateable Live' cancels broadcasts due to Paris terror attacks". Zap2It. Archived from the original on November 16, 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  32. ^ Carroll, Larry (20 November 2015). "'Undateable Live' returns to address Paris attack – then gets back to funny business". Zap2It. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  33. ^ "thesixthlead.com". Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  34. ^ Glassman, Rick (2016-03-02), "The Sixth Lead: Meeting with the Showrunner (episode 1/5)", retrieved 2018-03-01
  35. ^ "Undateable: Season 1 (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  36. ^ "Undateable (2014) : Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  37. ^ Rick Kissell (January 30, 2016). "'MasterChef Junior' Finale Ratings Strong; 'Dateline', 'Shark Tank' Up - Variety". Variety
  38. ^ Goldberg, Lesley & Stanhope, Kate (May 8, 2015). "'Undateable' Renewed for All-Live Third Season". The Hollywood Reporter
  39. ^ Elizabeth Wagmeister (October 23, 2015). "'Undateable': NBC's Comedy to Tape Live from Both East and West Coast - Variety". Variety