NBC's Up All Night May Be Moving To Thursdays

It’s an NBC miracle! Or it will be, if this rumor turns out to be true. Since the start of the fall TV season, I’ve been thinking that Up All Night belongs on Thursday night with NBC's other great single-camera comedies, while Whitney should be put somewhere else. Perhaps on CBS where multi-camera comedies tend to shine. It looks like part of that might actually be happening. No, Whitney's not going to CBS to share an hour with Cummings' other series 2 Broke Girls, but new-parent comedy Up All Night, which stars Christina Applegate and Will Arnett, may be moving to Thursday!

First and foremost, I'm of the mindset that multi-camera comedies have their place on TV, and as a fan of How I Met Your Mother, I won't bash format. Funny is funny, regardless of whether or not we're told so by a live studio audience. But it's difficult to switch gears between a single and multi camera format when watching numerous comedies in a row. I had the same issue with Better With You, which ABC had wedged between single-camera comedies The Middle and Modern Family last year. Despite being a cute show, the multi-camera comedy didn't quite fit right between the two shows and only ended up seeming dated by comparison. I have the exact same issue with Whitney, a series I wanted to like as a fan of Whitney Cummings, but didn't quite take to. Following NBC's excellent series Community, Parks & Rec and The Office, Whitney is the only show in the two-hour block that I don't watch. As for Up All Night, I DVR it or watch it on the NBC app at my leisure as Wednesday night isn't really an NBC night for me.

Deadline is reporting that NBC may be about to switch Up All Night with Whitney on the schedule, which would be a very good thing for NBC's Thursday night line-up, unless you disagree with me on the subject of Whitney.

As it stands right now, Up All Night airs at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday nights, while Whitney follows The Office on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. Without another comedy to be paired with, Up All Night goes up against Fox’s The X Factor, ABC’s The Middle and CBS' Survivor on its own, which makes the nearly five million viewers it's bringing in seem impressive, relatively speaking. Following The Office, which seems like a much better match for the series in terms of format and comedy style, Up All Night may stand a better chance at building the audience it deserves.

?Deadline also notes that there’s chance NBC will be moving Grimm away from Friday nights. The new series premiered to strong numbers but the ratings have slipped since then. If Grimm were to move to Thursday night (with Prime Suspect shifting to Fridays), that would make for a solid three-hour TV block for the peacock.

UPDATE

NBC has confirmed that Up All Night will be moving to Thursdays for Midseason 2012. 30 Rock is also set to return, which will bump Community off the schedule and presumably into hiatus until next fall... hopefully.

NBC's 2012 schedule and more updates on the Community situation here.