Out All Night (TV series)


Out All Night is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 19, 1992 to July 9, 1993 for one season. The series stars Patti LaBelle, and was created by Andy Borowitz, Susan Borowitz, and Rob Edwards.

Synopsis

LaBelle stars as former singer Chelsea Paige, who opens a Los Angeles urban nightclub aptly named "Club Chelsea". To manage the club, Chelsea hires a recent New York University graduate, Jeff. Chelsea also rents Jeff and his irresponsible best friend Vidal an apartment in the building she owns. Rounding out the cast is Vivica A. Fox as Chelsea's stylist daughter Charisse, and Simon O'Brien as the group's Scottish neighbor.
The series is set in the same universe as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In the tenth episode, "The Great Pretender", Karyn Parsons guest stars as her Fresh Prince character Hilary Banks. Out All Night also featured several musical guests including After 7, Mary J. Blige, Bobby Brown, Boyz II Men, Natalie Cole, Johnny Gill, Jodeci, Gladys Knight, Eddie and Gerald Levert, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, MC Hammer, TLC, Luther Vandross, and Dionne Warwick.
Reruns aired briefly on BET in 1995.

Background

Out All Night stars Patti Labelle, a grammy award winning R&B artist, who had no plans of starring in a pilot. After winning a Grammy in 1992 for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for her album Burnin’, her intense touring schedule only left room for her to appear as a guest star. That was until Alan Haymon asked her to film the pilot. LaBelle states in a JET article that “I was asked to do a TV pilot by producer Alan Haymon, who promotes all our shows. He and my husband were interested in my doing this pilot for a sitcom. I had been asked before when I did “A Different World”. I said “No Way, Jose! I felt the visits I made as Adele on “A Different World” would suffice for me. Then, when this happened, I said “Okay, I’ll do the pilot.” But I said whatever happens I’m going to have to continue doing my rock ’n’ roll. I said ‘nobody is going to want a pilot with Patti LaBelle.’ But, I was accepted and I’m blessed.”

Cast

Out All Night aired Saturday, September 19, 1992 at 8:30pm after a crossover episode on Here and Now, Malcom Jamal Warner’s The Cosby Show spinoff. TV Tango reports its ratings were an 8.5, lower than the shows that were airing at the same time. Cops aired on FOX with a 9.9 rating and the show Empty Nests on CBS aired right after the pilot episode with a 12.9 rating. Out All Night continued to air on a Saturday, which generally produces low ratings, until it switched to Thursdays on January 7, 1993, before A Different World would air. Though the show switched time slots it still received an 8.7 rating, while a different world received a 10.7 rating.

Backlash

The character, Vidal Thomas, which was played by Duane Martin, was not received well by audiences. Rob Edwards states in a 1992 LA Times article that:
“Rob Edwards, creator and co-executive producer of "Out All Night," said criticism of one character, who was accused of being clownish and woman-crazy in the pilot episode, was premature: "Judging him that way would be like judging the first five minutes of 'The Wizard of Oz' and making up your mind that it was a black-and-white movie set in Kansas."
Rob Edwards blamed the network for the lack of more dimensionality in the characters, because of the lack of resources. If the show was to continue airing Edwards claims to have made Vidal a more multi faceted character.

Cancellation

Though during the time an LA Times article states “12 out of the 74 prime time scripted entertainment series on the four networks now feature large black cast”. It was not enough to keep the show on air. NBC canceled “Out All Night” with two episodes left out of the original 22 episodes that were ordered. Variety states that “NBC Prods., were seeking to “cut its losses” by halting production on the Patti Labelle sitcom. After the cancelation, episode 20 never aired.

Episodes