The cast of “Undateable” — made up mostly of stand-up comedians — know their way around a live audience. But Tuesday’s special one-hour episode (9 p.m. on NBC) is upping the pressure with a live broadcast, with no room for reshoots, breaks or cracking up midscene.
“I wouldn’t say I’m nervous, but it’s pretty exciting,” star Chris D’Elia tells The Post. “It is cool knowing that millions of people are going to watch it. There’s a lot to deal with — it’s not just like doing a play. There’s also all the technical stuff that’s involved and the cameras and the movement from scene to scene.”
Executive producer Bill Lawrence (“Scrubs”) had been kicking around the idea to go live during Season 1 of the series, which revolves around a group of oddball friends (D’Elia, Brent Morin, Ron Funches, Rick Glassman, David Fynn, Bianca Kajlich and Bridgit Mendler) in Detroit trying to help each other find relationships.
Tuesday’s Season 2 episode takes place during a music festival and will even feature a performance aspect (though details are being kept secret). Danny (D’Elia) and Justin (Morin) meet a beautiful backup singer (guest star Victoria Justice) in their bar, and end up making a bet over who can win her affection.
“She’s been on TV probably longer than a lot of us,” D’Elia says of Justice, a former Nickelodeon star. “She knows what she’s doing, she fits right in.”
I wouldn’t say I’m nervous, but it’s pretty exciting. It is cool knowing that millions of people are going to watch it.
- Chris D’Elia
With the live show, “Undateable” joins the company of other series that have accomplished the feat, including “The Drew Carey Show,” “ER,” “30 Rock” and “Hot in Cleveland.” It also airs days before NBC decides which shows to renew for next season; the cast hopes their stunt can boost its audience (the comedy averages about 5 million viewers, up from Season 1 last summer).
“I feel pretty positive about [a third season],” D’Elia says. “We’re doing well and we have a strong fan base and it keeps growing. I’d love to do this show for years to come. It’s been a lot of fun.”
The episode will feature different celebrity cameos — including Zach Braff (“Scrubs”), Kate Walsh (“Private Practice”) and Christa Miller (“Cougar Town”) — for the separate East and West Coast productions of the show.
The cast may tweak dialogue in the two versions, too — though they’ll have to rein in their usual improvising (regular episodes can be up to 50 percent ad-libbed) to keep the live production on track.
“Sometimes we get the script a day before and we just reshoot it and keep shooting till we get it. But we can’t do that now,” D’Elia says.
“We will mess up somehow, just hopefully we’ll do it as little as possible and nobody will catch it.”