'Up All Night' to film one multi-camera episode without Christina Applegate

It's been a relatively short, strange trip for NBC's Up All Night.

If you've been following the saga of the low-rated comedy produced by Saturday Night Live mastermind Lorne Michaels, you know that Up All Night has undergone some major shifts behind the scenes since the end of its first season. Showrunners have come and gone, and series creator Emily Spivey also departed last month.

Despite the stellar cast and prime placement in NBC's Thursday lineup, Up All Night consistently drew soft ratings and was being retooled as a traditional multi-camera comedy filmed in front of a live studio audience. The Peacock network had ordered five multi-cam episodes to begin airing in the spring, but a huge blow was dealt last week when Christina Applegate announced she would be leaving the series.

While it's unclear if Applegate will be replaced or how her character will be written out, NBC still wants to see what a multi-camera version of Up All Night would look like and has reduced the order to one. James Burrows, the master of multi-cam comedies, will helm the episode.

Meanwhile, co-stars Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph are being inundated with pilot offers, so NBC will have to decide soon whether or not to put Up All Night to bed.