''Undateable'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

television series that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from May 29, 2014, to January 29, 2016, and originally premiered as a

mid-season replacement In American network television scheduling, a mid-season replacement is a television show that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between December and May. Mid-season replacements usually take place after a ...

. The series was created by

Adam Sztykiel Adam John Sztykiel is an American television and film producer and screenwriter known for such television series and films as ''Undateable'', which he also created based on the book, ''Undateable: 311 Things Guys do That Guarantee They Won't be Da ...

, 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. 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, which premiered on October 9, 2015. On May 13, 2016, NBC canceled the series after three seasons.

Premise

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 Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

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 Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

Cast

Main

Chris D'Elia Christopher William D'Elia (born March 29, 1980) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and podcast host. He is known for playing Alex Miller on the NBC sitcom '' Whitney'', Danny Burton on the NBC sitcom ''Undateable'', Kenny on the ...

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 Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

sister *

David Fynn David Fynn is a British-Irish actor, producer and screenwriter, best known for playing Brett in the NBC TV sitcom '' Undateable.'' He began playing Dewey Finn in the West End cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical '' School of Rock'' (based on ...

as Brett, Justin's

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

co-worker and friend * Rick Glassman as Adam Burski, Justin's

nerd A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly tec ...

y friend who has a crush on Leslie *

Ron Funches Ronald Kyle Funches (born March 12, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. Born in California, Funches spent his early life in Chicago before relocating to Salem, Oregon, as a teenager. He began his comedy career in Portland, Oregon, at ...

as Shelly, Justin's oddball friend who moves into the upstairs loft at the bar *

Bridgit Mendler Bridgit Claire Mendler (born December 18, 1992) is an American singer and actress. In 2004, she began her career in the animated Indian film '' The Legend of Buddha'', later starring in the films ''Alice Upside Down'' (2007), ''The Clique'' (200 ...

as Candace (Season 2–3), Justin's eccentric new bartender and later

fiancée An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

; 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

Recurring

Briga Heelan Briga Heelan (pronunciation ) (born April 2, 1987) is an American actress and comedian. She is known for her work on the sitcoms ''Cougar Town'', '' Ground Floor'', ''Undateable'', ''Love'', ''Great News'', and ''B Positive''. Early life and e ...

as Nicki, Justin's 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 Whitney Cummings (born September 4, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, director, producer, investor and podcaster. A native of Washington, DC, Cummings pursued a comedy career in Los Angeles after graduating from the Univer ...

as Charlotte, Justin's friend from school whom he sets up with Danny (Season 3)

Guest

Tom Cavanagh Thomas Cavanagh (born October 26, 1963) is a Canadian actor. He is known for a variety of roles on American television, including starring roles in '' Ed'' (2000–2004), ''Love Monkey'' (2006) and '' Trust Me'' (2009), and recurring roles on ...

as Frank, Justin's father *

Josh Hopkins William Joshua Hopkins (born September 12, 1970) is an American actor. Some of his best known roles include Raymond Millbury on '' Ally McBeal'' (2001–2002), Grayson Ellis on '' Cougar Town'' (2009–2015), and Liam O'Connor on '' Quantico'' ( ...

as Julius, Leslie's ex-husband *

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

as himself * Victoria Justice as Amanda *

Rene Gube Rene Gube is an American comedian, actor and writer. He played Threepeat on the TBS sitcom '' Ground Floor'', and was executive story editor and a writer for the CW show ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' where he also had a recurring role as "Father Brah. ...

as Parker, Nicki's new boyfriend *

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

as Zach, Shelly's co-worker *

Donald Faison Donald Adeosun Faison (; born June 22, 1974) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his leading role as Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC/ NBC comedy-drama '' Scrubs'' (2001–2010), and a supporting role as Murray in both the film '' Cluele ...

as Donald, Shelly's co-worker *

Christa Miller Christa Beatrice Miller is an American actress and model who has achieved success in television comedy. Her foremost roles include Kate O'Brien on ''The Drew Carey Show'' and Jordan Sullivan on '' Scrubs''. She has also appeared in '' Seinfeld ...

as Allie (Season 2), a customer *

as Jackie (Season 3), the woman to whom Danny lost his virginity *

Minnie Driver Amelia Fiona Jessica "Minnie" Driver (born 31 January 1970) is an English actress. She rose to prominence with her break-out role in 1995's '' Circle of Friends''. She went on to star in a wide range of films including the cult classic '' Grosse ...

as Minnie, Allie's friend *

Rory Scovel Rory J. Scovel (born August 6, 1980) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He released his first stand-up comedy album ''Dilation'' in 2011. He has since released the stand-up specials ''The Charleston Special'' (2015), ''Rory Scovel Tries ...

as Kevin, Justin's and Danny's annoying neighbor *

Neil Flynn Neil Richard Flynn (born November 13, 1960) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles as Janitor on '' Scrubs'' and Mike Heck in the ABC comedy series '' The Middle''. He has had notable appearances in television series ...

as Neil, a customer *

Drew Pinsky David Drew Pinsky (born September 4, 1958), commonly known as Dr. Drew, is an American media personality, internist, and addiction medicine specialist. He hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show '' Loveline'' from the show's incept ...

as himself *

Mike Catherwood Michael Dwight Catherwood (born March 15, 1979), also known as Psycho Mike, is an American radio personality. He is known primarily for his work at KROQ-FM on ''Kevin and Bean'' and as the co-host of '' Loveline'' from 2010 to 2016, and ''Neon Bl ...

as Mike, a customer who later becomes Leslie's boyfriend * Kate Walsh as Kate, Allie's friend * Scott Foley as "TV's Scott Foley", an exaggerated version of himself *

Sarah Chalke Sarah Louise Christine Chalke (; born August 27, 1976) is a Canadian actress and model. She is known for portraying Elliot Reid on the NBC/ ABC comedy series '' Scrubs'', the second Becky Conner on the ABC sitcom ''Roseanne'', Stella Zinman on ...

as herself *

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...

as Meghan, a customer *

Robert Maschio Robert Maschio (born August 25, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for playing Dr. Todd 'The Todd' Quinlan in the American comedy drama '' Scrubs''. Early life He graduated from Columbia University in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in Ame ...

as Todd

Production

Development and casting

NBC purchased the script from Bill Lawrence in October 2012. Casting for the pilot began in early 2013, with Brent Morin and Rick Glassman being cast in February and Bianca Kajlich and

being cast in March. Matthew Wilkas was also cast in March as Brett, Justin's gay friend.

Aly Michalka Alyson Renae Michalka ( ; born March 25, 1989) is an American actress, singer-songwriter and musician who rose to prominence with her starring role as Keely Teslow in the Disney Channel sitcom '' Phil of the Future'' (2004–2006). 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

in a guest star role as the similar character Nicki.

Filming

In May 2013, NBC placed a series order for ''Undateable''. After the series was ordered, Wilkas left and was replaced with David Fynn in the role of Brett. When both ''Undateable'' and '' Ground Floor'', which stars Heelan, were picked up as series,

Megan Park Megan Park (born July 24, 1986) is a Canadian actress and director. She is known for her portrayal of Grace Bowman in the television series '' The Secret Life of the American Teenager''. In 2021, Park made her feature directorial debut with '' T ...

was cast to replace Heelan in the Nicki role. 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. In March 2014, Lawrence, Morin, Glassman, Funches, and D'Elia launched an 8-city comedy tour to promote the show. On May 5, 2015, the show was presented live in a one-hour episode that featured numerous guest stars. 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. 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. 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. The next week, during the November 20 live episode, references were made about the attack.

''The Sixth Lead''

''The Sixth Lead'' is a five-part webseries starring Rick Glassman. 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".

Reception

Critical response

''Undateable'' initially received mixed reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the first season holds a 38% rating, based on 16 reviews, with the consensus reading: "Largely bereft of originality or humor, ''Undateable'' is underwhelming." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the first season has a score of 49 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". 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." 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.

Ratings

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 2788780 2014 American television series debuts 2016 American television series endings 2010s American LGBT-related comedy television series 2010s American sitcoms English-language television shows American live television series NBC original programming Television shows based on books Television series about siblings Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in Detroit 2010s American workplace comedy television series