Christina Applegate Leaving ‘Up All Night’

Christina Applegate is leaving NBC’s sophomore comedy Up All Night.

Applegate’s departure comes a little more than a month after series creator Emily Spivey exited the sitcom, which has undergone some major changes in recent months. As we have previously reported, showrunner Tucker Crawley left the series to work as a consulting producer on The Mindy Project. He was replaced by Nurse Jackie executive producer Linda Wallem. Prior to that, the original showrunner, Jon Pollack, left for Matthew Perry’s Go On.

In a statement, Applegate said:

“It’s been a great experience working on Up All Night, but the show has taken a different creative direction and I decided it was best for me to move on to other endeavors. Working with Lorne Michaels has been a dream come true and I am grateful he brought me into his TV family. I will miss the cast, producers and crew, and wish them the best always.”

According to Deadline, the network still wants to continue with the series, and is reportedly looking to cast Friends star Lisa Kudrow as her replacement. In the meantime, Applegate will be working on Anchorman 2, which begins filming this month and is set to be released in December. The sequel to the 2004 comedy recently cast former Saturday Night Live cast member and Bridesmaids star Kristin Wiig, who is rumored to play the wife of Steve Carrell’s character, Brick Tamland.

When it first started, Up All Night was a comedy about new parents Chris (Will Arnett) and Reagan (Applegate) and was inspired by Spivey’s real-life experience of going back to work after giving birth. However, when Maya Rudolph was cast as Reagan’s boss, Ava, the workplace aspect of the show was expanded.

Are you sad to see Christina Applegate leaving Up All Night? Do you think Lisa Kudrow would be a good replacement? If not, who?