Originally, it was supposed to debut on October 5, 2006, along with Big Day, but ABC made a last-minute change in its schedule by moving Ugly Betty to Thursday, thus replacing both sitcoms. After numerous scheduling changes prior to the shows premiere, the show premiered Thursday, April 12, 2007, at 10:00PM Eastern/9:00PM Central, and moved to its regular Wednesday timeslot at 8:30PM Eastern/7:30PM Central on April 18.
Notes from the Underbelly began its second season on November 26, 2007, in the new timeslot of 9:30PM Eastern/8:30PM Central on Mondays, leading out of fall's second highest rated freshman sitcom, Samantha Who?.[1]
On May 13, 2008, ABC canceled the series after two seasons.[2]
In Russia, all 23 episodes of the series were shown on NTV.
Plot
The series chronicles the life of Andrew and Lauren, a couple who are expecting their first child, and the unlikely help and advice of their family and friends who also want to share in the couple's joy and pains on the road to parenthood.
Andrew and Lauren are deciding if they really want a family or not. But the advice from their friends is not helping them at all! Are they going to have a baby or are they going to continue their lives without one?
Andrew and Lauren are discovering that changes in their life is inevitable. While Lauren must trade her Mini Cooper for a mini-van, Andrew must get rid of his hockey table. But things are getting complicated for Lauren when she learns that her driver license is expired and that she must do all of her tests all over again.
Because of the overwhelming impending costs of having a baby, Andrew looks for a way to save some money... at Lauren's expense. He decides to ask for Danny's help and takes additional landscaping jobs, even if neither are equipped for manual labor. During the meantime, Lauren wonders is she should continue to work or leave her job since he's not getting through to the students she counsels.
With Lauren pregnant, the couple quickly find out the pros and cons of pregnancy. Lauren's pregnancy gets in the way of the couple when they try to have some intimacy. Meanwhile, Lauren's highly noticeable "pregnancy" breasts attires the attention of the rich students she counsels.
During a trip to the mall for makeup, Julie's water prematurely breaks. With Eric rushing home from a business trip, Julie ask her friends to be present during the birth. Andrew and Lauren must abruptly abandon their romantic weekend getaway. Danny offers to help by ensuring that their hotel plans don't go to waste.
While Lauren isn't convinced breastfeeding is necessary, Andrew refuses to change his mind and claims that being a breastfed baby is the reason why he is successful today as a Landscaper Architect. Meanwhile, Julie and Eric relation isn't going better and the couple tries to reconnect after the birth of Baby Perry, while Cooper falls for an awesome employee.
While Lauren tries to prove to her co-workers, and to herself, that being pregnant won't affect her job. But things don't turn out as planned, and the advice she gave to one of her students put her job in jeopardy. During the meantime, Julie and Cooper realize that they have only on thing in common --Lauren.
Today is Andrew's birthday. Everyone has gathered to celebrate this special day. Even Andrew's old college buddy is there to celebrate. But the only problem is that Andrew doesn't like him at all. Sadly, this day will turn for the worse when some of the biggest secrets are gonna be revealed.
Andrew decides that it's time for him to show more confidence in himself. The experience proves to be a big turn-on for Lauren. But with Andrew getting more and more confident in himself and his abilities, the couple is future threatened. During the meantime, Danny and Cooper are also finding themselves in a strange situation.
After a power outage, Lauren suddenly becomes paranoid about every little thing and worries that she isn't ready to take care of a baby. Andrew, on the other hand, is feeling very confident about his parenting abilities, until he kills a mock "baby" at their infant CPR class. Meanwhile Andrew's friend, Danny, excels in class by flirting with the 52-year-old-teacher, and Cooper uses Julie's sexy baby blog as a way to bond with the "brown baggers" at her firm.
When Lauren's cool younger sister, Heather, visits for a job interview, Lauren launches a campaign to convince her to move to Los Angeles. She would love to have Heather nearby when the baby's born, but will her aggressive attempts to sell her sister on LA end up pushing her away? Meanwhile, as Lauren's consumed with her sister's visit, Julie convinces Cooper to keep her company while Eric's away on business. But when new mom Julie falls asleep from exhaustion, Cooper is confronted with one of her greatest fears, a crying baby.
Cooper makes a new friend. Andrew agrees to landscape Julie and Eric's garden for baby Perry's official "coming out" party. Danny want to play piano at the party.
When Lauren and Andrew make an appointment with a lawyer to create their will, they're faced with the important decision of choosing Olivia's legal guardian should anything happen to them. After Julie and Eric turn them down because they're "booked," they decide to ask their neighbors, a couple they hate for being too perfect -- until it dawns on them what great guardians they'd make.
It seems everything is beginning to remind Lauren of the weight she's gained in the six months she's been pregnant, leaving her feeling decidedly un-sexy, as Cooper, Julie and Andrew do whatever they can to help her out of her funk. Meanwhile, Danny asks Julie if he can borrow her baby to attract women in the park.
Lauren enlists Danny's help to surprise Andrew with VIP passes to the big concert festival in Palm Springs. The gesture is meant as a last hurrah gift before the baby arrives and to offer a break from Andrew, who's been overly concerned the baby's about to be born with every grimace and expression of exasperation Lauren makes. Once at the festival, Lauren starts to experience what she thinks is indigestion, which prompts Andrew, when he sees their car is blocked, to commandeer a tour bus to get to the hospital.
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Notes from the Underbelly on ABC:
Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, or occasionally early June, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
