Byline: Maria Elena Fernandez

On Stage 18 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, a modest bit of history is quietly being made: NBC's Undateable Live is the first scripted show to be produced live for its entire season in 21 years (the last was a full season of Roc). But that's only half of it: Since October 23, Undateable Live has been performed twice every Friday night, to air live on both coasts in what is shaping up to be an epic battle. As producers and actors strive to give each telecast its own energy, a coast-to-coast competition stirs on social media - which side of the country is seeing the better show?

Before last week's episodes taped, creator Adam Sztykiel (Made of Honor) sized up the contest this way: "We've gotten into this rhythm where the East Coast goes pretty close to script and it's well locked down. Once everyone has that one under their belt, they feel more comfortable playing around with it and the West Coast show always feels looser. As a producer, sometimes I like the tighter episode that feels like it's what we practiced."

But when actor Chris D'Elia ad-libs an incest joke after Bianca Kajlich and Bridgit Mendler unexpectedly throw water in his face during last week's West Coast taping, Sztykiel has a quick change of heart. "I think we just created show canon," he says, glancing at the audience as American Authors performs its hit, "Best Day of My Life," to close out the show. "I feel like the West Coast is going to be everyone's favorite version of this show."

Undateable, now in its third season, began as a multi-camera sitcom pre-taped in front of a studio audience like The Big Bang Theory. Based on the book, Undateable: 311 Things Guys Do That Guarantee They Won't Be Dating or Having Sex, the show has a classic sitcom premise. A group of single friends with relationship issues hang out at a bar owned by one of them, played by Brent Morin, who, like his co-stars Chris D'Elia, Ron Funches, and Rick Glassman, are stand-up comedians.

If there were a behind-the-scenes mantra at Undateable - the only NBC comedy to survive last season - it would be "embrace the chaos." Or as writer Craig Doyle put it, "If we go out, we're gonna go in a blaze of glory." Whether its writers conceiving jokes for 18 hours straight in the writer's room or actors learning their lines on the eve of show night, the team of 150 is willing to go with the flow because of the reward at the end of the week: Show night is a big party, with musical guests performing before the show and during set changes. (Two weeks ago, it was Meghan Trainor.) Guest stars like Scott Foley, aka "TV's Scott Foley" (one of the show's many inside jokes) stop by. On set there's a bar, a social-media lounge, and actors and producers constantly interact with both the studio...