I heard about the Night Court revival sometime last year. The original Night Court ran from 1984-1992 and was a gem of a show. Harry Anderson - who played the original, goofy and sincere judge Harry T. Stone - was and is one of my favourite actors. He brought a very sincere human-ness to the original show.
There have been many shows that have been rebooted/renewed/revived. Some of them, such as Battlestar Galactica, was a reboot which was in every possible way superior to the original. Others, such as WKRP in Cincinnati had it's continuation in The New WKRP in Cincinnati, which was not as good.
This Night Court is a continuation of the original. The original lasted nine seasons, and this one - beginning in January, 2023 - is listed as season ten, taking place 30+ years later.
Season 10 follows the same premise and format of the first nine seasons: a young, silly, but insightful judge runs an evening court in New York with a cast of characters in the courtroom, including an Assistant District Attorney/Prosecutor, Court Clerk, Bailiff, and Public Defender. This season also has two very strong ties to the previous: the judge, Abby Stone, is the daughter of former judge Harry T. Stone, and the Public Defender - Dan Fielding - was the Assistant District Attorney previously.
The first two episodes - approximately 22 minutes each - can be considered as one pilot episode. Both of these episodes deal with Abby arriving at the court and proceeding to dispense with chaos, and with Dan Fielding returning to the court after retiring some years prior, but now as a defender instead of prosecutor.
This show has the potential to be really great or to fizzle out quickly. The simple fact of the matter is that Harry Anderson's shadow looms long over Night Court, and he is not replaceable. Having the new judge play the daughter of his character is definitely a nice touch, but a better touch is that John Larroquette is returning as Dan Fielding. Without one of the major characters returning, this new should would immediately be swept under the dustbin.
What Worked
John Larroquette/Dan Fielding. In the original series he played a womanising scoundrel who held those defendants who were brought before the court in very low esteem. Now he plays a bitter old man who holds those defendants who are brought before the court in very low esteem: "I would do a better job of defending them, but they are all guilty!" John brings a great portrayal to the series, one that is instantly believable and likeable. It was interesting to watch the beginning of his transformation from prosecutor to defender, and it was one which you find yourself cheering for.
Harry Anderson/Harry T. Stone. Alright, so he's not in the show physically (he passed away some years ago) but he definitely is spiritually. Melissa Rauch plays his daughter, Abby Stone, and there are a number of nice homages throughout the two episodes to him. It was, in fact, one of his routine gags that finally gives a questioning Dan Fielding the motivation he needs to make the decision to become a defender. That said, I hope they don't overdo it; Night Court was Harry's show, but I hope they don't make it his shrine.
Character Diversity. I did enjoy seeing an array of characters, reflective of 21st century New York.
What Did Not Work
The show's pacing. It was fast. Really fast. Too fast. I know a sitcom is not a drama and is not intended to build up to a climax, and I also know that this was a pilot and had a lot to do in a short period of time, but it was way too fast. The jokes were forced (in fighting terms, one would say that they were telescoped) and often cut away too quick. The original series was master at the unexpected gag, quickly building to a punch line, or superb dry irony and one liners. This show, after two episodes, is not there yet. Much of the humour was forced and ends up being not that funny. By far the funniest scenes were those with Larroquette in them.
Two of the characters - the clerk and bailiff - are simply not yet believable. They're not. Frankly, the clerk is so one dimensional that the position could be a new character every week (which might actually be even funnier) and the bailiff should simply be a background character with no lines.
Lacretta. The bailiff. The show just doesn't need her. Ugh.
Verdict
The show so far has worked best with the triad of judge/prosecutor/defender interacting with each other. Star Trek: TOS had that same triad in Kirk/Spock/McCoy, and these three share many similar traits. I look forward to seeing them interact more. The other two characters either need much more work or need to be replaced. The show will not last long with only three characters worthy of sharing the story.
The pacing is just too quick and the humour too stiff. It is almost as if the actors are reciting their lines just to get to the jokes. The exceptions are Larroquette and India de Beaufort, who plays the prosecutor.
Abby Stone's sole reason to exist is because of her father. "My father did this...", "My father would do that..." and so on. Yes, the entire show resides in Harry Anderson/Stone's shadow, but Abby Stone needs to become her own person. As stated earlier, let's not turn the show into Harry's shrine.
I'm giving the show a 3/5 right now, with the option for improvement. I want to give the show the opportunity to hit it's stride before bailing on it completely; I want to hope that it will do that.
(c) All images and photographs, unless otherwise specified, are created and owned by me.
(c) Victor Wiebe
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I loved Night Court!
Bull was an excellent bailiff by the way. Super at breaking that comedy triangle up every now and then to give it all a better dynamic.
Since it is not with Harry, I was about to leave it out. But now that you mention Dan with original actor Larroquette is back, I will give it a go. He's just such a good actor in so many roles.
Thanks for the review. Very deep and informative.
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Night Court was awesome! I'm hoping this new one can do it at least a little justice (bahahaha!). So far John Larroquette is the standout, but we'll see! I'm willing to give it a few more episodes before making a final decision.
Ahhh so that's why I've seen so many stories about Night Court lately. Interesting. I remember watching the original when I was a kid. Probably too young to understand a lot of it. I'd be interested in catching this new one. Great review!
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Thank you! Night Court was such a great show. Not everything needs to be rebooted, but hopefully they can do this one well.
Interesting; I haven't cable; so it will likely come past my purview. But I did enjoy the original.
I remember laughing so hard at the original. I did not do that with this, but I hope it reaches that point. I'm hopeful. That's not a bad trait.
I only just learned about this show today. I was happy to find your review on #hive. I appreciate the update. I will check out some episodes.
Thank you! It's a terribly funny show. You'll be glad you did.
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Was not a huge fan, maybe because of my upbringing and lack of access to what I wanted to watch at that time, but I remember the bailiff in the original always cracking me up.
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