Well I stand corrected. I will admit that comparing it to Big Bang Theory was a low blow as that show is pure garbage. Also a number of my problems with the show come from me never actually seeing the show, only the clips and all of them just make me feel dead inside from the nonsensical absurdism. That might just be a byproduct of me being a cynical asshole or me seeing them out of context which would be my own fault. It's just nothing about anything that I've seen has ever made me go "I'm kinda interested in the story arc of this show".
In your defense, it was definitely more about absurdity than any kind of "story arc," though there were a few long running plotlines -- one of the more memorable ones was Harry being fired from the bench and going sort of crazy, with the punchline being that he had been planning to skydive onto the Statue of Liberty to put a comedy nose with glasses and mustache on it.
Your mileage for how funny this sort of thing is will, of course, vary. But say what you will about it, there was definitely more thought put into it than the consoomer nostalgia of Big Bang Theory (spit). In all fairness, it's been
years since I revisited the show, and the few clips I've seen since then haven't held up all that well (though the Brent Spiner one you posted does still make me laugh, as does the later revelation that the Wheelers aren't from the South at all, but from Yugoslavia).
But it was hilarious when I was between the ages of 8 and 14.
To put more nails in this coffin, Melissa is playing Abby Stone. She is the daughter of Harry Stone and taking up his job as the judge of THE Night Court. I'm sorry but I've seen to much throw away media, IP desecration, and am far to cynical to see this as anything other than some writer's fan fic, possibly even a self insert. To top it off, based on the production photos and videos I've seen it looks like they're not even trying anything new or even dipping into surrealism. It looks like they're just doing a shot for shot remake of the show with a chick in the lead role. What is old is now new again.
Yeah, this is going to be trash. Ah well. I had no hope for it to begin with, so I can hardly consider myself disappointed. It's a shame, because Larroquette is always worth watching. Fun trivia -- he won Best Supporting Comedy Actor Emmys
four years in a row for Night Court, and only stopped winning because he withdrew himself from consideration after the fourth one. It's probably him, Richard Moll, and the first two bailiff ladies who have held up the best.
1) In one episode they held a séance. A defendant from long ago was looking for a retrial. I remember the joke of the medium writing the ghost's desire ("justice") as
JUST
ICE
and everyone misreading it. Also remember the court becoming violently stormy as the prosecution started winning. When the incorporeal defendant was judged against, the fine money fell from the sky.
I remember this too! Although the show ran on absurdity, this sort of thing usually only popped up a few times a season. If I remember, this was a Halloween episode.
2) Mel Tormé. Recurring nod to the judge being a fan. I think he was in an episode?
Mel Torme was in at least one episode a season, the gag being that Harry was a
gigantic fan, but every time they ran into each other something horrible would happen that made Mel hate him more and more. One of the funnier running jokes that I remember.
5) Two women (one was the female bailiff from later seasons, the black one, not the shorter one who smoked - was there also an even shorter one?) standing outside the bathrooms and betting on which one approaching androgynous punks would enter. They call no bet when an old washerwoman type comes by but it's the judge in camouflage drag so he uses the men's room, confusing the hell out of them.
There were two elderly bailiffs in the first two or three seasons: Selma Diamond and Florence Halop. Diamond died, so they recast her with a similar grumpy old lady, who
also died, after which they cast Marsha Warfield, who was at least 30 years younger than either of them. I think Selma lasted two seasons, but I honestly don't remember.
6) I thought Bull was funny. Which makes watching Richard Moll play the villain in other stuff (like Ragewar/The Dungeonmaster/Challenge of Excalibrate or whatever) amusing.
Night Court was my first encounter with Richard Moll, and I have been unable ever to take him seriously as a villain because of it.
If I can pull only that with my spergerpowers I know for a fact he has no recollection, nor does anyone of a similar age unless they can specifically demonstrate how they picked it up in later years.
Bob may actually have watched the show in reruns. His tweets about it are somewhat accurate, though as always giving it more weight and credibility than it really deserves ... but his description of it as a "gritty setting" is ridiculous. It was a dirty, rundown courthouse in 1980s New York and a lot of the humor was fairly dark because of the state of the city at the time, but calling it "gritty" is really a stretch.
