Night Court

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Season One (1984)

Rate: 5 out of 5
Viewed: 1/24

NightCS1
1/24: Before there was Law & Order, there was Night Court, a favorite comedy courtroom sitcom of mine from the 80's because it was consistently funny and had a great cast.

Nothing has changed. Richard Moll will always be the best. Harry Anderson is fantastic as well. Impossible to miss is the witty writing with great comedic timing.

Here's my analysis for some of the following episodes:

Santa Goes Downtown: It's an impressive performance by Michael J. Fox who went on to greater fame shortly afterwards despite starring in Family Ties for two years running.

The Former Harry Stone: I bet you didn't know this, but the guy who plays Al Craven is Terry Kiser. You'll recognize him better with the mustache on as the dead guy in Weekend at Bernie's. Barney Martin will be Jerry Seinfeld's father.

The Eye of the Beholder: Bull quotes a line from The Elephant Man.

Quadrangle of Love: It's one of the funniest episodes. When Liz mentioned the pods in the basement, she meant the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Dan has been striking out lately: losing an election to a dead guy and being turned down by a female for Bull. Too funny, but the creep deserves it.

Some Like It Hot: It's too bad about Karen Austin leaving. She was funny, and her presence will be greatly missed. It turns out she had Bell's palsy which was affecting her acting due to partial paralysis of her face, but she eventually made a full recovery.

Harry and the Rock Star: Harry Anderson and Kristine DeBell look good together.

Hi Honey, I'm Home: It's ironic seeing Charles Napier in this because he starred in Rambo: First Blood Part II and thus got punished by Sylvester Stallone.



Season Two (1984-85)

Rate: 3 out of 5
Viewed: 8/24

NightCS2
5/24: I'm surprised at the cast change.

Last season was perfect; why mess with a good thing? Gee whiz. Then, I notice the momentum slowing down a great deal compared to last season, and the jokes don't come in as much as before. Most episodes of Season Two are average at best.

Here's my analysis for some of the following episodes:

The Computer Kid: Wow, they're talking about computers and hooking them up online. Is this the first hacker in television history? By the way, Bull quotes a line from The Naked City at the end.

Harry on Trial: John Larroquette imitates what Humphrey Bogart did on the stand with the set of marbles during The Caine Mutiny. That's Ray Walston who's the judge.

The Blizzard: When the fat guy (Dennis Burkley from Mask) mentioned cannibalism, he was referring to the plane crash into the Andes mountains from October 13 to December 23, 1972, which got made as a movie called Alive in 1993.

Take My Wife, Please: Oh, hey...it's Kramer.

Nuts About Harry: Gilbert with the talking hand is James Cromwell who's 6'7". The 7'2" tall black guy is Kevin Peter Hall, and he's famous for playing the creature in Predator. He died of complications from AIDS, due to blood transfusion, in 1991 at age 35. By the way, Richard Moll was 6'8".

Battling Bailiff: $10,000 per night in pro wrestling? Well, good luck with the health problems and short life expectancy. Bull is better off staying on the job as he'll have a nice, cushy state pension from New York. On the other hand, it's good to see Lou Ferrigno guest-starring which occurred after he was done with The Incredible Hulk TV show.

World War III: It's Selma Diamond's final episode; she died at age 64 from lung cancer, obviously due to smoking, a bit more than a week after it first aired. To be honest with you, her bland character is weird, and I can't say that I'll miss her.

Walk, Don't Wheel: It's the final episode for Ellen Foley. I don't like her as she's never funny and brings nothing to the table. In hindsight, they shouldn't have replaced Karen Austin who made the show way better. By the way, Barbara C. Adside was born without lower halves of her legs.