Warner Bros. | 1985-86 | 526 mins. | Unrated
I was eleven-years-old when Night Court began airing in January of 1984, and a sophomore in college when the series took its final curtain call in 1992. Through all of those years, I was a pretty faithful watcher. The series, which centered on the night shift of a Manhattan Court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. “Harry” Stone (Harry Anderson), was funny and inoffensive; the kind of show you could watch for a few lighthearted laughs after a tough day at school or work. Heavy topics were rarely addressed; this wasn’t L.A. Law, this was the law strictly for laughs.
As I watched the third season, I realized that either my tastes in sitcoms have changed a lot, or Night Court hasn’t aged well. I tend to think it’s the later, because I enjoyed the second season, released just last year. In the first couple of seasons, Night Court reflected the comedy style of Barney Miller—the court earnestly tried to deal with parade of eccentric, often neurotic criminals and complainants (many of them were played by talented character actors who had appeared on Barney Miller—but by the third season, the show began to abandon any pretense of any “real” world similarities, and became a comedic showcase.
One can’t blame creator Reinhold Weege, had previously been a writer for both Barney Miller and Mash, if he wanted to leave his own footprint in the sitcom world. Unfortunate lately, it just doesn’t hold up, with nearly twenty years behind it. Yes, John Larroquette’s still shines—his is one of the more memorable characters in modern television (he won four Emmys for his work on the series), but he alone doesn’t make the often cheeseball stories stand the test of time. While the child-like antics of Bull (Richard Moll) still bring a smile to my face, those are best taken in small doses, as it gets old pretty quick.
Having said all that, there are still a few episodes that work quite well: In “The Hostage,” a guy claims to be from Saturn, in “The Wheels of Justice,” Harry is forced to evict a woman and her son, “Monkey Business” has Bull babysitting a monkey in the courtroom and in an episode that was clearly ahead of its time, “Best of Friends” presents a take on the gender reassignment surgery. For the most part however, the third season of Night Court seemed much funnier to me when it aired back in 1985-86.
If you’re a big fan of Night Court though, nothing I’ve written should deter you. The show is what it is, so get it, and enjoy!
Presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, Night Court looks pretty good for a show that’s almost twenty-five-years-old. Detail isn’t what you’d call pristine, but color contrast is fairly well-oiled and black levels are relatively thick.
The monaural tracks are workmanlike, and do the job. Dialogue sounds okay, music and effects – when they’re around – are incorporated capably, and the show’s laugh track is just about as tinny and chunky as they come. But this is the way the show originally sounded—it’s all good.
Also included are English SDH and French subtitles.
There are no special features included.
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