Night Court (2023)

Watchseries; I'm a big fan of the original series, mostly during the 80's, so when I heard they were doing this, I was 110% on-board.

I watched the pilot and 1st episode after the pilot, both in their entirety. I think whoever is actually directing the episodes and making them is trying to do a sitcom, but definitely learning in the process. I'm not sure on the writing, but I can see an improvement from the pilot to the first episode, and overall the first episode was much more of what I expected than I got in the pilot.

After watching both of the episodes at this point, I think I see what were problems in the pilot that they fixed later in the pilot and/or in the 1st episode that came after.

First, most of the acting at the beginning of the pilot was way over the top, just bad. That may be partly just start-up jitters and maybe partly chemistry between the actors/actresses. It makes you question the casting of most of the actors. By the second episode, this is clearly improved, and is pretty much average to good. I still think, even at the end of the first episode after the pilot that the casting of the actress playing "Gurgs" (is that even right??) is terrible. It seems like she got the part just because she looks a lot like one of the baliffs in the original series, because her acting is still not so good. The writing she has to act isn't so great, but she just tanks it. It's like she's straight out of a bad 90's high school kids sitcom.

Second, the writing also was not so great, with a lot of poor comedy, in the pilot, but clearly was better in the first episode. Who knows if the people changed or what, but pilots don't mean much traditionally, anyway.

Third, the traditional sitcom theme music and video is nice, especially a modernized version of the 80's theme music, but the transitions from the theme music/video was weirdly harsh with just a switch to the scene and not even a pause. Again, it's like the people making this show don't know what they are doing or they're learning, because by the end of the first episode after the pilot, it changed and was right. And I realized what the problem was -- you have to transition the music from the theme and video to the scene in the show itself or it's just harsh, like someone snapped you out of sleep.

Last, if you don't like laugh tracks, live with it. Good lord, it's not that bad, but if you're used to watching old sitcoms, then you should already be tuning the laugh track out automatically as I do. I don't even notice it, and I do not laugh every time the laugh track cues up fake laughs. I know some people have a real pet peeve about laugh tracks, enough that on MASH DVD's they made it an option to turn it off, but if you want a sitcom that's a sitcom, the laugh track comes with it.

Anyway, I think overall, you can't really judge if a show stinks after just the pilot, or even the pilot and the first episode. You have to give it at least 6-10 episodes or whatever is half a season. The people making this show seem to be figuring it out.

Just get rid of Gurgs. Her character and her acting style just do not blend with the show or the other actors.

I'm a big fan of the original series, mostly during the 80's, so when I heard they were doing this, I was 110% on-board.

I watched the pilot and 1st episode after the pilot, both in their entirety. I think whoever is actually directing the episodes and making them is trying to do a sitcom, but definitely learning in the process. I'm not sure on the writing, but I can see an improvement from the pilot to the first episode, and overall the first episode was much more of what I expected than I got in the pilot.

After watching both of the episodes at this point, I think I see what were problems in the pilot that they fixed later in the pilot and/or in the 1st episode that came after.

First, most of the acting at the beginning of the pilot was way over the top, just bad. That may be partly just start-up jitters and maybe partly chemistry between the actors/actresses. It makes you question the casting of most of the actors. By the second episode, this is clearly improved, and is pretty much average to good. I still think, even at the end of the first episode after the pilot that the casting of the actress playing "Gurgs" (is that even right??) is terrible. It seems like she got the part just because she looks a lot like one of the baliffs in the original series, because her acting is still not so good. The writing she has to act isn't so great, but she just tanks it. It's like she's straight out of a bad 90's high school kids sitcom.

Second, the writing also was not so great, with a lot of poor comedy, in the pilot, but clearly was better in the first episode. Who knows if the people changed or what, but pilots don't mean much traditionally, anyway.

Third, the traditional sitcom theme music and video is nice, especially a modernized version of the 80's theme music, but the transitions from the theme music/video was weirdly harsh with just a switch to the scene and not even a pause. Again, it's like the people making this show don't know what they are doing or they're learning, because by the end of the first episode after the pilot, it changed and was right. And I realized what the problem was -- you have to transition the music from the theme and video to the scene in the show itself or it's just harsh, like someone snapped you out of sleep.

Last, if you don't like laugh tracks, live with it. Good lord, it's not that bad, but if you're used to watching old sitcoms, then you should already be tuning the laugh track out automatically as I do. I don't even notice it, and I do not laugh every time the laugh track cues up fake laughs. I know some people have a real pet peeve about laugh tracks, enough that on MASH DVD's they made it an option to turn it off, but if you want a sitcom that's a sitcom, the laugh track comes with it.

Anyway, I think overall, you can't really judge if a show stinks after just the pilot, or even the pilot and the first episode. You have to give it at least 6-10 episodes or whatever is half a season. The people making this show seem to be figuring it out.

Just get rid of Gurgs. Her character and her acting style just do not blend with the show or the other actors.

Night Court watchseries. It's every bit as bad as anyone familiar with the original would suspect and fear. The original played off the late Harry Anderson with the tension and the interplay between John Larroquette and the late Markie Post. Richard Moll, the late Charles Robinson, and Marsha Warfield rounded out a solid ensemble cast that provided lighthearted usually "silly" humor umpretentiously.

The writing is simply weak. I suspect a live audience would had sat in somewhat stunned silence so the laugh tack is obvious and ponderous. It serves more to emphasize that the "jokes" aren't funny.

This iteration is unfunny and as desperate in its feel as the premise suggests.

The canned laughter is so loud and annoying I couldn't watch it. Half the time, I couldn't even tell you what was said before the loud fake laughter overtook it.

SERIOUSLY??? Do you even need something to tell us it's funny. Why do producers think this makes a show funny in the first place? I couldn't watch five minutes of it that the laughter ruined it. It even laughed at every remark whether it was funny or not. Let the comedians do what they do best. Canned laughter is something from the 50s or 60s, really old school. If the show is funny, you won't have to tell us, it will show. So far for this new show, it hasn't.

Bad start people. Give the show a chance...

The original Night Court went through 2 public defenders, 3 bailiffs, and 2 court clerks before the found the perfect mesh with their cast, so hopefully that can be the case with this iteration. Abby, Dan, and Olivia are fine. Neil could use some work, but Grug just doesn't work. It makes me thing that when Bull declined to come back, they scurried to figure out how to combine two bailiffs into one. Grug ends up being a Great Value Roz with Bull's childish mindset and it makes it seem like Lacretta can't act. (Also, why is Abby dressed like it's 2013?!)

I see the heart from the original, and know that producers and writers are trying to connect the dots between the original's end to now. Hopefully with a few cast changes and after they explain what happened to Harry, Mac, Christine, Bull, and Roz, they'll find their footing.

Thank God for John Laroquette. If not for him I wouldn't have bothered watching this reboot at all. By the way, who asked for this reboot? NOBODY.

One thing that the original NC was great at (and there were many things, at least back in the 80's) is that it didn't feel forced. There were goofballs coming in left and right, Harry played off of John well, everyone had their own thing and everything just worked. Nothing felt forced. This new NC feels just like every other comedy show made after the 90's (with a few exceptions)...canned. I don't think that John can carry this show andI don't see it lasting more than maybe two seasons though I'd be shocked if they make it to two seasons.

Not sure they can re-create the magic. The characters aren't very likeable with the exception of course of John plus the bailiff. But even the bailiff's schtick is going to get old if they don't get these scripts and characters dialed in. It is nearly impossible to reboot a show and have it be as good as the original and so my hope is that they cut this nonsense out. If the studios decide to reboot The Jeffersons, Three's Company, MASH, Different Strokes, Alf, Golden Girls or anything else on my list, I'm jumping off the planet (lol).

As a long-time fan of the original Night Court, like many others I was skeptical that a re-boot could capture the magic and heart of the original. Sadly, I was right, so what is wrong with the new version?

Let's start with the laugh track, which seems to have its volume pumped way up for some reason. Why didn't the producers opt for filming in front of a live audience? (Answer: money.) The laugh track is an annoying throw-back that needs to be replaced by a live studio audience. Think how much better Big Bang Theory was with a live audience.

Second problem - dialog. Melissa Rauch, while not in her high-pitched Bernadette register, talks WAY too fast for this role. What's she trying to do - win a "words per minute" contest? Also, you can barely understand what the actors in the Assistant DA and Bailiff roles are saying. They, too, need to deliver their lines convincingly, not in a rapid fire "sit-com-y" fashion.

Lastly, the new version of the original theme just sounds wrong. Why not re-use the old version, which is still good.

On the plus side, John Larroquette still has the "Dan Fielding" X-factor, even though he's now 75 years old, bearded, not as lascivious, and playing for the "other side" as the new public defender. Still, Larroquette's chops are as sharp as ever. He's the star of the show.

Also, it's amazing that either portions of the old set were in storage somewhere, or the plans were unearthed to accurately re-create such memorable set pieces as the judge's office, the courtroom, the cafeteria, and the hallway. Well done by the production crew.

According to articles written about this new version, it was Mellisa Rauch's passion project, who also serves as executive producer. But I'm sorry, she's woefully miscast in the lead, trying to fill the shoes of the late great Harry Anderson. She fails to command the screen, or any scene she's in. And it's not because she's 4' 11", although that doesn't help. She just doesn't have that combination of comic timing and gravitas that made Anderson and the original Night Court so memorable.

It appears there are only 5 episodes in the can for the new Night Court, so the question is "Will NBC give it a full season order?" Burning two episodes right off the bat on the first night doesn't sound promising. So the show has just another 3 weeks to find its legs or it's likely history.

I think the new Night Court can be saved. Fix the pacing and dialog issues, replace the laugh track with a live audience, and work on Melissa's character because she's lost as the supposed "leader" of this work-place comedy.

OVERALL SCORE - 3 out of 10, with a low percentage of survival unless significant changes are made.