Back in the late 80s and early 90s, weeknight TV syndication didn’t get much better than Night Court and Cheers back to back. We’ve already had kinda of a revival of the latter with Fraiser.
And now it looks like we’re getting back Night Court too (story HERE).
With John Larroquette as Dan Fielding. Which is why I’m okay eating another reboot we really don’t need because everyone is out of ideas.
Here is what else we need for this show to be funny.
We need the REAL Dan Fielding: Will Dan Fielding be welcomed in a politically oversensitive 2021 environment? While he was one of the best adult TV characters in his day, he was also a womanizing, slimeball of a man, that behaved in a way that was acceptable only 30 years ago and beyond. A comedy “Madmen” character that overshot his landing about about 15 years. Writers need to make this work, otherwise there’s no point in bringing him back at all.
Harry Stone’s Daughter should also be a jokester: The lead will be the daughter our favorite judge of the era, Harry T. Stone, the emotional compass of the series, who was also a prankster. If this made up daughter of his is to work, I hope she brings that same kind of humor to the bench. Puns, props, and a musical idol like Mel Torme.
Wacky defendants: If there aren’t at least three defendants wearing crazy costumes during the hearing, then the show is a failure. These mini interactions were almost like how a reality show plays now, and they were a lot of fun to watch.
The gag night episodes: One of my favorites of the show was where the crew had to complete a certain caseload before midnight on New Years. Another was the blizzard episode. I would love to see those again.
Don’t mess this up NBC!