Today's Tuesday TV Touchbase looks at a couple of reboots that Andrea and I are following, both on NBC.
We've been watching the reboot of Night Court which follows the classic sitcom that aired on NBC over 30 years ago. The new series features Melissa Rauch (Bernadette from Big Bang Theory) as Abby Stone, daughter of the late Harry Stone (played by Harry Anderson in the original series) as the new judge of Manhattan's night shift criminal court. Like her father, Abby has positive energy and tries to see the best in the people brought before the bench.
From the original series, John Laroquette returns as Dan Fielding, the court's cynical and snarky district attorney. As a younger man, Dan was an unrepentant horn dog who would chase anything in a skirt. Now age and experience has changed Dan in the regard. (As Laroquette has said in interviews, no one wants to see a 75 year old man acting that way.) Another thing that has changed is Dan is working as the defense attorney at Abby's request. What hasn't changed is Dan is still cynical and snarky.
The rest of the cast (district attorney, bailiff and court clerk) are rounded out by newbies whose names I have trouble remembering. They're kind of stock sitcom caricatures who fill their functions in the show but still need some much needed depth.
Abby Stone has gotten some of that depth. Despite the perky positive exterior, we find that Abby is repressing some serious rage. In a rather tender scene with Abby and Dan, we find out Abby is a recovering alcoholic and among her regrets is the time she lost with her father during her darkest descent into the worst of her addiction.
In many ways, the new Night Court looks and sounds much like the old Night Court with some groan worthy bad puns passing for humor coupled with moments of genuine humanity.
So far no one other than Harry and Dan from the old show has been referenced. I think it would be funny if former bailiff Bull Shannon is a captain or commissioner in the NYPD. And I'm really hoping someone can get Brent Spiner back as perennial bad luck defendant Bob Wheeler.
Now I want to touch base on Quantum Leap, another reboot on NBC. Recently the show presented a couple of episodes that I found very engaging for different reasons.
Every sci-fi show has to do a time loop episode. "Cause & Effect" is considered one of the finest episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. "Eve of the Daleks" was one of the best episodes of Chris Chibnall's run on Doctor Who. Now Quantum Leap wades in the troubled waters of a time loop and in doing so does something unique with the show's format.
Typically, the leaper (in this case, Dr.Ben Song) leaps into a person and has until the end of the episode to help that person put right what went wrong and then it's on to the next leap.
In the episode "Leap. Die. Repeat", in the year 1962, Ben leaps into a colonel in an elevator with four other people who are there to witness to start up of an experimental nuclear reactor. Then things go Ka-boom! and everyone dies. Including Ben. Before we even get to the opening credits.
The Ben leaps into a different person in that elevator. Things go Ka-boom! Everyone dies! Back in the elevator in a different person.
Don't worry, it will all work out.
But his next leap to the next episode makes dealing with an exploding experimental nuclear reactor look easy.
It's Ben vs. bigotry and hatred.
It's the year 2012 and Ben finds himself in Carlos Mendéz, the coach of a high school girl's basketball team which is down by a basket and the team's star player has twisted her ankle. Still trying to orient himself to this new life he's leapt into, Ben needs to make a quick decision. Spotting a player on the bench, he send her in as a replacement who scores the winning basket and the team is on it's way to the regional play offs. Everyone's happy, right?
It's not that simple.
The player the coach sent in is Gia, his daughter but it's not the nepotism that has everybody all in a tizzy. The "problem" that has the principal, some of students and parents all shook up is that his daughter is trans.
Addison, Ben's hologram companion, tells him that if Ben can't change things, Gia is going to run away from home and disappear. Worse, Gia will eventually be found dead but was mis-gendered by the police so the parents never knew what happened to their daughter for years.
The objections to Gia being allowed to play on the team are distressingly familiar to anyone who is aware of the vitriol being aimed at the trans community today.
(Sadly that animosity was on display in online comments after this episode aired.)
The hatred and fear from others is hard enough for Gia to deal with but then she finds out a secret about her parents.
Her parents are very supportive and are trying to do everything in her power to keep Gia safe. Maybe they're doing too much to keep her safe?
When Gia finds out her dad made a deal with the principal that allowed Gia to be on the girl's basketball team but only for practice, not for actual play, well, that's a bit too much for Gia to bear and causes her to run away.
Thankfully she has a trans support group we met earlier in the episode and Gia goes to one of them to help her with her plan to run away. This person tells Gia being a runaway is hard enough, but for a trans person, it can be a death sentence. A reunion between the parents and daughter is arranged and Ben decides even if it cost him his job, damn it his daughter's playing in the next game.
Gia takes the court and sure enough, there are protesters with their signs of hate filled messages. But also gathered with posters and banners are students and parents in support of Gia. Three teenage boys paint the letters G, I and A on their chests and roar with approval for every basket Gia makes.
The team wins, Gia has found herself and a broader base of acceptance and Ben makes his next leap.
Josielyn Aguilera as Gia delivers a very powerful performance. And a shout out to Mason Alexander Park as Ian who shares their story with Addison. The tale of Ian's youth is heartbreaking but from pain and despair, Ian found their purpose which led them to be Project Quantum Leap's super genius.
And maybe more?
In our present, Magic and Jenn have tracked down a trans poet named Dottie who told Ben to leap. Dottie has no recollection of ever meeting Dr. Ben Song and has been troubled with some missing time. Dottie has a subconscious memory of someone else in control and has a sketched images of this person.
And that person was Ian?
What the...?
And that is that for the Tuesday TV Touchbase this week.
Next week, I'm going to finally write about Wednesday.
And on the subject of things I've watched on TV, yes, I saw the Super Bowl and that post will be coming up tomorrow.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
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