Welcome back to the Tuesday TV Touchbase, the blog post that answers the question that the world demands to know, "What the hell is Dave-El watching on television?"
Two weeks ago, I was watching Night Court and the much anticipated return of Brent Spiner and Annie O’Donnell as the woebegone bad luck plagued Bob and June Wheeler.
Fans of the original series remember the hilarity of the Wheeler family in Judge Harry Stone's courtroom with their brushes with the law in a futile effort to defy fate and actually make a living at something somehow.
In previous posts, I have been critical of the new series lack of "hilarity". I had high hopes that the return of the Wheelers might make an episode of new formula Night Court actually funny.
Judge Abby Stone greets the sight of the Wheelers in her court like a fan girl. "You may look like the Great Depression but you make me so happy." Her dad would tell her stories of his time as a New York City judge and among her favorite tales were the times the Wheelers showed up.
Here's their tale of woe from their latest court appearance, charged with keeping a herd of sheep in their New York apartment.
Bob: It all started when our Great-Grandma Wheeler recently died.
Olivia: I'm sorry. Your great-grandmother recently died?
June: Yes. Our bad grandma is still with us.
Dan: As someone who has heard your stories before, could we skip the next, I don't know, three calamities and get to the point?!
Bob: Granny left us a Manhattan townhouse, a charming two-bed, two-bath, and haunted as the day is long.
June: Those poor ghosts.
Bob: Luckily, we knew how to get rid of them suckers.
June: Sacrifice a sheep. But when we got the sheep, we fell in love with him.
Bob:It was just friend love.
June: We couldn't kill him. So we got another sheep. And then we fell in love with that sheep, too.
Bob: That happened another 74 times.
June: At least we think it was 74. Every time we try counting them, we fall asleep.
The Wheelers were joined by their now-grown daughter Carol Ann, played by Kate Micucci.
The Wheelers' ghost problem dove tails into a subplot that leads into a rare moment of heartwarming sincerity for this series, Abby's consultation with a psychic to make contact with her late father. The psychic proves to be a fraud as Abby sort of expected she would but Abby is really intent on having one last moment with her dad. Dan and Abby have a really heartfelt conversation with each other about Harry and it's really sweet.
I have complained about the lack of laughs on the new Night Court but there is also been a lack of humanity, a lack of moments that bring depth to the characters. Humor and heart was something the classic series knew how to balance.
Last week's episode featured the debut of Gurg's boyfriend the Duke from England, played by Rhys Darby (Stede from Our Flag Means Death) along with his valet played by the ever reliably funny Dave Foley. There's some genuine laughs found here but it is distressing 2 weeks in a row, new Night Court had to rely on guest performers to bring the funny.
Tonight's episode is the 2nd season finale that will feature the return of original series actor Marsha Warfield as Roz who will be getting married to her wife in Judge Stone's court for... reasons.
NBC has not announced the fate of a season 3 for Night Court. It does not bode well that my wife Andrea isn't particularly sure she will miss this show if it doesn't come back. She's very loyal and easily entertained.
If it does, I think the show might be due for some shake ups in the writing staff and maybe even in the cast.
OK, I was also going to post about how Andrea and I have made it through season 1 of Resident Alien but I babbled too long about Night Court.
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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