Trying a case at any time can be difficult. But at night, it’s downright looney. With the endless number of peculiar people and the string of weird cases attached to them, holding court at night takes someone really special. And no one is more fit for the job than Abby Stone.
Abby has just moved to Manhattan to be the judge for night court. She’s not a saint, but she’s about as cheerful and optimistic as one. She learned everything she knows from her father, the late Harry Stone, who was a judge in the very court where Abby now sits. And she’s ready to get her nighttime hands dirty.
But on her first day, her public defender quits. So Abby asks her father’s former prosecutor, Dan Fielding, to dust off his suits and join her in court as the new public defender. Dan initially says no. After all, he has no interest in coming out of his semi-retirement. But a trip to his old stomping grounds has him rethinking his life. And if anyone could make Dan believe that he’s still got what it takes to defend a few cases in this very trying environment, it’s Abby.
It’s never too late to teach an old show new tricks, at least not according to NBC’s reboot of Night Court. A show that originally aired in the mid-80s, Night Court focused on the quirky, fun-loving judge Stone and his prosecutor, Dan Fielding (a role for which actor John Laroquette won four Emmys).
In this reboot, Laroquette is back as Dan Fielding, and working alongside Harry’s daughter. But the rest of the cast is new. Judge Abby’s crew includes Dan as the pessimistic, crotchety new public defender; Olivia Moore as the narcissistic, judgmental district attorney; and Donna ‘Gurgs’ Gurganous as the court’s silly, easily perplexed bailiff.
As with many NBC shows, this one seems to find its footing on slapstick humor, laugh tracks and objectionable content that ranges from sexual jokes and mild profanity to heartfelt moments and the occasional sweet spot. And Season Two opens by bringing back another character from the original: Roz the bailiff, who (in keeping with the actress’ own recent coming out) has come out as gay and is engaged to another woman.
I’d like to say that there’s wit and charm here like the original, but I haven’t found much. The writing is weak, and the laugh track, though annoying, is sometimes necessary to cue the audience when to chuckle. But even so, we still find some sweet moments.
The heart of this show seems to be found in Dan. He’s suffered a lot of loss in his life and genuinely dislikes people. But now he must work to see the best in people as a public defender, instead of his former work as a prosecutor.
And then of course there’s the eternally optimistic Abby who says of people that “it’s hard not to like them when you know what’s going on underneath.”
And while that sentiment is lovely, it may not be enough for families who want more depth and less profanity and off-putting humor.
Abby tries to spread the spirit of the holidays even as she must fine and send folks to jail the night before Christmas.
Despite Abby’s desire to spread Christmas cheer, there’s no mention of Christ. She combines the word Christmas with Kwanzaa and Hannukah to appease as many faiths as possible. And a single rendition of “Silent Night” is overshadowed by the performers’ nudity (scarves cover their fronts, but we see their exposed backs from the waist up).
We hear about a couple that recently divorced because the husband had an extramarital affair. The wife spends much of the episode making rude comments about him and his young girlfriend in front of her daughter. (And she delights that the younger woman was injured in a jet ski accident.)
There are jokes about sexually transmitted diseases and a terrorist leader. A man changes the words of a popular Christmas poem to talk about different types of criminals, including sex workers. Someone reads a “cease and desist” letter sent from a strip club. We hear a man is arrested for spying on his ex-girlfriend through her fire escape.
At least 30 men and women dressed as Santa are arrested for drunken behavior and kept in the courthouse cafeteria, where they continue to drink heavily. One of these characters carries a bag full of drugs. Abby and her friends drink eggnog, and it’s implied the drinks are alcoholic.
We hear various reasons for why people are arrested, including giving the Home Alone treatment (the victim is covered in feathers and his face has the imprint of a clothing iron) to a delivery driver and dragging a mall Santa out of his personal bathroom in front of a group of children.
People lie. Someone purchases multiple lottery tickets. A woman receives a psych evaluation after stating she believes she is the Ghost of Christmas Present from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
We hear uses of “a–,” “d–n” and “h—.” God’s name is misused once. And a woman says she’s “fudged,” a reference to A Christmas Story which actually means the f-word.
Dan helps Roz, the bailiff who used to work with him and Abby’s dad, discover whether her girlfriend is cheating on her.
We learn that Roz (who was on the original Night Court) is engaged to a woman named Loretta. And she and Dan spend much of the episode trying to find out if Loretta is cheating on her with another woman. Roz says that Loretta has been caught cheating twice before (and that Roz was the other woman in one of those cases).
A drunken man lifts his shirt up to “flash” people sharing his jail cell during Mardi Gras. A woman jokes about the large number of marriages she’s broken up as a private investigator. We hear someone was arrested after throwing a bouncer through a glass window, and another was sentenced for hiding under park benches to “sniff butts.”
A woman jokes that she should get out of jail free since she knows the judge. People drink alcohol. There are jokes about serial killers and murder. A woman brags about her sexual escapades while abroad. We see several people wearing tight clothing in a yoga class (and there’s at least one exposed midriff).
There are uses of “a–,” “d–n” and the British expletive “bloody.” God’s name is misused about four times. And we hear a man was “mumbling curses” at stop signs.
Abby Stone comes on as the new judge for night court and convinces her father’s old, pessimistic prosecutor, Dan, to restart his career as a public defender alongside her.
Dan makes it clear that he has no interest in coming back to night court, calling it a “non-stop freak show.” He also shares with Abby that his wife died years ago after she shares that her father also died years before. A woman says that she’s charming but also a “self-centered narcissist.”
A man being tried for lewd conduct flashes Abby while in court. (We don’t see anything critical.) A public defender wishes she could try a case not “involving genitals.” Dan makes a joke about a stick being stuck up someone’s nether-regions, but the profanity is bleeped out. He also says that the walls of the night court would say “kill me” if they could talk.
A psychic is tried in court. Words like “h—,” “jacka–,” “a–,” “b–tards,” “freaking” and “stupid” are used once each.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
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