This Is A Dark Ride
Anybody who watched The John Larroquette Show remembers that subject line.
I'd never really liked Night Court, but had watched it occasionally, and was familiar with Larroquette's character, Dan. It was a big surprise then to see what kind of show he'd fashion for himself.
He played a character that had bottomed out and fucked up his life and was trying to rebuild. That in itself wasn't revolutionary - even Murphy Brown started with that premise. But it was a dark show and (at least in its first season) did not simply mine the premise for jokes, but maintained a dark tone, where there weren't a lot of easy resolutions.
The show had a literary aspect, alluded to by Larroquette's character's name (Hemingway) and making a point that his favorite writer was Thomas Pynchon. How many sitcoms were making Pynchon allusions back then? Now, of course...okay, I'm kidding. They're still pretty rare. The characters were readers though. They came back to that frequently in the storylines.
One of the things I always liked about the show is that the cast was racially diverse and that was not glossed over. Daryl Mitchell's character, Dexter, in particular brought this out. They addressed the fact that when cops see a black man and a white man in a car together, they presume the point of intersection is a drug deal. It was honest about race in a way you didn't see that often. They didn't gloss over it, and drew the comedy from those tensions.
(Here's a typical scene cribbed from Jump The Shark: An example is when a robber is holding a gun on Larroquette and the black food counter owner [Dexter] says to the robber, "Shoot him (pointing at Larroquette) he's white." Larroquette responds "No. Shoot him (pointing at the [Dexter]). You'll do less time." That is truly pointed, funny and revealing of character.)
Another excellent, typifying line: ""Alcoholics don't have relationships, they take hostages."
The set was great - a big, old, rundown, but beautifully designed Art Deco bus depot.
Gigi Rice played the love interest, Carly. A prostitute. That got glossed over that a little bit. Still, it was one of the elements the networks objected to.
After the first season, the networks made changes. Alison Laplaca was brought on as the love interest. I always liked her and she did good work, but the show really lost its distinctively dark feel and became a more conventional (and succesful) sitcom.
I'd never really liked Night Court, but had watched it occasionally, and was familiar with Larroquette's character, Dan. It was a big surprise then to see what kind of show he'd fashion for himself.
He played a character that had bottomed out and fucked up his life and was trying to rebuild. That in itself wasn't revolutionary - even Murphy Brown started with that premise. But it was a dark show and (at least in its first season) did not simply mine the premise for jokes, but maintained a dark tone, where there weren't a lot of easy resolutions.
The show had a literary aspect, alluded to by Larroquette's character's name (Hemingway) and making a point that his favorite writer was Thomas Pynchon. How many sitcoms were making Pynchon allusions back then? Now, of course...okay, I'm kidding. They're still pretty rare. The characters were readers though. They came back to that frequently in the storylines.
One of the things I always liked about the show is that the cast was racially diverse and that was not glossed over. Daryl Mitchell's character, Dexter, in particular brought this out. They addressed the fact that when cops see a black man and a white man in a car together, they presume the point of intersection is a drug deal. It was honest about race in a way you didn't see that often. They didn't gloss over it, and drew the comedy from those tensions.
(Here's a typical scene cribbed from Jump The Shark: An example is when a robber is holding a gun on Larroquette and the black food counter owner [Dexter] says to the robber, "Shoot him (pointing at Larroquette) he's white." Larroquette responds "No. Shoot him (pointing at the [Dexter]). You'll do less time." That is truly pointed, funny and revealing of character.)
Another excellent, typifying line: ""Alcoholics don't have relationships, they take hostages."
The set was great - a big, old, rundown, but beautifully designed Art Deco bus depot.
Gigi Rice played the love interest, Carly. A prostitute. That got glossed over that a little bit. Still, it was one of the elements the networks objected to.
After the first season, the networks made changes. Alison Laplaca was brought on as the love interest. I always liked her and she did good work, but the show really lost its distinctively dark feel and became a more conventional (and succesful) sitcom.