Well, that a relief!
Thanks to the miracle of DVDs, Netflix, and corporate greed, I’ve been revisiting my favorite television shows from my younger days.
Oddly enough, one can pretty much find everything that was ever even slightly popular on DVD, so I’ve gotten re-acquainted with everything from Gilligan’s Island and Get Smart to Mission Impossible and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Comedy, drama, action, western, cartoon … they’re all out there, just waiting for people desperate to enjoy the quality television entertainment from back when they made good shows on a regular basis.
Except …
Well, I have to admit that most of what I found to be really good is, viewed from this point in time, pretty bad. The comedies fall flat or seem incredibly juvenile, the dramas are pointless or banal. It’s bad enough to discover that my taste in entertainment was once so poor, but what’s worse is that I’ve told my wife about all of them, lauding them to the sky and telling her how much she’ll enjoy them.
As a result, her opinion of me has dropped quite a bit.
Well, last night I was reintroduced to Night Court and I’m incredibly pleased to say that at least I wasn’t mistaken about it.
I remembered it as one of the most consistently funny television shows every produced and, thankfully, its humor hasn’t dimmed. Oh, there are dated references and topical humor that didn’t weather well - who knew that so few people would remember the Mondale election train wreck? - but, overall, it has been a delight to see this show again. Moreover, it’s been twice as enjoyable, since Dian is experiencing it for the first time (and she has a keen memory for the political jokes, which saves lots of time having to pause and explain).
Particularly interesting to me was watching the actors settle into their rolls and the series slowly morph into the hit that ran for eight years. To me, it wasn’t until the third season that they really hit their stride, but the first couple of seasons were good, too.
Sadly, only the first three seasons are currently available from Netflix. There is a forth season, but it isn’t being carried at this time. If you ever enjoyed this show when it was first on, give yourself a treat and check out Harry and the gang again. If you missed it the first time around … wow, you lucky bastards! You get to see it like new.