Night Court (Television Favorites Compilation)
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Actor: Charles Robinson, Harry Anderson, John Larroquette, Markie Post, Richard MollBrand: Warner Brothers
Cinematographer: Héctor R. Figueroa
Cinematographer: Robert Berry
Editor: Jerry Davis
Writer: Kevin Kelton
Writer: Reinhold Weege
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 144 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of Night Court (Television Favorites Compilation)
DVD Review: Not even close to the best episodes of a classic comedy series
Summary: 2 Stars
There are two parts to my review - an informative portion, and then a rant. First, the informative portion:
There are only six episodes on this DVD:
All You Need is Love - Season 1 (January 4, 1984)
Her Honor, Part 1 - Season 4 (aired April 29, 1987)
Her Honor, Part 2 - Season 4 (aired May 6, 1987)
Death of a Bailiff - Season 5 (aired October 15, 1987)
Who Was that Mashed Man? - Season 5 (aired November 19, 1987)
Fire - Season 6 (aired November 2, 1988)
"All You Need is Love" was the series premiere and is redundant if you already own season one, the only season of Night court on DVD.
"Her Honor" was actually a 4-part episode that spanned the fourth and fifth seasons. In these episodes, Harry is not reappointed to his judgeship and Christine is given the opportunity to be appointed instead. This is an odd choice since you only get the the first two episodes of the 4-parter, but not the resolution of the entire situation.
"Death of a Bailiff" has Bull being struck by lightning and surviving. When he recovers he says that God has told him to give away everything he owns. Bull sets up shop in the courthouse and proceeds to follow his divine directive.
"Who Was that Mashed Man?" has Dan's evil boss tasking Dan to look after his attractive niece. The other subplot has Harry having to rule against an actor who used to portray a superhero who wants to be able to dress up as his character in public. As a result, the actor becomes suicidally despondent and Harry must try to talk the old actor into wanting to keep on living.
"Fire" has everyone retreating to the morgue for shelter from a fire in the courthouse. Meanwhile, Dan is awaiting the election returns to find out if he has been successful in his bid for State Assemblyman.
If you're young enough to have never seen Night Court before, it might be worth the low price of admission to purchase this, but if you are at all familiar with the series I think this compilation is a waste of time. It is too small a dose of the show and the episodes are not the very best of the series.
Now for the ranting portion of my review. Warner Brothers has shown tremendous insight into what audiences want with their DVD's and boxed sets of classic movies over the last five years. That's why I can't figure out why they don't have the same insight when it comes to one of the most original and timelessly funny shows ever aired. Unfortunately, it took time for Night Court to reach its "classic phase", which really didn't start until the beginning of season three in 1985 when Markie Post began playing public defender Christine Sullivan, and ended in 1989 when creator Reinhold Weege left the series. Those four seasons were just about perfect, but that is not to say that the other five were turkeys by any stretch, and I think the show remained very funny up to the end in spite of a few misfires. However, season one was the weakest of all the seasons with the weakest cast - Mac wasn't even the court clerk back then - as the series struggled to find its way. So, naturally, sales of season one are going to be weak too. The attitude WB has taken with Night Court would be the same as if they had started their release of classic movies to DVD with the obscure "Ice Follies of 1939", and when sales were weak assumed that it would be a waste of time to restore and release "Casablanca" or "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre". I know this is an exaggeration, but the logic is the same in both cases.
WB should release the subsequent seasons of Night Court. I guarantee that fans like myself that had a standing date with my TV to watch the show every week will yield a return on the studio's investment.
Description of Night Court (Television Favorites Compilation)
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 02/28/2006 Run time: 144 minutes Rating: NrThis "Television Favorites" compilation offers a sampling of Night Court, one of the zaniest and bawdiest shows to hit network primetime in the 1980s. In the pilot, we meet the Mel Tormé-loving, joke-playing, too-young judge Harry Stone (Harry Anderson) presiding over the night beat of New York. Joining him are lecherous assistant district attorney Dan (John Larroquette), bald Bunyanesque bailiff Bull (Richard Moll), and uptight court clerk Lana (Karen Austin). The other five episodes are all from later seasons (4-6) when the series was at its peak. The cast solidified with court clerk Mac (Charles Robinson), sexy public defender Christine (Markie Post), and dry-as-a-martini-wit bailiff Roz (Marsha Warfield). In "Her Honor," Harry is removed from the bench and replaced by Christine, leading to the memorable image of him riding roller skates wearing a jet pack. Unfortunately, the two episodes included here ended season 4, but not included are the two episodes that opened season 5 and finished the story line. Bull is struck by lightning in "Death of a Bailiff," Dan is tempted by a young Teri Hatcher in "Who Was That Mashed Man?" (both from season 5), and a disaster threatens both the courtroom and Dan's political campaign in "Fire" (season 6).
While most of Warner's "Television Favorites" releases have been single-disc samplers to gauge the market for a full-season release, Night Court is different because the complete first season was previously released on DVD (the pilot is on both releases, but with a commentary track only on the full-season release). Presumably, slow sales on the initial DVD set prompted this release as a test case for the viability of future seasons. It's a bit like apples and oranges, however, as the later seasons were much better than the first. Fans want those seasons in full, of course. Unfortunately, if they decide to boycott the Television Favorites disc on principle, the slow sales might mean the last eight seasons of Night Court will never make it to DVD at all. --David Horiuchi
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