Night Court had some fine episodes, but Danny Got His Gun is not one of them, and it is not three of them, either.
The three part series, "Night Court: Danny Got His Gun," trots out every stereotype imaginable and unimaginable, whether applicable to Eskimos, Aleuts, First Nation, Indian, Native American or whatever.
This would be OK for a sitcom like Night Court, which is not legally bound by the constraints of reality or good taste, if they were funny. Which they are not.
The acting on these three episodes is definitely sub par. John Larroquette seems to be phoning it in. Is this his punishment for asking for a raise: Kill off his character at the end of the season, then resurrect him if he capitulates, and make him act in a gawdawful script?
So, in the end, he's alive and attends his own funeral, a cliché ever since Mark Twain invented the joke long before the invention of television. But the writers don't do anything clever or funny with this device.
Dan Fielding meets a beautiful "Eskimo" in the frozen Arctic whose dream is to visit The Big Apple. Does Fielding bring her back with him? No, he does not. Now this would have been interesting, and potentially very funny. Heck, an Eskimo girlfriend in NYC could have had long running humor possibilities. But it would have required genuine creativity, something the series seemed to be running out of, rather than relying on cheap one-liners, like a cameo bikini bottom.
Instead, what he does return to New York with is a seal, who has a crush on him.
6/10 for the series. This ain't MASH, but there are plenty of good to excellent episodes.
The first two seasons are especially interesting for Selma Diamond, whose history goes way, way back, including writing for Sid Caesar's Caesar's Hour, but also radio and New Yorker cartoons before that! You need to read the Wikipedia entry to get it all, including that she was the inspiration for the Sally Rogers character on the Dick Van Dyke Show. And perhaps a character on The Simpsons named Selma? Or perhaps two characters: Patty and Selma Bouvier?. Look at the season one ender, Honey, I'm Home, and say Selma Diamond isn't The Simpson's Selma.
Florence Halop did an amazing job of filling Selma's shoes when she died, at least until Florence died, both of lung cancer. The producers made a wise choice in Marsha Warfield to replace Florence. She is the female bailiff most viewers remember now.
Of course, Night Court wouldn't have been anything without Harry Laverne Anderson.
The three part series, "Night Court: Danny Got His Gun," trots out every stereotype imaginable and unimaginable, whether applicable to Eskimos, Aleuts, First Nation, Indian, Native American or whatever.
This would be OK for a sitcom like Night Court, which is not legally bound by the constraints of reality or good taste, if they were funny. Which they are not.
The acting on these three episodes is definitely sub par. John Larroquette seems to be phoning it in. Is this his punishment for asking for a raise: Kill off his character at the end of the season, then resurrect him if he capitulates, and make him act in a gawdawful script?
So, in the end, he's alive and attends his own funeral, a cliché ever since Mark Twain invented the joke long before the invention of television. But the writers don't do anything clever or funny with this device.
Dan Fielding meets a beautiful "Eskimo" in the frozen Arctic whose dream is to visit The Big Apple. Does Fielding bring her back with him? No, he does not. Now this would have been interesting, and potentially very funny. Heck, an Eskimo girlfriend in NYC could have had long running humor possibilities. But it would have required genuine creativity, something the series seemed to be running out of, rather than relying on cheap one-liners, like a cameo bikini bottom.
Instead, what he does return to New York with is a seal, who has a crush on him.
6/10 for the series. This ain't MASH, but there are plenty of good to excellent episodes.
The first two seasons are especially interesting for Selma Diamond, whose history goes way, way back, including writing for Sid Caesar's Caesar's Hour, but also radio and New Yorker cartoons before that! You need to read the Wikipedia entry to get it all, including that she was the inspiration for the Sally Rogers character on the Dick Van Dyke Show. And perhaps a character on The Simpsons named Selma? Or perhaps two characters: Patty and Selma Bouvier?. Look at the season one ender, Honey, I'm Home, and say Selma Diamond isn't The Simpson's Selma.
Florence Halop did an amazing job of filling Selma's shoes when she died, at least until Florence died, both of lung cancer. The producers made a wise choice in Marsha Warfield to replace Florence. She is the female bailiff most viewers remember now.
Of course, Night Court wouldn't have been anything without Harry Laverne Anderson.