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Night Court sequel series in development

Christopher said:
It would be hard to capture the same zany style without Reinhold Weege. And as much as the original show made it clear that Dan Fielding's womanizing was a despicable quality, it was still played for laughs more than would be acceptable today, so I'm not sure how they could approach Dan in a way that would work now.




It wasn't just his show. As goofy as Harry Stone was, he was still the relative straight man anchoring an ensemble of colorful weirdos. In many ways, Dan was more the standout character, along with Bull. You could probably find a number of good performers who could fill the anchor role and bring their own personality to it the way Anderson did.

Not to mention that a lot of the show's humor came from the wacky plaintiffs and defendants they dealt with, and the way the leads reacted to them. Though modern TV is more core cast-driven and less guest star-driven.
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^^this

Seasons 4-7 are easily the halcyon years, though seasons 2 and 3 were fairly strong as well. Season 1 feels like an entirely different show... And in season 4, even though Roz had some generic material, the creative wizardry of Marsha Warfield shone right through - she made a mountain out of a scoopful of sand. Season 5 clearly is honed for her strengths, taking something that was already Marsha and magnifying it to magnificence. She and Dan were the best double-act on television at the time.

Could Dan be made to work now? The right actor who'd have the right chemistry with the right group of actors would be a tremendously tall order.

It takes a unique and special talent to pull off horrid behavior in a way that feels funny. I've seen cable comedians try to do the same shtick and they don't sell it with the tone and feel that makes it rise above and beyond the unpalatable nature, and audiences of the time knew Dan and other shows' characters were crude too and most acted the characters in a way that would translate to audiences just right and to make the caricature work. That's what Dan is, he is a caricature - madcap, larger than life, inflated and silly but not in a dilettante way. Like when a person draws a face on paper and it's all over the top and knowingly ridiculous yet has a certain feel... perhaps, gravitas(?) for lack of appropriate word, that transcends all that and more. It takes a special type of actor to do the same thing on screen as live action acting. "Night Court" figured out it was a farce that still knew when to be serious, and knew how to make it all not fall on its face. (Its final season notwithstanding...) The result was a massive hit. Even with the dead raccoon hairstyles popular at the time, a lot of the episodes hold up spectacularly. YMMV. I can understand why people might hate it, and comedy in of itself is highly subjective to begin with. It's also a TV show. Chances are I'd have more right to gripe about some shows for twenty five hours per day and yet I'm not...

But to cut a long story short, they would be a hard ensemble to top. Granted, sequels and reboot CAN be forms of flattery, and can be successful, but if they do manage to pull it off I'll be impressed.
 
Christopher said:
It would be hard to capture the same zany style without Reinhold Weege. And as much as the original show made it clear that Dan Fielding's womanizing was a despicable quality, it was still played for laughs more than would be acceptable today, so I'm not sure how they could approach Dan in a way that would work now.




It wasn't just his show. As goofy as Harry Stone was, he was still the relative straight man anchoring an ensemble of colorful weirdos. In many ways, Dan was more the standout character, along with Bull. You could probably find a number of good performers who could fill the anchor role and bring their own personality to it the way Anderson did.

Not to mention that a lot of the show's humor came from the wacky plaintiffs and defendants they dealt with, and the way the leads reacted to them. Though modern TV is more core cast-driven and less guest star-driven.
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Dan is me too-ed.

A fall from whatever heights he rose to in the last 30 years, and so destitute, Dan gets a job from the only people who will still hire him.
 
Just seeing this thread now. I'm a huge Night Court fan. It's on my list of greatest shows ever.

I'm cringing at the thought of a new Night Court. I'm having flashbacks to the "New WKRP" which was not produced with Hugh Wilson involved, much to it's detriment. Sometimes, these producers don't know enough to just leave it alone.
 
Amasov said:
Unfortunately true. While it's all just played for laughs, Dan couldn't exist in today's world.
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True. Dan was a scumbag, but it worked because we knew underneath he was a genuinely good person, and his scumbag ways were played for laughs. Times have changed, and I believe for the better, and if they tried to make Dan from the 1980s the same as the new Dan, I think it would fail miserably. I love John Larroquette, and I'm sure he would do excellent work, but I don't think the writers have it in them to bring out what we loved about Dan without the rest.
 
Well, part of why Dan worked, and why he might still work, though quite the way he did back then, is that he usually got his comeuppance.
 
Amaris said:
True. Dan was a scumbag, but it worked because we knew underneath he was a genuinely good person, and his scumbag ways were played for laughs. Times have changed, and I believe for the better, and if they tried to make Dan from the 1980s the same as the new Dan, I think it would fail miserably. I love John Larroquette, and I'm sure he would do excellent work, but I don't think the writers have it in them to bring out what we loved about Dan without the rest.
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Remember, in the last season or so, Dan saw the light and renounced his ways, becoming a much kinder and more respectful person. Presumably the older Dan appearing in the new show would still be that reformed version.
 
Christopher said:
Remember, in the last season or so, Dan saw the light and renounced his ways, becoming a much kinder and more respectful person. Presumably the older Dan appearing in the new show would still be that reformed version.
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Oh, that's right! I never really enjoyed the last season so much, and so don't remember a lot of it.
 
Christopher said:
Remember, in the last season or so, Dan saw the light and renounced his ways, becoming a much kinder and more respectful person. Presumably the older Dan appearing in the new show would still be that reformed version.
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He did but there was still some ups and downs as part of it, including the introduction of Phil's brother, Will (I believe), that resulted in some of the older Dan antics coming out.
 
fireproof78 said:
He did but there was still some ups and downs as part of it, including the introduction of Phil's brother, Will (I believe), that resulted in some of the older Dan antics coming out.
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Still, as stated, there's no way Dan's old behavior would fly in the new series, so it seems likely they'd stick with his reformed persona.
 
fireproof78 said:
His reformed persona would be more interesting yes.
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I'm also sure that Larroquette would want to play the character differently now. I can't imagine he'd be the exact same person from over 30 years ago.

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But, I will say that watching Dan resist his natural ways is even funnier than him acting on them.
 
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