Today, we look at when (or if) you folks believe that Night Court “jumped the shark.”
This is “Just Can’t Jump It,” a feature where we examine shows and whether they “jumped the shark.” Jumped the shark (coined by Jon Hein) means that the show had a specific point in time where, in retrospect, you realize that show was going downhill from there. Not every show DOES jump the shark. Some shows just remain good all the way through. And some shows are terrible all the way through. What we’re looking for are moments where a show that you otherwise enjoyed hit a point where it took a noticeable nose dive after that time and if so, what moment was that?
With the new Night Court debuting tonight, I thought it’d be nice to feature the original Night Court, a sitcom about a wacky judge (Harry Anderson) and the various inhabitants (both the attorneys and bailiffs and all of the clients) of the night court in New York City. It ran nine seasons on NBC, with a few of them as part of the now-iconic original Must See Thursday lineup for NBC.
So first…DID IT JUMP THE SHARK? It definitely got worse as it went on (what show doesn’t?), but I don’t think it ever got bad enough to say it jumped.
WHEN DID IT JUMP THE SHARK Like I said, I didn’t think it did, but feel free to let me know if you disagree!
Let me know what you think in the comments or on social media!
Feel free to e-mail me at brian@popculturereferences.com for suggestions for shows for us to do in future installments!
I have no idea what season it was, but the defendant was an animated (obviously) Wile E. Coyote. Even if it didn’t jump the shark, it was extremely cringey.
Never. The show had Santa Claus actually appear in a flying sled in it’s peak years. It was always bizarre. It may have gotten stale but it didn’t just start pandering.
As a casual viewer of the show, it seemed to me like some signposts for a bit of a decline were when John Larroquette started dying his hair (he looks better grey); and when the wardrobe of the cast started to get a bit too trendy (which seemed to happen in a lot of long-running popular sitcoms at some point).
Night Court was too self-consciously and joyfully weird to jump. The only times it came close were when it tried a little too hard to be “serious” for me. I prefer my Dan Fielding to be unapologetic, personally. (Which means I’m going to have to watch this reboot with fresh perspective–sensitive Dan is what we’re getting, I think, though I hope there’s still some acerbic wit there too…)
It is amazing that the original run of NIGHT COURT lasted 9 seasons considering how unstable the cast was for much of it. The most memorable cast the show had, pictured above, didn’t properly evolve until the 4th season. Many shows that can’t ground down the entire cast pretty soon don’t last, even in 1984 when the show debuted. Perhaps part of it is that the court system is one which routinely has various people come and go (career options, retirement, death, etc.) so the audience bought it and it felt more genuine. I do think the show became a parody of itself around seasons 5-6, but as others commented it was always pretty zany. That was the point; “night court” was when all the weirdos came out.
And of course, one of Brent Spiner’s breakout roles was as a reoccurring defendant, Bob Wheeler, a stereotypical “yokel.”
Night Court maybe that rarest of shows that jumped back over the shark! The first season was a complete disaster and no one would have been shocked or displeased if it had not been renewed. But it came back (mostly because NBC had few even semi hits to renew) and in the second season managed to right the ship instantly. A true TV miracle! Aside: I might be the only one but I preferred Ellen Foley to Markie Post.