S02.E01: The Night Court Before Christmas

[Bort]

Quote

It's Christmastime at Night Court. Abby enlists Dan on her quest to track down a little girl's letter to Santa. Gurgs's gift for Dan isn't what she expected. Olivia is haunted by a witness who believes herself to be the Ghost of Christmas Present.

Airdate: December 23, 2023

[AnimeMania]

Originally Episode 8 and Originally entitled "Bad Santa" 
The title is confusingly similar to "The Night Court Before Christmas", an episode that was in Season 6, Episode 9 of the original Night Court series.      
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 
Maria Bamford as Ghost of Christmas Present
Alice Halsey as Virginia 
Gary Anthony Williams as Flobert
John Eddings as Bitter Man  

Next New Episode: (Regular Timeslot): January 2, 2024     NBC    8pm            

[nelroy78]

I can’t get NBC on DirecTV currently because of the Tegna/DirecTV dispute, but was able to get home in time to watch via antenna. I think I will still catch it again on Peacock. Unfortunately I accidentally caught the last few minutes of the Extended Family premiere (meant to wait and catch that on Peacock) because of the football overrun.

Edited December 24, 2023 by nelroy78

[AnimeMania]

I wonder where Neil played by Kapil Talwalkar is, it looks like Flobert played by Gary Anthony Williams is playing his parts.

[TheOtherOne]

The title of this episode is "A Night Court Before Christmas."

"The Night Court Before Christmas" is a stone-cold classic and one my favorite episodes of the original series, an episode I fondly remembered from my childhood and have rewatched numerous times since the series became available on Amazon. Bull mistakes a truck full of toys that are evidence in a case for donations for Toys for Tots, and after he and Roz distribute them to kids, she refuses to reveal where they were donated so they can be taken back, forcing Harry to throw her in jail for contempt. Meanwhile, Buddy visits for Christmas, and the two plots eventually intersect. A nicely Roz-centric episode (still a rarity at that point in the series' run), with good moments for the entire ensemble and the perfect amount of holiday sentiment without losing the laughs. I love it.

eta: (And yes, it kind of sucks that the new show used such a similar title.)

Edited December 24, 2023 by TheOtherOne

[Yeah No]

Eh, it was OK, not the best, but these days I'll take it because I have so few new holiday special episodes of anything in my life anymore.  And it's nice to have the show back.  I still think the show would be 50% funnier if Melissa put on a voice a little more similar to the one she used as "Bernadette" on BBT.

[DanaK]

I thought it was a cute episode. Roz’s lack of a gift for Dan at the end and his reaction was hilarious. Kareem’s acting wasn’t bad

[Msample]

I gave up on this series about halfway thru the first season, then watched this after football. It still lacks the sarcasm, snark, and dry wit of the original .

 

Was the court clerk new/replace someone ? I don’t remember him from before .

Edited December 24, 2023 by Msample

[AnimeMania]

4 hours ago, Msample said:

Was the court clerk new/replace someone ? I don’t remember him from before .

Yes, he is new, although he was on the show before. I think the normal court clerk, Neil is filming the new Captain America movie.

[zapper]

dang, I thought they Flobert had replaced Neil. I found the character cringy in many ways (not just the unrequited love for Abby) and I also thought that they played that card too soon.

[ams1001]

Always love Maria Bamford.

[Morrigan2575]

I'm totally confused, last season ended with Dan being a judge down in Louisiana and Roz coming before his bench. Now, they're back in NY at Christmas? I checked and I didn't miss an episode.

[chitowngirl]

14 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I'm totally confused, last season ended with Dan being a judge down in Louisiana and Roz coming before his bench. Now, they're back in NY at Christmas? I checked and I didn't miss an episode.

At the top of the S02.E01 thread, it says that the episode was originally episode 8, so out of order…

[Morrigan2575]

2 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

At the top of the S02.E01 thread, it says that the episode was originally episode 8, so out of order…

Oh thank you, I was totally lost. 

[AnimeMania]

4 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I'm totally confused, last season ended with Dan being a judge down in Louisiana and Roz coming before his bench. Now, they're back in NY at Christmas? I checked and I didn't miss an episode.

S02.E02 will provide the conclusion to the S01.E16 episode.

They released S02.E01 first because of it relationship to Christmas.

[TheOtherOne]

Maria Bamford's delivery of "I guess we have a lot in common, Kareem Abdul-Jabar" was the biggest/only real laugh for me.

The laugh track is such an energy suck on the show. I'm assuming they're filming in front of a live audience, but whether they're tampering with the audience laughter or using canned responses, it just doesn't sound real. It really sounds like someone's pushing a button after each punchline to generate this low energy, not-too-loud burst of canned laughter. Compared to original Night Court, or any 80s (and a lot of 90s) sitcoms, it doesn't sound like the actual sounds of a studio audience reacting.

[EtheltoTillie]

It was pretty awful, but better than the pilot of Extended Family.  I know Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is tall, but it seemed he towered over everyone.  I was trying to figure out if they were filming it at some angle to make him look even taller.  Or maybe in some shots he was standing on a platform. 

[Browncoat]

12 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

better than the pilot of Extended Family. 

I can barely stand the ads for that show.  I didn't make it through the pilot.

[ams1001]

15 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I know Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is tall, but it seemed he towered over everyone.  I was trying to figure out if they were filming it at some angle to make him look even taller.  Or maybe in some shots he was standing on a platform. 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 7'2", almost a full foot taller than John Larroquette, who is 6'4" (and more than 2 feet taller than Melissa Rauch's 4'11").

Edited January 3, 2024 by ams1001

[DanaK]

16 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

It was pretty awful, but better than the pilot of Extended Family.  I know Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is tall, but it seemed he towered over everyone.  I was trying to figure out if they were filming it at some angle to make him look even taller.  Or maybe in some shots he was standing on a platform. 

It did seem that way in some scenes, like at least one scene in the cafeteria

[ams1001]

12 hours ago, DanaK said:

It did seem that way in some scenes, like at least one scene in the cafeteria

Maybe they need a weird angle to get everyone in the shot...

[DanaK]

4 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Maybe they need a weird angle to get everyone in the shot...

Yeah, I think I meant to say that instead of agreeing that they were trying to make him look taller

[Starchild]

On 12/28/2023 at 2:14 PM, AnimeMania said:

S02.E02 will provide the conclusion to the S01.E16 episode.

They released S02.E01 first because of it relationship to Christmas.

But wouldn't 2.08 air in February? Why was it Christmas-themed at all?

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, Starchild said:

On 12/28/2023 at 2:14 PM, AnimeMania said:

S02.E02 will provide the conclusion to the S01.E16 episode.

They released S02.E01 first because of it relationship to Christmas.

But wouldn't 2.08 air in February? Why was it Christmas-themed at all?

Not sure why it was designated as the 8th episode, that is just what it was listed as on the NBC website, under the title "Bad Santa".

How ‘Night Court’ Pulled Off a Swift Post-Strike Season 2 Return

According to this article, Season 2's sets were made during the writer's strike, the scripts were punched up during the actor's strike, and as soon as the actor's strike finished everyone was back on the set. Only one episode of Season 2 had been taped before the strikes happened.

[Fosca]

My guess is that if there hadn't been a strike, Episode 8 would have aired at Christmas.  But since there was, they taped this first so it could be showed at Christmas.  

[MSterling]

The only thing I could think of watching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is wondering if he wanted a new rug? That's the only reason he agreed to appear in Airplane!, he wanted a $35,000 rug.