S02.E02: The Roz Affair

[Bort]

Quote

Dan helps Roz with an investigation that goes awry as they find themselves pleading their case in front of Abby. Gurgs regales the court with stories of her London adventures. Olivia tries to establish a side gig as a sports agent.

Airdate: January 2, 2024

[AnimeMania]

Marsha Warfield as Roz
Marcus Bailey as Ranger Doug
Arielle Amar as Yoga teacher
Tiffany Bank as Pedicab Driver
Lisa Rothschiller as Guard
Doug Simpson as Hugh
Indira G. Wilson as Loretta
Dwayne Colbert 

[DanaK]

It was nice seeing Roz

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, DanaK said:

It was nice seeing Roz

Yeah. I hope now that they've reestablished the connection, we see her again.  She's in a good profession for guest appearances.

[TheOtherOne]

This week in the terrible laugh track: that sad applause and wooing that popped up when Dan appeared in the courtroom, too short and half-hearted to be a believable human reaction (even if it were at all plausible that an audience would cheer a character they'd already seen earlier in the episode, which it wasn't).

Dan and Roz's plot was good, and I enjoyed Gurg's fakeout/lie at the end. Olivia's plot was too underdeveloped, though there was a decent idea in there.

Flobert is too much of a cartoon to work as a character who'll generate story, which means he'll be no more successful than Neil if they don't develop him ASAP. Right now they still only have four characters they can build stories around, requiring them to lean on guest stars like Roz.

[AnimeMania]

They got rid of Neil

Spoiler

so that they could keep Abby single, they want her to meet a bunch of crazy single guys while dating.

[Annber03]

I really liked the interaction between Roz and Dan throughout this episode. I totally get why people were so excited to see her again, she's cool and I'd be up for her reappearing as often as possible, too. 

[Irlandesa]

I forgot to mention that I also liked Gurgs and Olivia at the end.  The actress who is playing Olivia still is trying too hard to be sitcommy.  She reminds me a bit of Amy Yasbeck's over-the-top delivery, except I always thought Amy managed to make it work. 

But Gurgs and Olivia have genuine chemistry.  Their scenes together work and I hope we get more of them.

1 hour ago, AnimeMania said:

They got rid of Neil

Is that really a spoiler or is it spec?  Just in case it's a spoiler, I'll respond in spoiler tags.

It's a dumb reason. 

Spoiler

They could have just opted to drop the romance angle.  They hadn't really developed it so much that there was no way out of it.  Heck, Brooklyn 99 had one character practically stalk another character because he 'loved' her but the writers of that show realized it didn't work and just...moved on from it.  They were nothing more than friends and colleagues for the rest of the series.

 

[Salacious Kitty]

There was a throwaway line about Neil moving to Tahoe with his girlfriend. So no, it's doubtful he will return. 

[Yeah No]

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

They got rid of Neil

  Hide contents

so that they could keep Abby single, they want her to meet a bunch of crazy single guys while dating.

If that's the reason is I think it's a dumb one.  They could have kept him around just as a pathetic guy with a crush.  Some good lines could have come out of that.  Once they decided they didn't want him for her they just dropped him.  I read that they needed the budget to add more guest stars like the crazy single guys she's supposed to date.  Whatever.

This is supposed to be the highest rated comedy on TV right now or something?  They're certainly billing it like it's the greatest show ever.  Wow, standards have certainly fallen.  I didn't even crack a smile once in this episode.  I'm not that nostalgic for the original show although I watched it ever now and then back in the day so I guess I'm pretty unbiased about it.  

 

[ch1]

I wish this show was better.  The writing is just so bad.  I also wish anyone else was playing Abby.  I don’t know what Melissa Rauch is doing.  Her delivery is so annoying.

 

[nora1992]

My favorite part of the episode was the green color of Olivia’s suit.  Gurg’s interactions with Roz were nice and understated.

[Chaos Theory]

10 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

They got rid of Neil

  Reveal spoiler

so that they could keep Abby single, they want her to meet a bunch of crazy single guys while dating.

Fun fact:  The original Night Court actually had a pretty high turnover of cast members.   I think it was season 4 that the show finally jelled with a permanent main cast and that was with the arrival of Roz Russel the new bailiff who replaced  Florence.  The second in a line of elderly bailiffs who died in RL so the show went with the still young Marsha Warfield.   It was a good move because she played off well with all the cast especially John Laroquette and Richard Moll. 

Edited January 3 by Chaos Theory

[peachmangosteen]

I enjoyed it. I don't need (or want) every show I watch to be cutting-edge, amazing writing. Sometimes I just want a dumb, funny, easy to watch sitcom. I feel like back when Night Court originally aired you could do that but now if something isn't Succession level, it gets universally panned.

[arachne]

30 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I feel like back when Night Court originally aired you could do that but now if something isn't Succession level, it gets universally panned.

Yeah, I looked forward to watching the old show back in the day. I used to call it "my favorite dumb show." 

[AnimeMania]

I spent all episode trying to figure out why Roz and her fiancée seemed to live in New York. I am feeling a little stupid for not realizing that Roz most likely lives in New York and was only in New Orleans for her bachelorette party.

[TheOtherOne]

Different strokes and all, but I didn't think the old show was dumb at all. Silly on the surface--sure--but also pretty smart. There was a reason it received multiple Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series (back when there was a strict 5 nominees, not all the number they throw nominations at these days).

As usual, I turned on the old show on Amazon Freevee last night to play a few episodes while I was working out. The way there was usually a dramatic plotline combined with a just-for-laughs one was always a fascinating combination of tones. Last night's were "New Year's Leave" (a sweet old man arrested in a nightgown turns out to be an escaped felon trying to visit Times Square where he met his wife before he dies; Bull tries to catch a man in a diaper who's claiming to be the new year 1987 who's running amok in the courthouse) and "Murder" (a woman claiming to have shot her husband turns herself in to the courtroom; meanwhile Dan tries to donate sperm for money, is told he has low swimmers, and tries to abstain from sexual activity for two weeks so he can be retested). Both have good moments for all six regulars plus the guest stars (who are well-developed as human beings), both are smart and very funny.

I know this wouldn't fly today, but it's hilarious and well-written (and actually sounds like a studio audience responding to what's happening...).

 

Edited January 3 by TheOtherOne

[Yeah No]

6 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I enjoyed it. I don't need (or want) every show I watch to be cutting-edge, amazing writing. Sometimes I just want a dumb, funny, easy to watch sitcom. I feel like back when Night Court originally aired you could do that but now if something isn't Succession level, it gets universally panned.

I think this show is not being compared to other shows but to the original, which in my opinion was a much better show.  And I agree with @TheOtherOne that it wasn't really dumb at all.  It was just well written and good comedy, and easy to watch.  The most recent sitcom I felt that way about was "The Big Bang Theory".  Melissa was amazing on that, BTW, so she is capable of much better when she is given something better to work with.  Also it was filmed in front of  a live studio audience, which I think makes a difference too.

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I spent all episode trying to figure out why Roz and her fiancée seemed to live in New York. I am feeling a little stupid for not realizing that Roz most likely lives in New York and was only in New Orleans for her bachelorette party.

It took me pretty much the entire episode to realize that too lol.

11 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

It was just well written and good comedy, and easy to watch.  The most recent sitcom I felt that way about was "The Big Bang Theory".  Melissa was amazing on that, BTW, so she is capable of much better when she is given something better to work with.  Also it was filmed in front of  a live studio audience, which I think makes a difference too.

I ended up despising Big Bang Theory. I almost didn't watch this because I didn't like the actress in that show.

[chitowngirl]

There is a shorter running time on sitcoms these days compared to the original Night Court. Original episodes were 22-24 minutes while these days it’s more like 18-20 minutes. That changes the pace.

[Fosca]

I saw an episode being taped around 1987, and it was indeed a live studio audience (you can actually hear me laughing--I must've been right under a microphone) and it wasn't enhanced with a laugh track--it didn't need to be.  There were some bum seasons at the beginning and Iespecially) at the end, but those seasons in the middle were golden.

[Yeah No]

15 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I spent all episode trying to figure out why Roz and her fiancée seemed to live in New York. I am feeling a little stupid for not realizing that Roz most likely lives in New York and was only in New Orleans for her bachelorette party.

I never invested the time to figure it out so thanks.

9 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I ended up despising Big Bang Theory. I almost didn't watch this because I didn't like the actress in that show.

It was only one of my favorite TV shows of all time primarily becauseI felt like it was based on my youth.  I went to a HS full of science nerds and Neil DeGrasse Tyson (who appeared on the show 3 times) was in my classes and graduating year so there is that.

Different strokes.

Edited January 4 by Yeah No

[nora1992]

Just re-watched the episode and am thoroughly confused: did Gurgs go to London or not?  Why tell Olivia she didn’t and then talk about her Duke at the end?

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, nora1992 said:

Just re-watched the episode and am thoroughly confused: did Gurgs go to London or not?  Why tell Olivia she didn’t and then talk about her Duke at the end?

She did.  She was just trying to make Olivia feel better by making her think she chickened out of her plan.