Night Court - The Complete Second Season – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Feb 11, 2009, 14:15 GMT

Disorder in the court! Judge Harold T. Stone, Dan, Bull and Selma return for a rollicking second season of dispensing justice to the assorted nuts of Night Court. New to the courtroom: Noo Yawk-savvy defender Billie Young and Vietnam vet Mac Robinson, the court clerk. \' On the 22-episode docket: an invisible man, a mogul madam, a lovelorn nun, hookers, pickpockets, flashers, wackos, weirdos, gonzos and great guest stars, including Michael ...more

Here, here. Court is back in session!  Fans have long waited for the day that further seasons of Night Court would make it onto DVD (since 2005 was when season 1 came out) and now their dreams have finally come true.  Now when’s season 3 coming out?

Judge Harry Stone (Harry Anderson) is the likeable judge in charge of a night court in New York City.  Harry is also an amateur magician, loves to wear hats as men did in the 40s, and idolizes crooner Mel Torme.

He’s assisted in his adjudicating by bailiffs “Bull” Shannon (Richard Moll), who’s a towering figure, but dimwitted and loveable, and the acerbic Selma Hacker (Selma Diamond).  The lecherous Dan Fielding (John Larroquette) takes the role of the prosecution, season two finds Billie Young (Ellen Foley) working as a public defender, and court clerk Mac Robinson (Charles Robinson) also joins the group this season too.  The judiciary team finds their nights populated by a series of crazies and zany cases.  

In a recent episode of 30 Rock, Harry Anderson, Charles Robinson, and Markie Post (who showed up in season 3 until the show’s end) made a guest appearance.  It may have been that nostalgia for the show, but season two has finally arrived.  Fans have long thought that they were going to be sequestered from the show as Warner Brothers hasn’t expressed much interest in releasing the show since season 1 came out in 2005. 

Happily, we can now relive those habitual halcyon days that we sat in front of the tube and looked into Harry Stone’s courtroom.  Night Court was a very popular show and made up a Thursday night ratings block as it aired after Cheers on NBC. 

Harry Anderson played a fun character with his magic tricks and charming ways.  The real star turned out to be the devil played by John Larroquette and he would go on to win four Emmys for his work in the show. 

My favorite character was the abrasive Selma and it was a sad day when Selma Diamond died after this season (ironically her replacement Florence Kleiner died as well, leading some to think there was a curse).  The characters death was also addressed in the show which was rare for a sitcom. 

Also look for John Astin as Harry’s formerly committed (as in mental hospital committed) stepdad, but he’s feeling much better now.  It’s a delightful “blast from the past” for this critic to relive those short comedic interludes from Thursday nights.  

Night Court Season 2 is presented in fullscreen.  Sadly, there are no extras.  Heck, beggars can’t be choosers and I’m just glad that the season has been released.  

Night Court is a hilarious show and it was fun to get to revisit it again.  I guess if you want to see that third season and the appearance of Christine Sullivan (Markie Post) that you need to run down to your local electronics store (providing they’re still in business) and buy all the copies they got.  Court adjourned until season 3.  

Night Court - The Complete Second Season is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.