Night Court: Train Court
February 22, 2023 12:43 PM - Season 1, Episode 7 - Subscribe

When a train delay causes issues, Abby sees an opportunity to serve underground justice; Gurgs tries to stall the proceedings so Abby can meet her favorite celebrities, Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski, but Dan has dinner reservations he won't give up.

This is a meal that Scientific American called, ‘a heinous waste of stem cells.’

Recaps and Reviews
TV Fantatic
Is anywhere else of note reviewing new episodes each week? Let me know. Coverage seems to be falling off fast.

Less character development this week and more character interactions as Abby and Olivia are stuck on a broken subway and end up convening a makeshift court to adjudicate a case involving a stolen seat. I kept looking too closely at the subway ads searching for in-jokes or references, but they all seemed commonly ordinary. We never do get the verdict in the case.

The opening case in the actual court room involving a giant mini-horse serving as a service animal is one of the most Night Court cases ever, particularly when the horse shows up as a witness and identifies a conflict of interest.

The substitute judge is another in a long line of wacky substitute judges. He'd have fit right in on the old show, minus asking for a Netflix password, of course. Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski are the latest in celebrities who, when the show is in reruns in thirty years, will be the "huh, that's right, they were a thing" comment.

I'm laughing at this show, but after it's over, I have little memory of it. It's such empty calories, but it's fun.
posted by Servo5678 (9 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Dan's slow growth as a human being at age 75 is the engine that drives this show for me. The wackiness is nice too if they can keep it up, sustained original silliness is pretty hard to do, let alone that doesn't go too overboard. I thought the previous episode, with Gurgs and her nephew, was one of the stronger ones so far.
posted by JHarris at 5:51 PM on February 22, 2023 [3 favorites]


Not a fan of the "Blind person can see! They're a criminal!" trope. Not all blind people are 100% unable to see, and even if they are, they get really good at differentiating people, because it's a thing you have to do in society, and they don't just substitute in "hear" for "see" in conversation.
posted by Etrigan at 6:47 PM on February 22, 2023 [2 favorites]


Overall a decent ep - the courtroom stuff with the visiting judge was great. The subway trial wasn't great, but provided some laughs. Not giving up on the new Night Court - remember, it took the original a couple of seasons to really hit its stride.
posted by davidmsc at 11:49 AM on February 23, 2023 [1 favorite]


They utterly wrote this one for me specifically. Figure skating? VHS? Distracting people out of a Lord of the Flies situation? I AM IN.

Johnny and Tara (whose skating commentary I actually go out of my way to avoid, if I'm honest) were good sports about it. The Gurgs-and-Dan one-upping each other bit was terrific, I definitely want to see more of the Lacretta-and-Larroquette show.

YOU MONSTER.
posted by humbug at 2:47 PM on February 23, 2023 [2 favorites]


Great ep. The Train Court was overall very optimistically silly, but made enough of a nod to pragmatism/ reality. The "subtlety" here is that the entire setup is silly, but yet of course, some wit is going to ask for something crudely titillatious.

Gurgs continues to grow on me. Headcheese ("hog's head cheese") is fucking ambrosia. Especially in a large chunk like that, although sliced for sandwiches is fine too. Lots of regional variations. I think I've found a potential source of Gio Thu, the Vietnamese variety. Need to try.

My favourite variant of gizzard is sundried duck. They lend an incredible depth of flavour when used to make broth, and I personally love the texture. Have had some damned good fried chicken gizzards in Solon, IA. Although a scary/ weird place for me as a poc.
posted by porpoise at 7:31 PM on February 23, 2023 [2 favorites]


Ah, headcheese - that's got to be a callback to (?) Christine's dad making her headcheese sandwiches?

I had actually been packed with a headcheese sandwich in elementary school. I loved headcheese sandwiches. But, yeah, I got teased/ bullied over it.

<red-faced-tears-streaming> I liked beer headcheese sandwiches. I still like beer headcheese sandwiches!</r-f-t-s> /kavanaugh
posted by porpoise at 9:30 PM on February 23, 2023 [2 favorites]


Not to keep mentioning the elephant in the courtroom, but you know who else was a figure skating fan? Christine. In both looks and personality, Abby resembles Christine much more than Harry.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:17 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]


porpoise, my Grandma liked her chicken gizzards parboiled and sauteed. And yes, it was Christine's Dad who packed her the headcheese sandwich.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:19 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]


Markie Post was about 5'5" - Harry Anderson was about 6'4" - Melissa Rauch is famously 4'11" or so.

But yes, a big truculent elephant =)
posted by porpoise at 8:39 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]


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