Night Court - The Complete First Season
by John Larroquette
from Warner Home Video
One of the zaniest and bawdiest shows to hit network primetime in the 1980s, Night Court starred Harry Anderson as the Mel Tormé-loving, magic-playing, too-young judge Harry Stone presiding over the night beat of New York. Joining him were lecherous assistant district attorney Dan (John Larroquette), bald Bunyanesque bailiff Bull (Richard Moll), uptight court clerk Lana (Karen Austin), earnest public defender Elizabeth (Paula Kelly), and grizzled bailiff Selma (Selma Hacker).
In between cases involving ladies of the evening, a derelict who thinks he's Santa, and sparring spouses, the court staff spends most of their spare time trying to figure out the judge's age and background, making jokes about Bull's imposing appearance, or, in Dan's case, propositioning any woman who comes along. Among the first-season guest stars, Michael J. Fox takes a break from Family Ties to play a young tough, while Soviet comedian Yakov Smirnoff (there's a flashback for you!) plays a Russian who threatens to blow up the court. Created by Rheinhold Weege (who co-produced and wrote for Barney Miller), Night Court took off in later years, as the cast solidified with court clerk Mac (Charles Robinson), sexy public defender Christine (Markie Post), and glib bailiff Roz (Marsha Warfield). With better people to bounce off of, Laroquette took home four consecutive Supporting Actor Emmys beginning with the second season. Those were the only major statuettes the series won during its nine-season run, but it did hold down the 9:30 slot of NBC's "must see" Thursday lineup between Cheers and L.A. Law. --David Horiuchi
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 06/06/2006 Run time: 313 minutes Rating: Nr
The Facts of Life - The Complete Third Season
by Valentine Mayer
from Sony Pictures
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 10/24/2006 Run time: 602 minutes
Dharma & Greg - Season One
by Randy Cordray
from 20th Century Fox
Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 09/30/2008
Opposites most definitely attract, but the inevitable conflict and dawning sense of the immense challenges of co-existing with one's opposite generally doom such relationships to quick failure. In this 1997 Fox Television sitcom, Dharma Finkelstein (Jenna Elfman), a free-spirited yoga instructor, and Greg Montgomery (Thomas Gibson), a conservative lawyer from the U.S. Attorney's office, catch sight of one another on the subway, impulsively fly to Reno, and get married the very same day. There are bound to be some rough days ahead for the new couple and, indeed, their first fight follows quickly as Greg bemoans Dharma's propensity to say whatever is on her mind regardless of social proprieties. The first meeting between Dharma's hippie parents (Mimi Kennedy and Alan Rachins) and Greg's ultra-conservative parents (Susan Sullivan and Mitchel Ryan) is expectedly problematic and parental friction figures prominently throughout this first season. Whether it's personal routines, cherished celebrations, politics, relationships with friends, or philosophies on discipline, Dharma and Greg can be counted on to see just about everything from opposite perspectives and their conflicting views infallibly collide full force, generating an explosion of comedy on impact. Bonus features include audio commentary on selected episodes, a featurette on the creation and maturation of the show and its characters that features interviews with the executive producers and many of the actors, the original post-show vanity cards that aired briefly after some episodes, and an interactive "Reaching Your Inner Dharma" game that tests viewers trivia knowledge and ability to think like Dharma. --Tami Horiuchi
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