#the john larroquette show

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

Nate: 'Is it possible for me to have any privacy around here?'

Hardison: 'Not really. You see, we are family around here, Nate. We all care about each other. It's called friendship.'

Nate: 'It's called meddling.'

Hardison: 'Yeah, it's called that too.'

[haveyouseenthisseries-poll]

[boasamishipper]

[floppydiskorigami]

"Let us do something, while we have the chance… at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it before it is too late! Let us represent worthily for once the foul brood to which a cruel fate consigned us!" -Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

“And it's like that great philosopher once said, sometimes you get what you need.” -Chester, The John Larroquette Show

(two differently-colored versions of) a little tribute to the john larroquette show

[fandomdancer]

Happy Birthday to the insanely gifted, hilarious, and handsome John Larroquette!!

[seriouslycromulent]

My rewatch of The John Larroquette Show (so far)

In my effort to keep my Larroquette obsession thriving, I've recently started a rewatch of The John Larroquette Show. Like Night Court (which I rewatched in 2022), I remember watching this show when it originally aired.

But unlike Night Court, my memory of most of the episodes is a bit fuzzy. I remember the main characters and their personalities just fine, but not so much what happens in terms of the storyline.

Regardless, I'm enjoying the rewatch, and I'm pleasantly surprised by how much the show holds up over time, how evergreen the topics are, and how strong the jokes are. Seriously. They are constantly telling jokes that I swear are as old as vaudeville, but they kill in terms of laughs from the audience and from me as well.

Example: In s2e8 "The Book of Rachel," Mayim Bialik guest stars as a young hippie-ish woman named Rachel who shows up in hopes of finding out if John Hemingway (JL's character) is her real dad. She's narrowed down the search to 3 men who knew her mom, who was living wild and free back in the '70s, around that time.

When John asks how her mother's doing, Rachel says, "She's doing pretty good. She's been clean for about 5 years now." John, a recovering alcoholic who's been sober for 1 year, says, "That's great! So no more drugs and booze, huh?" And Rachel says, "Oh no, there's still plenty of drugs and booze. She's just been bathing regularly for 5 years."

I'm not telling it very well in writing, but I swear to you, that joke is funny as hell, and Mayim and JL's delivery is perfection. Plus, it got a huge laugh from the audience, which speaks to its timeless nature.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a thought or two on the show so far. (I'm on episode 12 of Season 2, just in case anyone wants to know the context.)

Here are some random thoughts I've had so far:

Like Night Court, the show does a solid job of mixing comedy and drama. The first season is a bit more drama heavy because they dealt more with the recovery storyline, but I think it still worked and the whole concept is still pretty daring (i.e., revolving around the unglamorous lives of people who work in and around a bus station at night) even compared to today's sitcoms, which still tend to play it safe.

JL's hair in the first season is absurdly long. Or at least it gets to be absurdly long about halfway through the season. And it's not a good look. Not because he looks bad with long hair, but because it looks like it takes a lot of upkeep. And a man who is working 3rd shift at a bus station and lives in a halfway house/SRO building doesn't seem like he'd have a strict hair care regimen to make it appear perfectly tamed at all time. Seriously, at one point I had to ask out loud, "I wonder if they curl the ends with a curling iron or do they use rollers?"

This may be the first TV show I ever saw Chi McBride in. Despite seeing him on plenty of TV shows and films over the years, I never knew he had such a lovely singing voice. I'm glad they gave him a chance to share his singing talent. His version of "Danny Boy" in season 1 was very good.

The 2 corrupt police officers who blatantly flaunt their bias and awfulness are both funny and a great commentary on what was happening in America at the time (i.e., the Rodney King police beating, and the aftermath of the verdict was still very fresh in everyone's minds then). Sadly, it is an evergreen topic for the U.S., but I think it says a lot about the writers for TJLS that they attacked the subject so openly and didn't shy away of being critical of police or lampooning them. I don't think a modern American sitcom would approach the subject so brazenly and unapologetically today. JL has said in a number of interviews that the show was kind of ahead of its time. And I'm inclined to agree with him, at least in some areas.

It's so cool going back to watch old TV shows and catching actors who have now become bigger names in the business. I just watched an episode with Jane Lynch working as a mental health care professional. Of course, this was way before she found success on Glee and The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Does JL manage to work in a reference to Samuel Beckett into everything he works on starting with this series? It's starting to function as his own career Easter egg at this point. I'm not complaining. Just wondering.

I know Don Reo created the show, but I suspect JL had a small amount of his life's adventures and details shape the John Hemingway character (like the Beckett references, his running commentary on anything that happened in the 1960s, his openness about being friends with anyone from any background, etc.). But the only way to truly know this is for JL to 1) tell us in Q&As or interviews, or 2) write an autobiography already, dammit!

In s2e1 "Changes," JL sits down in a chair by swinging his leg over the back of it, and I immediately thought of the Riker Maneuver. I know JL did it before Jonathan Frakes on TNG, but it will always be the Riker Maneuver to me.

Another way the show was ahead of its time was in its portrayal of sex workers and trans people. Most of the time, it's played for comedy on the show (I mean, it is a sitcom after all), but there's a very real attempt to share stories of Carly, Teddi and Pat that are humanizing. Teddi and Pat are trans sex workers, but they are accepted by most (not the male cop) and aren't just the butt of jokes. They even get included in simple things like group poker games and asked to watch the lunch counter when Dexter runs off to do something or other. That might seem like not a big deal, but at that time (the mid-90s), most inclusion of hookers and trans folks on TV usually involved heavy drama like trying to save them from their lives or begrudgingly acknowledging that they were a part of society with disdain and ridicule. And the overall acceptance of Carly as a friend and possible love interest without trying to save her or judge her was also a bit ahead of its time. And when there were moments of judgment, they were faced head on and challenged.

[whale-wolf]

Eve Eggers is an absolute mess, and I love her for it. Sometimes I wonder how a relationship would've gone if she and John got together.

[tvthemesongs]

The John Larroquette Show intro

[sfppn]

The Kinescope Initiative 0198

Six 1993 sitcoms in the same episode? You know they've got to be stinkers. Larroquette was good though.

[charlotterenaissance]

at any given moment

[jimmyspades]

It's 10 o'clock. Are we not on? We're supposed to be Tuesday at 10 every week. We've been moved—we're Wednesday at 10. Are we Wednesdays at 10 from now on? No, we're off next week and on for the following two Wednesdays. What about next year? Best to keep checking in. BOSTON LEGAL (2004-2008)

[wilson-is-a-slut]

I need to talk about son of a coma guy for a second because I don't think that some people realize that the aforementioned coma guy also did some old man yaoi type shit back in the 80s

this is the coma guy:

and this is john larroquette, aka dan fielding from the '84-'92 sitcom night court:

dan is a district attorney in manhatten, new york. he is very much the character who is obsessed with his looks, who he's seen with, how much he's worth and women; and when I say women, I mean the stereotypical big boobs, blond and ditzy.

one look at his character and he come off as a misogynist, who only sees women as objects, and while that is true for that type, it is not true for all of them. dan has a great deal of respect for the women of the court room he works with. selma, flo and roz, the three female bailiffs throughout the series, respect (and scare) dan, even though he is a pig (there's also billie and christine but that's a whole other can of worms not fit for a house blog) selma and flow are both older women who die during the shows run and roz is not his type, but even if all three of them were his type, I don't think that anything would have happened because of their respect.

and this being the late 80s early 90s, there are of course jokes about him being perceived as gay, even going so far as to being stuck in an elevator with a gay man for an entire episode (now a little side tangent about that episode, I don't necessarily think that dan is homophobic, but more so offended that someone thought he was, I just had to put that out there) of course he takes offence, he goes out of his way to sleep with women left and right, even going as far as to get out of work early to do so (a lot like house in that aspect, but we'll get to that later)

now I don't know exactly what shipping culture looked like back then (if anyone can tell me though that would be really cool) but I think it's safe to assume that nobody was hardcore shipping dan with harry t. stone, the presiding judge of the courtroom where dan worked.

now on to dan and harry,

I mean, just look at the two of them. I love dan and harry very much. dan cares a great deal for harry, even though he would never admit that. in fact, the very first episode, dan tries to get harry removed from the bench. dan and harry are very liked minded when it comes to the court; I think that's why dan "tolerates" harry as much as he does. and while harry wished dan spent his personal time on thing other than women and dan could care less about harry's hobbies, they both care and respect each other.

ok ok , now on to the comparison of dan and house.

they both have a past they wish they could have buried:

dan - his parents being country folk, dan in fact being his middle name and being from louisiana altogether

house - his dad, stacy, and in part his leg (there's definitely more to this list but you get the drift)

and one last character comparison I wanna make is that they both pay for women; that's said outright, but I honestly think that in terms of who would keep paying for longer before asking themself "what the fuck am I doing?" is dan. now, that might come as a shocker to someone whose never seen night court, but house is more self loathing than dan and I think he would realize first that what he is doing stopped being fun 100 dollars ago and oh, my leg is starting to hurt again. dan would go for broke, metaphorically and physically, until he was broke and until the two (or three or four) of them broke the bed. all dan cares about is sex and all house cares about is forgetting, they just happen to show off in the same way.

I will leave you all with me projecting that dan and harry are house and wilson respectively because I am in fact that far gone

your honor, it's the same picture

should I do harry and wilson next??

[boasamishipper]

LARROQUETTE POLL ROUND ONE RECAP

our original pool of sixteen sexy larroquette characters has been winnowed down to an elite eight. if your faves won the fight, congratulations! pat yourselves on the back for a vote well cast and a propaganda campaign well run. if your faves sadly did not emerge victorious, don't worry: the round one losers will have a bracket of their own after this tournament is over, so they'll all have one more shot at the crown.

let's meet our elite eight!

Billy Ace (Choose Me)

though David Bedford (Blind Date) fought the good fight, Billy Ace (of tall dark and handsome, leather jacket, and motorcycle riding fame) emerged victorious with 18 votes to 12. hopefully David will find consolation in his gigantic pile of teddy bears.

Carl Sack (Boston Legal)

his bitchiness, stoic demeanor and steadfast refusal to take part in the Shenanigans™️ around him have bewitched larroquette nation body and soul: Crane, Poole, and Schmidt senior partner Carl Sack beats serial killer-turned-attorney Joey Heric (The Practice) 33 votes to 9. 'no hard feelings,' says Joey amiably while sharpening his knives. sleep with one eye open, Carl.

Jenkins (The Librarians)

this race saw the highest voter turnout, and while things were close in the beginning, TWW's Lionel Tribbey's faithful cricket bat was no match for Jenkins's sword, or his crossbow, or his lightsaber, or his bow ties, or his clubbing outfit. with 36 votes to 24, our beloved caretaker moves onto the next round, and Lionel Tribbey can take a much needed vacation someplace warm, with as many drinks with little umbrellas in them as his heart desires <3

John Hemingway (The John Larroquette Show)

hemingway during the final hours of the race:

it was close, but our favorite well-read bus depot manager John Hemingway emerged victorious over ex cop turned lawyer curmudgeon with a heart of gold Mike McBride. congratulations john! see you next time, mcbride!

Bob Anderson (Baa Baa Black Sheep)

our good baby-faced second lieutenant took the lead early on and maintained it all the way to the end. rip Captain Stillman. back to commanding officer duty at an alaskan weather station you go.

Mark Bannister (Madhouse)

in a race that led many (my dear friend emily @footnoteinhistory) to ask Why Are You Doing This To Me, sexy yuppie driven to madness Mark Bannister (Madhouse) beats nice handsome single father Don Moore (Summer Rental) 26 votes to 9. Mark may be going onto the next round, but does he have a boat? No? Didn't think so.

Roan Montgomery (Chuck)

another nailbiter of a race, but much like rock beats scissors, legend suave debonair secret agent man (Roan Montgomery) beats cigar-smoking businessman with a predilection for child murder (Lawrence Van Dough) every time. off you go to your next assignment, Agent Montgomery. Mr. Van Dough, back to court-mandated community service on the sprawling lawns of the Rich mansion with you.

Dan Fielding (Night Court)

he couldn't beat a dead man, he couldn't beat a spunky blonde, but by god, our favorite ADA absolutely trounced paranormal detective Wilbur Willis (Second Sight) in a battle of sexiness. good work as always, mr. prosecutor - let's see if you've got what it takes to go all the way!

Round 2 will begin at 12pm CT on 9/16.

[outdated2014tmblrcontent]

one season into night court,, when does that kooky judge and that freaky district attorney fella kiss??

[girl-drink-drunk]

nobody is doing it quite like bicon prince charming cassandra cillian, who kissed a vampire woman, asked old man immortal played by john larroquette sir galahad out on a date and gained telepathy via tumor removal all in one day

[seriouslycromulent]

Me, only just realizing that the same actress who played Christine Sullivan's sister on the new Night Court also played Carly Watkins on The John Larroquette Show.

Yeah, I'm slow.

I'm also re-watching The John Larroquette Show and I'm halfway through season 1 before I realized it was the same actress, Gigi Rice. Don't judge me.