Seeing as how John Larroquette’s brilliant comic ability had already earned him three Emmys, the character of Dan gets a lot of attention here. Witness “Rabid,” wherein Dan lets Harry stay the night after the magistrate’s pad catches on fire, only to be bit by the dog that saved Harry’s life; “Giving Thanks,” wherein Dan saves Christine’s life and demands that she sleep with him in return; and the two-parter “Dan’s Operation,” which finds Dan going in for an operation, only to fall into a coma.
On a completely silly side note, the first half of “Dan’s Operation” is the perfect companion piece to Larroquette’s memorable guest appearance in the Season Three episode of House — “Son Of A Coma Guy” — where he plays a coma patient. Speaking of House actors, don’t you dare miss Harry and Dan fighting over “Christine’s Friend,” a hilarious episode guest-starring Sela Ward. The episode also features one of several appearances by Mel Tormé (the object of Harry’s obsession). Other guest stars throughout the season include Brent Spiner, Michael Gross, Fran Drescher, Harold Gould, Florence Stanley, Allan Rich, and regulars Gary Grossman and William Utay.
A note of warning: The Complete Fourth Season ends in the middle of a four-part story arc (“Her Honor”). The story gets picked up in season five, which we shall hopefully see on DVD sometime soon. The episodes appear in their original broadcast order, and their order was obviously switched around a bit (the copyright at the end and Marsha Warfield’s onscreen credit at the beginning of each episode is the giveaway).
Night Court: The Complete Fourth Season is one of the latest releases in Warner Bros.’ "made-to-order" lineup. The set (available via www.wbshop.com) brings us all 22 episodes of the long-running sitcom on four DVD-Rs, which have been culled from the best existing video masters. Like most of Warner’s “manufactured-on-demand” releases, you won’t find any special features or subtitle options. Neither the audio or video aspects of this season have been remastered or restored.
Article comments
1 - barbara barnett
I loved Night Court, Luigi, and just as you mentioned that episode when Dan goes into a coma, I thought: aha! House parallel! Cool. Mac, by the way, also appeared on House (I think in season 2)
2 - Luigi Bastardo
Thank you, Barbara.
Oddly enough, I've seen the episode with Mac in it several times, and I don't remember him being in it at all! Time to watch it again, I guess. :P