G'day,
In 1993 (actually 1994 here in Australia) I encountered a sitcom that was almost entirely nothing like any I'd seen before; something that was witty, but also dark, had great characters with bite, and staring some pretty good actors to boot. It was called The John Larroquette Show.
Actor John Larroquette had won about 4-5 consecutive Emmys for his role in "Night Court", after which he was given carte blanche to create his own show (provided it wore his name). As a recovering alcoholic himself, John decided to centre the show around a character based upon his own experiences. The series saw "John Hemmingway", literally only sober a few days, taking on the job of night manager at a busy bus station in St Louis. Throughout the first season we met colourful characters, dealt with serious issues, yet always with cracking great jokes and an often darker viewpoint than other shows airing at prime-time in that time period.
The result sadly was a show that totally missed the audience, with ratings barely in the Top 100 nationwide. Had the show aired in more recent times (ala Nurse Jackie etc), or on a cable channel with more defined viewers, it may well have become a truly remarkable long-lived show. As it transpired, the tv execs prepared their axe, until John promised to retool the show into something "more prime time". Night shift became day, John's squalid bed-sit became a luxurious apartment, the hooker got a more family friendly profession...
Shortly after the 4th season began, the axe finished the job, killing the show and not even airing the last few episodes that were already in the can. (though they were later screened in repeat seasons.)
And yet, The John Larroquette Show has gone on to become a cult classic, with fans longing to see it again, even if only that first amazing season. Sadly NBC have other ideas, and to date the show has not received any official release. The only way to see the show now is via very poor off-air copies that have been circulating online for many years.
As a taste, please see below video from "DarkRide"...
DarkRide is a YouTube channel which is slowly cleaning up the off-air copies as best as possible, so whilst they may be far from amazing quality, they may at least be enjoyed again.
cheers
cosmic
In 1993 (actually 1994 here in Australia) I encountered a sitcom that was almost entirely nothing like any I'd seen before; something that was witty, but also dark, had great characters with bite, and staring some pretty good actors to boot. It was called The John Larroquette Show.
Actor John Larroquette had won about 4-5 consecutive Emmys for his role in "Night Court", after which he was given carte blanche to create his own show (provided it wore his name). As a recovering alcoholic himself, John decided to centre the show around a character based upon his own experiences. The series saw "John Hemmingway", literally only sober a few days, taking on the job of night manager at a busy bus station in St Louis. Throughout the first season we met colourful characters, dealt with serious issues, yet always with cracking great jokes and an often darker viewpoint than other shows airing at prime-time in that time period.
The result sadly was a show that totally missed the audience, with ratings barely in the Top 100 nationwide. Had the show aired in more recent times (ala Nurse Jackie etc), or on a cable channel with more defined viewers, it may well have become a truly remarkable long-lived show. As it transpired, the tv execs prepared their axe, until John promised to retool the show into something "more prime time". Night shift became day, John's squalid bed-sit became a luxurious apartment, the hooker got a more family friendly profession...
Shortly after the 4th season began, the axe finished the job, killing the show and not even airing the last few episodes that were already in the can. (though they were later screened in repeat seasons.)
And yet, The John Larroquette Show has gone on to become a cult classic, with fans longing to see it again, even if only that first amazing season. Sadly NBC have other ideas, and to date the show has not received any official release. The only way to see the show now is via very poor off-air copies that have been circulating online for many years.
As a taste, please see below video from "DarkRide"...
DarkRide is a YouTube channel which is slowly cleaning up the off-air copies as best as possible, so whilst they may be far from amazing quality, they may at least be enjoyed again.
cheers
cosmic
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