They Can't All Be Gems
Okay, I'm gonna admit something that isn't all that easy to say for me; Night Court may have had some moments that were less than perfect, that is all I will allow. Yes, the best TV show of all times has left me shaking my head at times.
So, I have been re-watching the show through Amazon with as many episodes as they have per season and have now reached season three. Already, I have mourned the loss of Selma, once more, some thirty odd years later after her death, as I watched an episode that aired just days before she passed. They must have known, she was probably already in hospice with death close to approaching, can you imagine that they had to go out and act while knowing that? In addition, I have fallen hard over Ellen Foley as Billie Young only to watch her magically disappear as Markie Post re-emerged as Christine Sullivan, bittersweet all around, because as much as I love Markie as Christine, I equally adored Ellen as Billie. Couldn't we have found someway to have both? But, alas, the past is past and when all is said in done, at least in the reruns, we can have them both.
Anyway, I digress....I digress so hard because I gulp to explain my thoughts. This is hard to admit, that the TV show that has brought me such joy, peace, and healing had moments that were less than par, or at least, left me scratching my head wondering why...
Yet, even in that, a valuable lesson is shown to me through these minor, and I mean MINOR, imperfections.
So, the first episode, I want to hold up as less than ideal is from season two, episode six entitled, "Bull Gets A Kid" in which Bull Shannon becomes a surrogate father to a child, like a "Big Brother" type thing. The kid appears and plays off as if to be a boy, complete with short, cropped hair and boyish clothes, and Bull is over the moon with the connection. Yet, when this child needs to use the bathroom, the truth is revealed...he is really a she and she masqueraded as a boy because boys are the majority picked for the program of surrogate fathers. Bull is devastated with the news, acting as if majorly betrayed and acting as if he cannot relate to the child as a girl.
Now, I know this was the eighties, just a mere thirty years outside of the fifties, and that the notion of gender was more strict and restricted than is today, but I still found an issue with this. As a child, I don't recall having such issue, yes, but still I may not have actually seen this episode back then or just may not have fully understood ( I was a kid after all). What bothered me was Bull's acting with such betrayal and horror at being mislead, at treating her as if she was somehow different because of her gender, as if nothing they had shared mattered, even to dejectedly hand her the football he purchased saying, "maybe you can make it a doll", wait, a girl cannot toss around a football, Bull? Later, he finally makes up with her and they continue their father/daughter type connection with her showing up in a dress and them heading off to the opera...so, why does the activity have to change?
In very truth, some seasons later this show would challenge the notion of sexuality and gender in a way that was un-seen anywhere else back then, such as when Dan Fieldings high school jock buddy shows up as a woman, but still this episode, "Bull gets a kid" did not sit well with me. For even though I am full cis-gender chic, I believe that that doesn't stop me from enjoying activities and indulging in arenas that may seem more male and believe that all should have this luxury, no matter how they identify.
Yet, this will not stop me from calling Night Court the best TV show, well basically, my favorite TV show of all time.
Next, the other night, I watched season three, episode five, "Halloween, Too", in which Harry falls hard for a woman who ends up being a practicing witch, of which he finds out after she is arrested and brought before him for disrupting the peace because of a ritual in Central Park. Okay, the issue with her being a witch is not the issue, it's how they decided to follow through with the story, which I find as more lazy than discriminatory towards any form of religion.
Through the interactions between Harry and his other colleagues, it is made known that the relationship between him and his witch girlfriend would cause a major scandal and possibly affect the ability for him to keep his job. I was confused by this but wanted to offer the benefit of the doubt, it was the eighties, this could have been normal, right? My partner, a man in his sixties, shook his head no, not even in the eighties.
So, am I pissed at Night Court for some kind of weird alternative religious discrimination? No, I'm not pissed at all in fact, but kinda relieved. See, I feel that this story line specifically was kinda lazy on behalf of the writers. It would appear as if because Harry couldn't maintain this relationship past this episode they had to find a way to end it, break his heart because I guess they enjoyed hurting the poor guy (them bastards), and, hey, it's a Halloween episode so why not make her a witch and...yeah, lazy writing.***
But, no, I'm not pissed. Like, I said, I'm relieved. Because as a creator myself, in so many ways influenced by Night Court itself, it's a relief to see that the show that was and is my foundation didn't always knock it out of the ballpark and, you know, that's okay.
So, I take that to heart when what I create and put out in the world doesn't make the hugest of splashes or brings about some criticism, all the greats have their moments, right, they can't all be gems.
No matter, keep creating, keep following the path.
Now, I know this was the eighties, just a mere thirty years outside of the fifties, and that the notion of gender was more strict and restricted than is today, but I still found an issue with this. As a child, I don't recall having such issue, yes, but still I may not have actually seen this episode back then or just may not have fully understood ( I was a kid after all). What bothered me was Bull's acting with such betrayal and horror at being mislead, at treating her as if she was somehow different because of her gender, as if nothing they had shared mattered, even to dejectedly hand her the football he purchased saying, "maybe you can make it a doll", wait, a girl cannot toss around a football, Bull? Later, he finally makes up with her and they continue their father/daughter type connection with her showing up in a dress and them heading off to the opera...so, why does the activity have to change?
In very truth, some seasons later this show would challenge the notion of sexuality and gender in a way that was un-seen anywhere else back then, such as when Dan Fieldings high school jock buddy shows up as a woman, but still this episode, "Bull gets a kid" did not sit well with me. For even though I am full cis-gender chic, I believe that that doesn't stop me from enjoying activities and indulging in arenas that may seem more male and believe that all should have this luxury, no matter how they identify.
Yet, this will not stop me from calling Night Court the best TV show, well basically, my favorite TV show of all time.
Next, the other night, I watched season three, episode five, "Halloween, Too", in which Harry falls hard for a woman who ends up being a practicing witch, of which he finds out after she is arrested and brought before him for disrupting the peace because of a ritual in Central Park. Okay, the issue with her being a witch is not the issue, it's how they decided to follow through with the story, which I find as more lazy than discriminatory towards any form of religion.
So, am I pissed at Night Court for some kind of weird alternative religious discrimination? No, I'm not pissed at all in fact, but kinda relieved. See, I feel that this story line specifically was kinda lazy on behalf of the writers. It would appear as if because Harry couldn't maintain this relationship past this episode they had to find a way to end it, break his heart because I guess they enjoyed hurting the poor guy (them bastards), and, hey, it's a Halloween episode so why not make her a witch and...yeah, lazy writing.***
But, no, I'm not pissed. Like, I said, I'm relieved. Because as a creator myself, in so many ways influenced by Night Court itself, it's a relief to see that the show that was and is my foundation didn't always knock it out of the ballpark and, you know, that's okay.
So, I take that to heart when what I create and put out in the world doesn't make the hugest of splashes or brings about some criticism, all the greats have their moments, right, they can't all be gems.
No matter, keep creating, keep following the path.
And I won't let you get me down
I'll keep gettin' up when I hit the ground
Oh, never give up, no, never give up no, no, oh
I won't let you get me down
I'll keep gettin' up when I hit the ground
Oh, never give up, no, never give up no, no, oh
I'll find my way, find my way home, oh, oh, oh
I'll find my way, find my way home, oh, oh, oh
I'll find my way, find my way home, oh, oh, oh
I'll find my way, find my way home, oh, oh, oh
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