Today’s review target, the third season of Night Court (which Warner Brothers sent me a copy of) is something of a joy to me personally, because it’s a little piece of my childhood.

See, I used to love this show.  It was on Wednesdays, if I remember right, about nine o’clock, and when I was a kid, this show was hilarious.  But would it stand the test of time?

Night Court revolves around exactly what the title says it does–the New York Criminal Court (part two), or, Night Court.  The night shift of New York Criminal Court is populated largely by a collection of misfits and loons.  Led by Mel Torme fanboy and prankster general Harry Stone, and assisted by lecherous assistant district attorney Dan Fielding, beleaguered, besweatered clerk Mac Robinson, massive, childlike bailiff Bull Shannon, and new additions Christine Sullivan and Flo the bailiff, the crew of the Night Court must navigate their way through a series of preposterous cases in order to serve justice and the public trust.

I admit that I was afraid, when I started watching this one.  I was afraid that the jokes would be stale, the visuals fuzzy, the sound ruined.  I was afraid that this show wouldn’t make me laugh the way it did when I was just a wee lad watching the reruns late at night on local television.

My fears were entirely ungrounded.  After just the first two episodes I had had at least seven moments in which I actually laughed, out loud.  Three times I said “It’s still funny!” and I meant every last one of them.  The density of the jokes in this thing is still downright awesome, and precious few of them are dependent on their era.  Those handful that are time-dependent are actually funnier IN RETROSPECT.   That is, looking back on the time in which they were delivered makes them even more relevant because we knew what would happen with the rest of the decade in which it was released.

But that’s a minor point.  The key takeaway here is that, if you’ve never seen this show, it’s going to blow your mind.  And if you’ve seen it before, you’re going to love catching up with all the antics and laughs.  The timing, the occasional bouts of physical humor–everything you could possibly want out of a comedy is right here.

The Screenhead Ten Scale hands this laugh riot of classic humor a nine out of ten for being comedy that stands up against the greatest test–time. It’s still funny.  Enjoy it.