Nachtschicht mit John

Unique, funny and pure genius. This show was the perfect forum for Larroquette's abilities and he played extremely well off of the other actors. I still hold a grudge against NBC for changing, then changing, then changing, then cancelling the show. If it had not been constantly tinkered-with and toned down, it might still be running. I mean, how many comedic programs deal with a recovering alcoholic and have a prostitute as a character? With the recent explosion of television programs dealing with darker content, it's easy to see that this show was ahead of its time. I'd love to get the DVDs, though NBC may not release them.

I haven't seen this since it was first-run, but it made an impression on me. This was a great show, especially the first season. Very funny, very dark. The acerbic JL was a great match for the material, and given his personal difficulties in the 80's, he personally must have been able to relate to the character, a last-chance alcoholic working graveyard in a bus station. I remember the show as having a great, dark tone that you usually didn't see in sitcoms, more so than Night Court, which erred on the slapstick side. The first season of the show I remember as having no fear dealing with 'John Hemingway's dark side, and his alcoholism. The plots often portrayed a similar cast of midnight nutballs, loonies, the down-on-their-luck and some out-and-out losers. But, while redemption was a ways away, JL's character was on the upward path. It was good to see them deal with and not shy away from people's real problems. The teeth of the show got pulled later... Unfortunately after the show's first season of moderate success, the network (or somebody) decided that it needed to be a bit more family-friendly or something and added Alison La Placa as a love interest, and made the tone and lighting a bit brighter. Too bad, as there was plenty of patina in the station and among the great cast of characters including Dary' (no more 'chill'?) Mitchell as the put- upon Dexter, the reliable Chi McBride, Liz Torres, and especially Elizabeth Berridge as the too-cute-for-a-cop Officer Eggers. I wonder if she would have ended up as the love interest had they not brought in La Placa. Anyways, we really need season one on DVD.

I have such fond memories of this show. I don't know if I would find it as funny now, but when it was out my brother and I never missed an episode. It's nice to see that just about all of the lead cast is still working today too. I would love to see at least the first season out on DVD sometime. I would recommend this show to everyone that likes John Larouquette. This role was made for him and it played very well with the occasional drama but mostly the great hearty laughs. My favorite characters were John of course and the two cops that barely ever worked. They ate lots of food and donut's and the two played off each other wonderfully. I don't even know if there are re-runs of this anywhere. It got the required four years but I have never seen it in syndication, which IMO is a total shame.

As has been mentioned before, this show had the potential to become another one of the big hits that NBC had in its stable. Everything about this show in the first season made it worth tuning in without fail every week. The problem came when in the second season, NBC decided to tone down the show, changing the entire storyline, and really trashing a great show. Cleaning up not only the rough and gritty setting, but changing the characters; what a shame. Basically, the end result is what would have happened to the film Heavy Metal if it were re-shot and re-cut, and edited by Disney. If Larroquette ever comes out on DVD, I'll buy just the first season. As I'm sure many others would as well.

Season 1 was superb: gritty, realistic characters who behaved like they lived gritty, realistic lives...unapologetic hookers, transvestites, bums, and alcoholics who were hilarious. Almost like watching a play...like "Hot L Baltimore" in the 70s. As the sign on John Laroquette's wall said, "This (was) a Dark Ride." Weird, fun, occasionally disturbing because it was a lot more lifelike than the usual sitcom.

Season 2? Blatantly obvious that the network got nervous about all those hookers, transvestites, bums, and alcoholics not being apologetic...the fix was in, they cleaned it up, and the show became just another basic sitcom about a bus station. I was sad to watch it go.