I giustizieri della notte

I just recently discovered this show and I really like it a lot. The story is different from other shows on TV right now. It has some comedy and drama and a lot of action, and all the actors just seem to go well together. I really like Bruce Abbott in the title role. I didn't know it was on a few years ago, I thought it was a new show. Silly me. I like it anyway and hope it stays on long enough for me to tape several of the episodes. (Unless they are available on VHS!)

3 actors apparently played the lead of Nick the judge. I never saw any with the original actor nor was I aware there was someone who played the role prior, but I am aware of the 3rd actor who's name I don't know and is not listed in the cast on IMDb. They evidently brought the show back in 2000 I think on TNT with the new lead actor having a strikingly similar look to the 2nd and most popular Nick. It had everyone else back from the original and I'm not sure how long it lasted but it seemed to keep in step with the most popular of the 3 Nick's show but there still seemed to be something missing. We can thank the fact that CBS was willing to trash all of their crimetime lineup just to have a late show on their network for not getting more of this show at the time.

I enjoyed Dark Justice when it first appeared in the early 90's as part of the CBS Crimetime after Primetime lineup. The first season was good with Ramy Zada in the lead role, but you could tell the first season was shot in Spain. When the show moved back to the states and Bruce Abbott took over the lead role Dark Justice became a awesome show. The chemistry between Bruce(Nick) and Janet(Kelly) was great. They also interacted well with Clayton(Gibbs) and Dick(Moon). This show should have lasted alot longer than three seasons. I was glad to see Dark Justice being aired on TNT. I have since taped all the episodes. I would like to see a TV movie made and bring back Bruce, Janet, and Clayton to there roles. No one could replace Dick. There could be a Nightwatchmen story where they kill Moon and the group goes after the bad guys who did it.

My wife and I watched this show along with "Sweating Bullets", "Forever Knight", etc in the group of syndicated shows that made up what we collectively referred to as "sleaze" - and we enjoyed them all. "Dark Justice" had an edge to it lacking most of the time in the others. The vengeance theme never outweighed other moral considerations. The only real irritation was "the miracle of the hair": our hero would be neatly shorn in court and a wildly hirsute biker immediately after. Could he have tucked it down the back of his shirt? No. I fear our crusading jurist wore a six quart wig.

Nick was clearly a highly successful judge to have made it from cop to District Attorney to Your Honor in such a short time. He was supposed to die in the bombing, but neither he nor the bomber had any way of knowing his wife and daughter would take the wired car before him. That incident by itself did not change his purpose — it was the outcome of the trial that set the tone for his double life. The judge recruited some lower-level offenders (which he was clearly able to sentence more easily) for an unusual form of community service: join his leather-clad vigilante patrol – the Night Watchmen – to bring down those who were able to use legal loopholes to get off scot-free (as did the bomber). He still operated from the bench by day, except that he warned those he knew were guilty: justice is blind, but it sees in the dark. By night, off came the glasses, down came his hair, and the suit was replaced by a leather outfit. And off they went on their motorcycles, to target the antagonist.