PLOT: Po (Jack Black) is ordered by Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) to train a new “Chosen One” so that he can take on a new role as Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace. 

REVIEW: Kung Fu Panda 4 is pretty standard fare for a new movie in a franchise that’s gone inactive. Watching Kung Fu Panda 4, I couldn’t help but think of Cars 3 or Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, which were both “passing the torch” sequels that didn’t really work out that way. Cars 3 all but ended the franchise; while Ghost Protocol was so badass, people fell in love with Tom Cruise all over again, making the notion of him passing on his franchise to a would-be-successor (in that case Jeremy Renner) ludicrous. All that is to say Kung Fu Panda 4 does the usual thing for a long-awaited sequel, with the movie designed to have Jack Black’s Po eventually pass the reins of a franchise – to some extent – over to a new character, in this case Awkwafina’s Zhen, a Corsac Fox. I suppose they’re aiming to eventually get a Kung Fu Fox franchise going, with Black’s Po shifting to a wizened mentor role, but watching this movie with a packed matinee audience, I’m not sure this idea works.

Kung Fu Panda 4 is a decent enough animated romp, even if the franchise kinda ran out of steam a while ago. For me, a forty-two-year-old critic, it felt like the series had gotten a little tepid, but here’s the thing – the kids in the audience went crazy any time Black’s Po was on-screen. There’s something about a funny, furry panda that children love, and for me, the reason a Kung Fu Fox franchise might fall flat is that the character design on Awkwafina’s Zhen just isn’t as instantly iconic or recognizable as Po. 

Kung Fu Panda 4 will likely do fine at the box office, as even if the franchise is set to (potentially) focus on Zhen in future films, Po is still the star here. One of the interesting things about an animated franchise is that the characters never have to age, and Black’s voice work is as energetic as ever. Yet, it can’t be denied that his arc as the Dragon Warrior seems to have run its course, so perhaps finding a successor in the Karate Kid vein isn’t a bad idea. It should have been another Panda, though. Heck, even one voiced by Awkwafina, who’s actually quite funny as Zhen, a duplicitous thief with a heart of gold. She dropped her controversial “blaccent” some time ago and gives the part a lot of energy, with her having a swarmy energy as opposed to the still naive Po. 

Too bad then that too many of their adventures seem recycled from the other films when they pursue a villainess called The Chameleon (voiced by Viola Davis) who can take on the shape of other villains, such as Ian McShane’s Tai Lung from the first film. One thing that’s a surprise is that Davis has never voiced a character in a big animated film like this. Given that she has one of the best voices in the business, it’s no surprise that her voicework as the Chameleon is one of the movie’s highlights.

One thing the film suffers from is the near total absence of Po’s friends, the Furious Five, meaning the biggest stars from the last few movies – like Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, David Cross, and Lucy Liu – aren’t really in this one. Their absence is felt, but they try to make up for it by giving Po’s two dads, voiced by Bryan Cranston and James Hong, bigger roles. Their buddy-comedy scenes together are the movie’s highlight. New additions like Ronny Chieng and Ke Huy Quan are fun but not as iconic as the Furious Five, making the movie feel a little less epic than its predecessors. 

In the end, the film is all about planting the seeds for a potentially new direction for the franchise, but again, after having seen this with a kiddie audience, I don’t think they want to see Po in the wise mentor role. They want him leaping around yelling “ska-doosh”. Kung Fu Panda 4 has enough of that to make it a fun enough romp for kids, but it can’t help but feel like this franchise’s moment has passed, and isn’t really strong enough material to sustain a spin-off.

Kung Fu Panda 4

AVERAGE

6

The post Kung Fu Panda 4 Review appeared first on JoBlo.

Last August, we heard that Imagine Entertainment had picked up the film rights to Daniel Kraus’s “swallowed by a whale” thriller novel Whalefall (you can buy a copy at THIS LINK) and now Deadline has a cool update on the project: 20th Century Studios has come out the winner in a bidding war over the Whalefall theatrical distribution rights, and Brian Duffield – who recently worked with 20th Century on the alien invasion film No One Will Save You – has signed on to co-write, direct, and produce the film.

Duffield is working on the screenplay with Kraus, and here’s the story they’ll be bringing to the screen: Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand – to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year. The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out – one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale. Suspenseful and cinematic, Whalefall is an “astoundingly great” (Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author) thriller about a young man who has given up on life… only to find a reason to live in the most dangerous and unlikely of places.

What a shorter description? Whalefall is “The Martian meets 127 Hours,” a “scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.“

Duffield is producing the film alongside Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and Allan Mandelbaum of Imagine Entertainment. Richard Abate and Will Rowbotham of 3 Arts Entertainment serve as executive producers. J.R. Young is overseeing the project for 20th Century Studios.

In addition to writing and directing No One Will Save You, Duffield also worked on the screenplays for Jane Got a Gun, The Babysitter, Underwater, and Love and Monsters, and he created the Netflix animated series Skull Island. He made his feature directorial debut with Spontaneous.

What do you think of Brian Duffield signing on to direct Whalefall? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is now opening its doors and its arms to welcome Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine. Before Disney purchased 20th Century Fox, Fox’s Marvel playground was the X-Men franchise. They could give a team member spin-offs, like Wolverine’s solo series, or explore a different facet of mutant-kind with a film like The New Mutants. Before the Deadpool movies with Ryan Reynolds took off, there was actually another version of his story that was planned involving the X-Force team getting their own movie.

According to ScreenRant, Jeff Wadlow, director of Kick-Ass 2, recently appeared on A Trip to the Movies with Alex Zane. He revealed his scrapped plans for an X-Force movie that would have had Ryan Reynolds redeem the interpretation of Wade Wilson from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This project was one of many canceled explorations into the X-Men universe, such as Channing Tatum‘s solo Gambit movie.

Wadlow explained, “I was lucky enough to write an X-Force script for Fox before the original Deadpool film was made. He’d been in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and, as a comic book fan, I knew that was a travesty. That was a total abomination. I wanted to get it right. My pitch for the movie was, ‘If X-Men is about mutants that get to go to private school, what about the mutants that get to go to public school?’ I wrote this movie that was very much inspired by the original X-Men run back in the ’90s. I introduced Cable as this dark mentor for our characters. It was definitely about the young mutants formerly known as the New Mutants. In my movie, it was Cannonball, Boom-Boom, I aged Domino down…Rictor was there. Feral was there. I put them on this road movie. I modeled it after Red Dawn. They were on the run in West Texas.”

He continued, “I wanted this antagonist chasing them the whole time. Deadpool was introduced as a villain in the original X-Force run, so I had our main villain hire a mercenary to hire this group of ragtag villains down and the mercenary hired was Deadpool. He was in motorcycle leathers with this red ballistic face mask. I made it very clear he was going to look just like he did in the comic books. I wanted Ryan [Reynolds] to play the part…I got in touch with Ryan, got him the script and he loved it. He said it was, like, a grand cameo for Deadpool. It was a supporting part. I played him as an antagonist but, ultimately, they turned him in the end.”

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Last month, it was announced that writer/producer Judalina Neira is developing a TV series reimagining of the classic sitcom Bewitched for Sony Pictures Television, aiming to turn it into an “irreverent hourlong” show. NBC clearly likes the idea of reviving Bewitched, because now Deadline has broken the news that the network has their own “Bewitched-inspired” show called Something Wicked in the works, and this one already has a star attached: June Diane Raphael, who may be best known for playing the character Brianna Hanson for the 94 episodes that make up the Netflix series Grace and Frankie, which ran for seven seasons.

Raphael is also writing and executive producing Something Wicked with Dickinson creator Alena Smith. A multi-camera comedy, the show is described as having a Bewitched-type premise and will also serve as an homage to TV sitcom classics. It examines the condition of modern adult womanhood and how even with witchcraft, balancing everything is impossible.

The show is set up at Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

If you need a refresher: The classic sitcom Bewitched ran for eight seasons and a total of 254 episodes, premiering on September 17, 1964 and wrapping up on March 25, 1972. A spin-off called Tabitha came and went in 1977, then Bewitched received a big screen reboot back in 2005. The original series showed us what happened when a witch married an ordinary mortal man, vowing to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife.

What do you think of the fact that there are now dueling Bewitched-inspired projects in the works? Would you be interested in watching a witchy comedy series that stars June Diane Raphael? Share your thoughts on Something Wicked by leaving a comment below.

In addition to Grace and Frankie, Raphael’s credits include Zodiac, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Bride Wars, Year One, Going the Distance, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, The Disaster Artist, Blockers, 8-Bit Christmas, Cheaper by the Dozen, and episodes of Flight of the Conchords, Party Down, Players, Parks and Recreation, Burning Love, The League, The Muppets, Veep, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The New Girl, Fresh Off the Boat, The Goldbergs, Abbott Elementary, The Morning Show, and Frasier.

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PLOT: A woman returns to her childhood home to discover that the imaginary friend she left behind is very real and unhappy that she abandoned him.

REVIEW: 2024 has already not been a great year for Blumhouse horror films. Night Swim absolutely sunk on release and I can’t imagine a world where Imaginary does well. Because everything about this PG-13 horror venture feels tired and uninspired. That’s not a massive surprise, as the trailer induced groans at nearly every screening I’ve attended over the last few months. But whenever these kinds of movies are released, I always wonder: is there at least some dumb fun to be had? Unfortunately, this one is nearly barren of entertainment value.

Imaginary follows a young artist named Jessica (DeWanda Wise) as she returns to her childhood home with her new husband and stepkids, Alice and Taylor. There’s a mystery around what happened to her as a kid, as young Alice makes an imaginary friend of her own. Weird things start to happen as Jessica starts to realize that she may know Alice’s new friend. And if you’re hoping for some fun mystery elements then prepare to be disappointed. Every twist and turn is telegraphed well in advance, with some reveals happening more than one time.

One of Imaginary‘s biggest issues is its overreliance on exposition through dialogue. I lost track of the number of times a character just described exactly what was happening and erased any sense of nuance. It got to the point of absolute hilarity as the filmmakers simply won’t let a moment go unexplained. Even if that character is by themselves. They instantly need a character to come in and spell things out for the audience. It reeks of a studio demanding more clarity, in the process dumbing everything down to the lowest common denominator. Which is too bad because there are a few interesting ideas, but they never have any time to develop, often being sidelined by something idiotic.

There’s not a single character to root for as they’re all so bland and one-dimensional. Wise does her best, but Jessica is such a nothing person on the page. Taylor is the stereotypical emotional time bomb of a teenager, getting angry for no reason, and making nonstop bad decisions. They try to add a conflict between her and Jessica, but there’s not much reason for it. Not even a misunderstanding. It feels like Taylor was simply told that kids are supposed to be mean to their step-parents and she gleefully took on the challenge.

Despite tipping his toes in the genre for the last twenty years, director Jeff Wadlow fails to make anything interesting yet again. Like his prior efforts Fantasy Island and Truth or Dare, Imaginary relies on jump scares and dull characters to make up its runtime. Unlike either of those trainwrecks, I struggle to even laugh at this. The “so bad it’s good” genre can make for a great watch with friends, but there needs to be something to latch onto to carry it into that holy ground. Unfortunately, this just treads water until winding up exactly how you expect it to. There are no stakes and such minimal consequences that I couldn’t help thinking: what was the point?

The third act finally gives us something slightly more unique and interesting. I obviously won’t go too far into detail, but it involves a lot more imagination than anywhere else in the film. Imaginary is at its best when it’s taking advantage of a fantastical/nightmarish setting. But it does this so little, that I question why they even decided to make a movie on this subject matter in the first place. An imaginary friend in the horror space should have resulted in so much more. Instead, the audience is going to have to keep on using that imagination if they’re hoping for a good movie.

IMAGINARY IS IN THEATERS IN THE US ON MARCH 8TH, 2024.

Imaginary

NOT GOOD

4

The post Imaginary Review appeared first on JoBlo.

For multiple generations, Star Wars has been the go-to sci-fi franchise. Now, with the success of Denis Villenueve’s Dune movies, it might have its own legs as the quintessential sci-fi experience. But there is a common link: Christopher Walken. OK, so Walken didn’t board the Millennium Falcon, but he did at least audition for the role of Han Solo, which he’s glad he didn’t get.

Speaking with Vanity Fair, Christopher Walken remembered that he did in fact do a screen test for Star Wars alongside Jodie Foster (auditioning for Princess Leia), saying, “I’m not sure we did a scene. Maybe we just sat in front of, in those days, those old videotape cameras…We might have just sat there and did the name, rank, and serial number type of thing. I would say that, Yes, I did audition for Star Wars, but so did about 500 other actors. It was lots of people doing that.” Instead, that year he would play Diane Keaton’s brother in Annie Hall, petrifying Woody Allen with his visions of driving into oncoming traffic.

And so while Christopher Walken may not have spent any time on the desert planet of Tatooine, he does now officially have ties to Arrakis. As for what drew him out of a four-year hiatus from the screen, the actor (who turns 81 this month) said he was a fan of Villeueve and the cast…and the short time on set didn’t hurt, either. “I had, of course, seen the first Dune a number of times. I loved it, and I admired [Villeneuve’s] movies. Arrival, I thought, was wonderful…And to be with all those terrific actors —Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, and Stellan Skarsgård—and to go to Budapest, which is a beautiful city. And of course, that’s what I do for a living. It was only, I think, three weeks. So, everything about it was attractive.”

Christopher Walken has brought us some of the more fascinating sci-fi performances of the ‘80s, turning up compelling work in The Dead Zone and Brainstorm. There’s also the little-seen The Mind Snatchers, actually Walken’s first starring role and one well worth checking out. But no, he had no business playing Han Solo.

What is your favorite sci-fi or horror performance from Christopher Walken? Give us your pick below!

The post Christopher Walken is glad he didn’t get the part of Han Solo; also explains why he came out of hiatus for Dune appeared first on JoBlo.

For multiple generations, Star Wars has been the go-to sci-fi franchise. Now, with the success of Denis Villenueve’s Dune movies, it might have its own legs as the quintessential sci-fi experience. But there is a common link: Christopher Walken. OK, so Walken didn’t board the Millennium Falcon, but he did at least audition for the role of Han Solo, which he’s glad he didn’t get.

Speaking with Vanity Fair, Christopher Walken remembered that he did in fact do a screen test for Star Wars alongside Jodie Foster (auditioning for Princess Leia), saying, “I’m not sure we did a scene. Maybe we just sat in front of, in those days, those old videotape cameras…We might have just sat there and did the name, rank, and serial number type of thing. I would say that, Yes, I did audition for Star Wars, but so did about 500 other actors. It was lots of people doing that.” Instead, that year he would play Diane Keaton’s brother in Annie Hall, petrifying Woody Allen with his visions of driving into oncoming traffic.

And so while Christopher Walken may not have spent any time on the desert planet of Tatooine, he does now officially have ties to Arrakis. As for what drew him out of a four-year hiatus from the screen, the actor (who turns 81 this month) said he was a fan of Villeueve and the cast…and the short time on set didn’t hurt, either. “I had, of course, seen the first Dune a number of times. I loved it, and I admired [Villeneuve’s] movies. Arrival, I thought, was wonderful…And to be with all those terrific actors —Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, and Stellan Skarsgård—and to go to Budapest, which is a beautiful city. And of course, that’s what I do for a living. It was only, I think, three weeks. So, everything about it was attractive.”

Christopher Walken has brought us some of the more fascinating sci-fi performances of the ‘80s, turning up compelling work in The Dead Zone and Brainstorm. There’s also the little-seen The Mind Snatchers, actually Walken’s first starring role and one well worth checking out. But no, he had no business playing Han Solo.

What is your favorite sci-fi or horror performance from Christopher Walken? Give us your pick below!

The post Christopher Walken is glad he didn’t get the part of Han Solo; also explains why he came out of hiatus for Dune appeared first on JoBlo.

Margaret Qualley will play Amanda Knox in an eight-episode limited series ordered at Hulu. The show is “based on the true story of how Knox was wrongfully convicted for the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher and her 16-year odyssey to set herself free.“

The series was created by KJ Steinberg (This Is Us), who will serve as writer and executive producer. In addition to starring as Amanda Knox, Qualley will also executive produce alongside Steinberg, Warren Littlefield, Lisa Harrison, Ann Johnson, and Graham Littlefield. Monica Lewinsky is also onboard as an executive producer, with Amanda Knox and Chris Robinson producing via Knox Robinson Productions.

Amanda Knox commented on the series in a series of since-deleted posts on social media, saying that previous adaptations of her story haven’t felt true to what she experienced. “When I first came home from prison, I was approached by big players in Hollywood who wanted to tell my story,” she wrote. “I turned them down. It didn’t feel like MY story. It felt like the story of a bunch of other people’s mistakes and the consequences that I and others suffered as a result. It felt like a story I was trapped in.” Previous projects dealing with Knox’s story include Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial for Lifetime and the Netflix documentary Amanda Knox.

Knox credits Monica Lewinsky with getting the ball rolling on the Hulu series. “[Lewinsky] deeply understood the stakes, and had a keen talent for storytelling herself,” she said. “She connected us with 20th Television and Hulu, and we were off to the races!” Knox is also thrilled that Qualley will play her in the series. “Margaret Qualley, who is magical in everything she’s starred in, from Maid, to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, to the new Drive Away Dolls,” Knox said. “I still can’t quite believe she said yes.“

Margaret Qualley was recently seen in Drive Away Dolls, a comedy directed by Ethan Coen, which he also co-wrote with Tricia Cooke. The film follows Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.

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PLOT: A dutiful damsel agrees to marry a handsome prince, only to find the royal family has recruited her as a sacrifice to repay an ancient debt. Thrown into a cave with a fire-breathing dragon, she must rely on her wits and will to survive.

REVIEW: The idea of the anti-fairy tale is nothing new. From the grounded Cinderella tale Ever After starring Drew Barrymore to the John Wick-inspired The Princess starring Joey King, outdated stories of helpless maidens needing to be rescued by Prince Charming have lost their appeal in recent years. With empowerment narratives sometimes going too far in the opposite direction, striking a balance between good storytelling without archaic stereotypes is a tricky endeavor. While Disney has tried to flip the script with animated projects like Frozen or the live-action Maleficent, Netflix has delivered an update to the age-old stories of dragons, royalty, and knights with their dark fantasy Damsel. Led by Millie Bobby Brown, Damsel is a rousing adventure that is full of action, blood, and fire. While it may not be a new benchmark for the modern fairy tale story, it is a solid genre outing that is fun from beginning to end.

With much of Damsel’s narrative twist spoiled in the trailer, you likely already know that the story follows Lord Bayford (Ray Winstone) and his daughters Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown) and Floria (Brooke Carter) as well as their stepmother (Angela Bassett). With their realm suffering, Lord Bayford accepts an invitation from Queen Isabelle (Robin Wright) to have Elodie marry their son, Prince Henry (Nick Robinson). Unbeknownst to Elodie, her father has struck a deal for gold in exchange for her life as a sacrifice to a dragon. As part of a ritual going back generations, Elodie is far from the first to be given up to the fire-breathing beast, but she may be the last. Surviving her initial descent, Elodie quickly uses her wits to elude the monstrous creature and plot her escape from its mountain lair. While you would think this would be the bulk of Damsel‘s running time, much of the second half of the film upends expectations with some interesting decisions.

For the majority of Damsel, Millie Bobby Brown is alone. After the opening act follows an expected formula for a fairy tale, the film kicks into gear once Elodie encounters the massive dragon. Voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo, the dragon is more than just an animal and may be the most intriguing CGI character since Smaug in The Hobbit films. Not nearly as expressive as Benedict Cumberbatch’s motion-captured performance, Aghdashloo’s signature gravelly voice gives the beast a depth of character that is at once frightening and intriguing. Brown, who has been a solid lead for Netflix in Stranger Things as well as the two Enola Holmes films, is very good here as a princess who is anything but conventional. But, while we have seen the unconventional princess cliche before, Elodie does not come across as stereotypical. Yes, she wants to marry for love instead of politics and yes she is as smart as she is beautiful, but her journey to escape from the dragon is wrought with failures, obstacles, and injuries. This adds some much-needed tension as do a couple of twists along the way that keep the story lively.

The film also boasts some good supporting performances, especially from Angela Bassett and Robin Wright. Playing the stepmother, Bassett could have been a throwaway role for a much less talented actor but she manages to make Lady Bayford an interesting element in the story. Robin Wright, best known as Buttercup in The Princess Bride, does her best to channel that film’s Chris Sarandon as a duplicitous monarch. Wright has played many heroic roles in her career, but Queen Isabelle is the closest she has found to her acclaimed House of Cards role. Wright’s role is key to this story. Nick Robinson, as the charming Prince Henry, does not have much to do here but that may be because Damsel is a female-centric story that focuses on the role of the women in this fairy tale. While not exclusionary to male characters, their existence in this film is more to further the plot rather than actively engage in it.

At just under two hours, Damsel benefits from solid special effects work. Not just in regards to streaming films, Damsel boasts CGI that would look just as good on the big screen as it does on your television. There are a few instances where the budgetary limits show, but the production values make up for that. The script by Dan Mazeau (Fast X) kept me interested to see where things would go and, for the most part, did not disappoint. Much of the story is familiar and you will likely see where things are going, but Mazeau never lets the twists and turns feel telegraphed too far ahead. Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) gives Damsel a look that starts bright and clean like a Disney fairy tale before devolving into the murk and dark of the mountain caves with a look straight out of Peter Jackson’s playbook. Damsel also pushes the envelope of the PG-13 rating with some truly gruesome death sequences that may be harsh for younger audiences. Overall, this is a fun movie that should appeal to a wide audience, many of whom may enjoy it until the very final scene. That is where things come apart.

Damsel kept my attention almost all of the way through until the end. While it is not a bad ending, perse, it does leave a lot of questions open. Maybe I need to chalk things up to suspension of disbelief, but the final fifteen minutes of Damsel left me scratching my head a bit. Odds are that most viewers won’t think much of what happens to wrap up this story, but I was left feeling like things were too open-ended. Regardless of that, Damsel manages to deliver an adventure that will appeal to all ages and tells a modern fairy tale story that Disney has struggled to do with their live-action remakes. Millie Bobby Brown is a very capable heroine who has the acting talent to make Elodie believable and the physical presence to pull this story off. Damsel is a good movie from Netflix that is just the right running time and looks every bit as good as any big-screen production out there.

Damsel

GOOD

7

The post Damsel Review appeared first on JoBlo.

The Night Court revival has seen the return of several characters from the original series, but I think fans are going to be most excited by the appearance of Brent Spiner and Annie O’Donnell as Bob and June Wheeler, the perpetually down-on-their-luck couple who always have a wild story about their misfortunes.

Brent Spiner and Annie O’Donnell will appear in next week’s episode, “Wheelers of Fortune,” you can check out some photos of their Night Court return below.

Kate Micucci joins the pair as their daughter Carol Ann. “Huge surprises are in store for Dan when he’s tasked with representing Bob and June Wheeler, the notoriously unfortunate couple from the original iteration who resurface – this time with daughter Carol Ann in tow,” reads the episode’s synopsis. “While 30 years may have elapsed, their bad luck undoubtedly continues to plague them.“

The new Night Court series revolves around “unapologetic optimist judge Abby Stone (Melissa Rauch), the daughter of the late Harry Stone, who follows in her father’s footsteps as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court and tries to bring order to its crew of oddballs and cynics, most notably former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette).” The launch of the series gave NBC their best comedy premiere since Will & Grace in 2017, so it was no surprise when they renewed the series for a second season.

“It’s such a dream getting to be on set with Brent and Annie, seeing them walk into the courtroom and stand in front of the judge’s bench that I’m sitting at,” Rauch told UPI in an interview. “It feels like I stepped into a time machine.“

Our own Alex Maidy reviewed the series and was pleasantly surprised. “Night Court is a broad, multi-camera sitcom that mugs for the camera, makes silly jokes, and manages to feel like an homage to all the funny shows we watched in the 1980s and 1990s,” Maidy wrote. “Unlike some recent reboots like Murphy Brown and Will & Grace, Night Court works because it blends the classic elements of the series that inspired it by bringing back legacy characters but also adding in a new main cast who echo the original series without being carbon copies. Fans of Night Court should enjoy this new series quite a bit, but I hesitate to think many new viewers will be as enamored by the old-school style and jokes of this throwback.” You can check out the rest of Maidy’s review right here.

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