castlegirl09

Rob Lowe is from a generation of kitschy and heartfelt sitcoms. John Owen Lowe is from a generation of bizarre and raunchy comedy.

This show has both.

The show navigates difficult family relationships and grief. Comedy-laden banter is often followed by deep heartfelt conversations. Not every storyline or quip hits, but that comes with every show in its inaugural season.

Unstable also relies heavily on the real-life father-son relationship between Rob and John Owen, which leads to some missed digs and jokes if the audience isn't keen to their reality. Johnny loves to dig on Rob's golden retriever personality and narcissism, and Rob makes several digs about John Owen choosing show business over his success in stem-cell research.

It's the first time I've laughed out loud at a show in years. It also kept my attention enough to keep me off my phone without a need to endlessly scroll.

The original Night Court had an episode where school children took a field trip to the courtroom. That episode ranks somewhere near the bottom 10 of the series for me. This episode has to be near the bottom 5 episodes of all tv shows for me. Both episodes beg the question, why are children visiting a courtroom active from 10 pm to 3 am??

It's true that sitcoms are an endangered species, and this episode is a good reason why. Does everyone have a right to have their opinion heard? Absolutely. Do I want politics and social issues thrown at me every time I watch a tv show to unwind from this crazy world? Absolutely not.

A bailiff who joins in a protest against their judge's decision while on the job?? How does Gurg still have a job? All acting is stiffer than a board and the episode that is supposed to take some sort of action scratches the surface. One two minute conversation fixes everything. I really hope this series gets better.

The original Night Court went through 2 public defenders, 3 bailiffs, and 2 court clerks before the found the perfect mesh with their cast, so hopefully that can be the case with this iteration. Abby, Dan, and Olivia are fine. Neil could use some work, but Grug just doesn't work. It makes me thing that when Bull declined to come back, they scurried to figure out how to combine two bailiffs into one. Grug ends up being a Great Value Roz with Bull's childish mindset and it makes it seem like Lacretta can't act. (Also, why is Abby dressed like it's 2013?!)

I see the heart from the original, and know that producers and writers are trying to connect the dots between the original's end to now. Hopefully with a few cast changes and after they explain what happened to Harry, Mac, Christine, Bull, and Roz, they'll find their footing.