One of the most memorable characters on the hit 80s series, Night Court, was the sexually-obsessed, perpetually grumpy prosecutor, Dan Fielding. In fact, after winning 4 Emmy Awards in a row for the role, actor John Larroquette asked not be considered for a fifth. Still, his star was shining bright, and when Night Court ended its highly successful run after 9 seasons, it was only fitting to give the actor his own series.  The result was The John Larroquette Show.

Debuting in 1993 on NBC, The John Larroquette Show featured the star as John Hemmingway, a recovering alcoholic who works as a supervisor for the graveyard shift at a St. Louis bus station. If keeping his sobriety wasn’t enough of a challenge, John also had plenty of colorful characters to keep him company in the wee hours of the night, such as Pat, a man with a cheerful disposition who worked in drag as a prostitute. There were also plenty of guest appearances such as Bobcat Goldthwait, a neurotic assistant who could only perform the requirements of the job when drunk, and David Crosby, who appeared as John’s AA sponsor. All in all, the show was deliciously dark in tone as it surrounded a former heavy drinker with a side show of street people and general losers and allowed Larroquette’s scathing brand of humor to shine.

Unfortunately, the network execs thought the show was a little too dark, and decided to lighten things up considerably for the second season. Rather than have Hemmingway live in a dilapidated boarding house, they moved him into nice apartment. They brightened up the looks of the show’s sets. And, following another textbook formula, they decided that John needed a new love interest. While The John Larroquette Show managed to hang on in the ratings, it had lost much of the unique black humor that drew fans to it in the first place. The show was cancelled shortly after the beginning of the fourth season and fans were left with syndicated reruns of Night Court to see Larroquette in all of his devious glory.