The John Larroquette Show
Encyclopedia
The John Larroquette Show is a situation comedy that ran on the NBC
network from 1993
to 1996
. The show, created by Don Reo
, was a vehicle for John Larroquette
following his run as Dan Fielding on Night Court
. The series took place in a seedy bus terminal in St. Louis, Missouri
and focused on the people who worked the night shift. TV Guide
onced referred to the series as a 'sitcom noir'.
bus depot
.
Much of the show revolved around John's attempts to stay sober, and the first season roughly corresponds to to one episodes per the AA
program's Twelve Steps. John constantly struggled to keep control of the station, with regular conflicts with his secretary, Mahalia, the janitor, Heavy Gene, and most strongly with sandwich bar attendant, Dexter, who had been turned down for the position that John was appointed. Sexual tension happened with prostitute Carly.
One regular guest star was David Crosby
, who played Chester, John's sponsor for AA meetings
. Another episode guest starred Bobcat Goldthwait
, who played an assistant to John who was constantly a mess but became suddenly efficient and 'normal,' as soon as he got drunk. Richard S. "Kinky" Friedman
appeared as himself in a jail cell.
(which was fourth overall during the same season). There was talk of cancelling the show after the first season; in response the creators removed much of the dark humor and much of the bus depot setting for a more 'toned-down' look. The sets were brighter. The cast got transferred from the night shift to days. John's dingy boarding-house room was traded for a nice apartment. Oscar, the old bum who lived in one of the bus station phone booths cleaned up and became a shoeshine boy, and the prostitute character Carly (Gigi Rice) went "straight" and bought the bar at the bus station. The producers also decided to give John a romantic interest (Catherine Merrick, played by Alison LaPlaca
).
and left the show. The show's last episode aired on October 30, 1996 showing John and Officer Eggers on a date at a Halloween
party. Six episodes remained unaired until being shown on the USA Network
years later.
by NBC to make it look like it was recorded on film. Network promos even showed "unprocessed" clips. When it was rerun on the USA Network
, the processing was gone and the show had the look of a videotaped sitcom.
on acoustic guitar with a scat
vocal. A version of the performance lasting approximately one minute was used in the opening and closing sequences of the show during its first season. A much shorter edit of the song (lasting less than ten seconds) was heard only during the opening logo during the later seasons. An upbeat, jazzy instrumental tune was occasionally used for the closing theme in seasons three and four.
Steve Cochran
, a popular radio host on WGN 720 AM from Chicago, also has used the Cassidy song as the theme music for his own radio program.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
network from 1993
1993 in television
The year 1993 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1993.For the American TV schedule, see: 1993-94 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
to 1996
1993 in television
The year 1993 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1993.For the American TV schedule, see: 1993-94 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
. The show, created by Don Reo
Don Reo
Don Reo is an American television writer and producer. He created such shows as Blossom and The John Larroquette Show for NBC and My Wife and Kids for ABC....
, was a vehicle for John Larroquette
John Larroquette
John Edgar Bernard Larroquette, Jr. is an American film, television and Broadway actor. His roles include Dan Fielding on the series Night Court, Mike McBride in the Hallmark Channel series McBride, John Hemingway on The John Larroquette Show, and Carl Sack in Boston Legal.-Personal...
following his run as Dan Fielding on Night Court
Night Court
Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...
. The series took place in a seedy bus terminal in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
and focused on the people who worked the night shift. TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
onced referred to the series as a 'sitcom noir'.
Plot
The show revolved around John Hemingway, a recovering alcoholic newly appointed to the role of night shift manager of the St. LouisSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
bus depot
Bus station
A bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can stop...
.
Much of the show revolved around John's attempts to stay sober, and the first season roughly corresponds to to one episodes per the AA
AA
AA may refer to:- Organizations and businesses :* Architectural Association School of Architecture, the prestigious London based School of Architecture* Architects' Association of Denmark...
program's Twelve Steps. John constantly struggled to keep control of the station, with regular conflicts with his secretary, Mahalia, the janitor, Heavy Gene, and most strongly with sandwich bar attendant, Dexter, who had been turned down for the position that John was appointed. Sexual tension happened with prostitute Carly.
One regular guest star was David Crosby
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
, who played Chester, John's sponsor for AA meetings
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
. Another episode guest starred Bobcat Goldthwait
Bobcat Goldthwait
Robert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film and television director. He is commonly known for his energetic, ravenous stage personality, his dark, acerbic black comedy, and his gruff but high-pitched voice.- Early life :Goldthwait was born in Syracuse,...
, who played an assistant to John who was constantly a mess but became suddenly efficient and 'normal,' as soon as he got drunk. Richard S. "Kinky" Friedman
Kinky Friedman
Richard S. "Kinky" Friedman is an American Texas Country singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician and former columnist for Texas Monthly who styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain. He was one of two independent candidates in the 2006 election...
appeared as himself in a jail cell.
Pressures from above
The show received early favorable critical reviews, but finished the first season 96th overall, in part due to its airing at the same time as RoseanneRoseanne (TV series)
Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...
(which was fourth overall during the same season). There was talk of cancelling the show after the first season; in response the creators removed much of the dark humor and much of the bus depot setting for a more 'toned-down' look. The sets were brighter. The cast got transferred from the night shift to days. John's dingy boarding-house room was traded for a nice apartment. Oscar, the old bum who lived in one of the bus station phone booths cleaned up and became a shoeshine boy, and the prostitute character Carly (Gigi Rice) went "straight" and bought the bar at the bus station. The producers also decided to give John a romantic interest (Catherine Merrick, played by Alison LaPlaca
Alison LaPlaca
Alison LaPlaca is an American actress best known for the role of acid-tongued yuppie Linda Phillips in the Fox sitcoms Duet and its spin-off Open House, both of which aired in the late 1980s....
).
Cancellation
The John Larroquette Show was canceled abruptly only one month into its fourth season. John and Carly got married in the third season finale while Catherine was seemingly pregnant with John's child. It was revealed that Catherine was experiencing a phantom pregnancyFalse pregnancy
False pregnancy or hysterical pregnancy, most commonly termed pseudocyesis in humans and pseudopregnancy in other mammals, is the appearance of clinical and/or subclinical signs and symptoms associated with pregnancy when the person or animal is not pregnant. Clinically, false pregnancy is most...
and left the show. The show's last episode aired on October 30, 1996 showing John and Officer Eggers on a date at a Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
party. Six episodes remained unaired until being shown on the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
years later.
Main cast
- John LarroquetteJohn LarroquetteJohn Edgar Bernard Larroquette, Jr. is an American film, television and Broadway actor. His roles include Dan Fielding on the series Night Court, Mike McBride in the Hallmark Channel series McBride, John Hemingway on The John Larroquette Show, and Carl Sack in Boston Legal.-Personal...
.... John Hemingway - Liz TorresLiz TorresElizabeth "Liz" Torres is an actress, singer, and comedienne of Puerto Rican descent.-Early years:Torres was born in the Bronx borough of New York City where her parents had settled after moving from Puerto Rico. There she received her primary and secondary education...
.... Mahalia Sanchez - Gigi RiceGigi RiceGigi Rice is an American actress in movies and television shows.-Early life:She graduated from the Ohio State University, and majored in Theatre. Gigi Rice has enjoyed a career on television, gaining national attention when she was added to the cast of the The John Larroquette Show in 1993...
.... Carly Watkins - Daryl MitchellDaryl MitchellDaryl "Chill" Mitchell is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Dexter Walker on The John Larroquette Show, Leo Michaels on Veronica's Closet, and Eli Goggins on Ed....
.... Dexter Walker - Chi McBrideChi McBrideKenneth "Chi" McBride is an American actor. He starred as Steven Harper on the series Boston Public, as Emerson Cod on Pushing Daisies, and recently appeared in Fox's drama Human Target.-Early life:...
.... Heavy Gene - Lenny ClarkeLenny ClarkeLenny Clarke is an American comedian and actor, famous for his thick Boston accent and role as Uncle Teddy on the series Rescue Me. During the 1970s, as related in the Comedy Central roast of Clarke's friend Denis Leary, Clarke ran for mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. When asked by Leary what...
.... Officer Adam Hampton - Elizabeth Berridge .... Officer Eve Eggers
- John F. O'DonohueJohn F. O'DonohueJohn F. O'Donohue is an American actor and former police officer who is perhaps best known for his role as Sgt. Eddie Gibson in the television series NYPD Blue.-Career:...
.... Max Dumas (1993–1994) - Bill Morey .... Oscar (1994–1996)
- Alison LaPlacaAlison LaPlacaAlison LaPlaca is an American actress best known for the role of acid-tongued yuppie Linda Phillips in the Fox sitcoms Duet and its spin-off Open House, both of which aired in the late 1980s....
.... Catherine Merrick (1994–1996) - JazzmunJazzmunJazzmun is the stage name of Nichcalo Dion Crayton , an American actor and nightclub performer specializing in female impersonation in the Los Angeles area.-Background:...
... Pat (occasional, 1993–1995)
Recurring characters and guest stars
- David CrosbyDavid CrosbyDavid Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
.... Chester - Omri KatzOmri KatzOmri Haim Katz is an American actor. His TV and film credits include Eerie, Indiana; Matinee; Adventures in Dinosaur City; Hocus Pocus; and the CBS prime time soap opera Dallas, in which he played the role of John Ross Ewing III, the son of J.R...
.... Tony Hemingway, John's son. Katz would be replaced in an unaired fourth season episode with Ryan ReynoldsRyan ReynoldsRyan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian film and television actor, best known for his roles in such films as National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Waiting..., The Amityville Horror, Just Friends, Definitely, Maybe, The Proposal, Buried, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Green Lantern.One of his best known...
. - Mayim BialikMayim BialikMayim Hoya Bialik is an American actress who also holds a PhD in neuroscience.Her most notable TV roles have been as Blossom Russo on NBC's Blossom and as Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS's The Big Bang Theory.-Early life:...
.... Rachel, John's illegitimate daughter - Ted McGinleyTed McGinleyTheodore Martin "Ted" McGinley is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Jefferson D'Arcy on the television series Married... with Children and as Charley Shanowski on the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith...
.... Karl Reese, Carly's boyfriend and future ex-husband
Production
The show was videotaped, but processedFilmizing
Filmizing is a process that makes video productions seem to have been shot on film. The term is generic and informal. The process is usually electronic, although filmizing can sometimes occur as an un-intentional by-product of some optical techniques, such as telerecording.-Differences between...
by NBC to make it look like it was recorded on film. Network promos even showed "unprocessed" clips. When it was rerun on the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
, the processing was gone and the show had the look of a videotaped sitcom.
Theme song
The series' theme song, "The Skrewy St. Louis Blues", is a bluesy tune performed by David CassidyDavid Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...
on acoustic guitar with a scat
Scat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
vocal. A version of the performance lasting approximately one minute was used in the opening and closing sequences of the show during its first season. A much shorter edit of the song (lasting less than ten seconds) was heard only during the opening logo during the later seasons. An upbeat, jazzy instrumental tune was occasionally used for the closing theme in seasons three and four.
Steve Cochran
Steve Cochran (radio host)
Steve Cochran is an American radio broadcaster. Steve presently hosts a radio show from 10am-12pm and 6pm-9pm on KTRS 550 AM in St. Louis. He previously worked for WGN radio in Chicago from 2000 to 2010.- Childhood :...
, a popular radio host on WGN 720 AM from Chicago, also has used the Cassidy song as the theme music for his own radio program.