The first season of Laroquette was, at least in my view, one of the most inventive and funny series on TV. A dark, dry and offbeat worldview pervaded the stories and the cast sold just incredible dialogue with rare verve and honesty.
I agree with the other reviewers, however, that later seasons became mundane and weak as they tried to broaden the show's appeal beyond the narrow group of devotees who found it during the first season.
I mean, my god, the episode where an employee from the U.S. Bureau of Weights and Measures passed through the bus station with the official inch measure of the United States and he asked John to watch the measure while he went to the men's room. Naturally, John became curious about it and, ultimately, wound up damaging the official inch measure. It was hilarious.
Or the episode where a teenage boy was at the bus station being transported back to his home in the rural south after running away from a sheriff's daughter. He was going to be sent to prison (unjustly) it turned out, when the local prostitute (a regular on the show) said she could tell he was a virgin. He admitted to this, and the cast decided that they would get together and hire the prostitute to "service him" before he went to prison. Unfortunately, the bounty hunter who was escorting him, wouldn't remove the handcuffs he had on the boy for the time he was to be serviced. So all you saw was this bounty hunter standing in John's office doorway with his arm flailing up and down in the door as the act was consumated. It was blindingly funny.
If there is any justice in this world, or appreciation for true dark humor, the powers that be will release at least the first season DVD.
12 out of 14 found this helpful