aliyousseffi I did not even have any idea that this show even existed until a friend of mine recommended it to me two weeks ago, a friend who has the same kind of taste in shows and comedy and who I trust so even though I never heard of it I watched it. I remember the star from his part in Night Court which was a show I thought was OK but his part in that show was very funny and I believe he won many awards for it. In this show it is a much darker series where he plays an alcoholic who ends up running a small bus station on the midnight shift. It's a unique set up for a TV show but it works very well. Not sure how my friend got hold of these discs but you should check out the show if you like smart, somewhat dark comedy and good characters.

bill-788 I haven't seen this since it was first-run, but it made an impression on me. This was a great show, especially the first season. Very funny, very dark. The acerbic JL was a great match for the material, and given his personal difficulties in the 80's, he personally must have been able to relate to the character, a last-chance alcoholic working graveyard in a bus station. I remember the show as having a great, dark tone that you usually didn't see in sitcoms, more so than Night Court, which erred on the slapstick side. The first season of the show I remember as having no fear dealing with 'John Hemingway's dark side, and his alcoholism. The plots often portrayed a similar cast of midnight nutballs, loonies, the down-on-their-luck and some out-and-out losers. But, while redemption was a ways away, JL's character was on the upward path. It was good to see them deal with and not shy away from people's real problems. The teeth of the show got pulled later... Unfortunately after the show's first season of moderate success, the network (or somebody) decided that it needed to be a bit more family-friendly or something and added Alison La Placa as a love interest, and made the tone and lighting a bit brighter. Too bad, as there was plenty of patina in the station and among the great cast of characters including Dary' (no more 'chill'?) Mitchell as the put- upon Dexter, the reliable Chi McBride, Liz Torres, and especially Elizabeth Berridge as the too-cute-for-a-cop Officer Eggers. I wonder if she would have ended up as the love interest had they not brought in La Placa. Anyways, we really need season one on DVD.

Ross Williams (rwilymz) ... if St Louis was NYC.Living across the river from St Lose and having grown up a few hours from NYC, I was interested in seeing how American Television, an industry concentrated on both coasts, would depict a city smack dab in between them.I got the answer after a few shows: farcically.St Lose is dominated by white and black which The JLq Show had, but Television Formula required the Obligatory Hispanic /Liz Torres, great actress/. There are no accented Hispanics around here. The nearest one is 300 miles away -- in Chicago. Casting Liz was my clue that something was seriously amiss in the show.The closest thing to "ethnic" around here is: 1- "The Hill" -- actually a generally rising slope -- dotted with Italian restaurants; 2- Soulard Market, an old french quarter holdover where the frenchiness is reserved solely in the name; and 3- German towns in southwestern IL where everyone has a last name with no fewer than 18 letters, an uncommon allotment of which are 'e' and 'i'.No Hispanics. Anywhere.StL is brain sandwiches and toasted ravioli; downtown closes at 6PM. By law. Budweiser and mostaccioli -- pronounced "muskacholi" -- are the equivalents of champagne and pate at local weddings. These things are interesting, even if only from an Abnormal Psych perspective, and would have been worth seeing in a national television show centered on some region other than the boring, repetitive and cliché NYC and LA scenery and lifestyle.But, oh well, you can't fight Television Formula. Don't bother sending the writers on a field trip to research the people they're going to depict. Remake the center of the country to be yet another in a long line of NYC replicants.Good actors; tired plots; wasted opportunity.

kris-124 I don't think I hardly missed an episode of 'Larroquette' during its all-too-short two-year run. Larroquette was superb as world-weary, wisecracking John Hemingway and the supporting performances were typically strong. This show had its zaniness and a serious element; perhaps it wasn't predictable enough to gain a large and steady viewership that would have ensured its survival.