Reviews of Season 1 and Season 2.

So much mugging. And slapstick. Mostly John Larroquette as Dan Fielding, but they're emphasizing reaction shots from all the characters more as well. There's an orangutan. And Bull talks to it - and evidently gets responses. The dripping sentimentality has, if anything, got worse in this season.

At one point Bull is somewhat drugged (I can no longer remember why, but it's part and parcel of the writers providing improbable events to drive the comedy) and Harry orders Dan to stop Bull from leaving a room. Out of character, Dan agrees. And when Dan tries to stop Bull, Bull says "If you try to stop me, I'll be forced to invent the human pretzel." Dan tries to stop him, and we find out that John Larroquette was still quite flexible at the time. It was a funny gag, but it was also kind of the start of the mugging and slapstick.

The other bailiff (ie. "not Bull") for the first two seasons was Selma Diamond. She died of lung cancer before the third season started recording. She was replaced by Florence Halop (who I didn't think was nearly as good in the role). Unfortunately, Halop - who was also a heavy smoker - died of lung cancer after this season. She was replaced by Marsha Warfield as "Roz," who (happily) stayed with the show through the rest of its run. I'm a little sorry that giving up on the series at this point means I won't see Roz at all: I vaguely remember her as being a good character in the series from the occasional episode I saw on broadcast TV back in the day. But the series became significantly less funny this season and I'm quitting.