History Series / TheJohnLarroquetteShow

* RaceLift: InUniverseExample, One of John's friends included him in a novel, describing him as an African -American hero. A letter included by his friend says he changed races on John because he sold the movie rights to Creator/WesleySnipes. John grins and remarks, "I like it."

* RaceLift: InUniverseExamole, One of John's friends included him in a novel, describing him as an African -American hero. A letter included by his friend says he changed races on John because he sold the movie rights to Creator/WesleySnipes. John grins and remarks, "I like it."

* WorkCom: The majority of the action takes place in the bus station and/or to the employees thereof.

* CompanionCube: The carnival sign "This Is a Dark Ride" John hangs in his office.

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A 1993–96 Creator/{{NBC}} sitcom starring Creator/JohnLarroquette (''Series/NightCourt'') as recovering alcoholic [[TheDanza John Hemingway]], the night shift manager of a bus station in UsefulNotes/StLouis.

* AngryBlackMan: Dexter (to John). This is somewhat of a zig-zagged trope as Dexter is mostly frustrated at the fact he's an intelligent and ambitious man stuck working behind the counter of a doughnut shop. John, by contrast, is an educated college graduate who fell into being the manager of the bus station.

* AnimalSweetOnObject: One season had a RunningGag where an elephant escapes from the zoo and can be seem roaming St. Louis. During this season, John wins a writing contest and receives an electric car as a prize. In the season finale, he buys a dark grey cover for the car with a similarly colored sleeve for the recharging cord. After he covers the car with it, the elephant can be seen looking over the covered car with admiration.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first season was a more introspective show that more closely focused on John recovering from his alcoholism, with his AA meetings being a big part of the show. Then ExecutiveMeddling came in and forced the producers to tone down the "recovering alcoholic" aspect, resulting in the show becoming a more generic sitcom for the latter two seasons.

* EvolvingCredits: The original opening sequence showed John getting wasted at a bar, waking up in an alley with a hangover, and deciding to go into Alcoholics Anonymous. About halfway through the first season, when the AA stuff started getting downplayed, it was replaced with a more standard TitleMontage. After the first season, it was replaced again, with two [[xtremelyShortIntroSequence much shorter intros]]; The second season featured John standing next to the St. Louis arch, while the third has him next to a neon sign with the show's title on it.

* {{Foil}}: Dexter and John while also being {{Mirror Character}}s. They're both the most intelligent and rationale people at the bus station but have had their lives derailed by forces outside their control. They eventually become VitriolicBestBuds.

* NonGameplayElimination: One episode has Dexter getting cast on a season of ''Series/TheRealWorld''. He doesn't get along with any of his castmates, and eventually gets himself kicked off for promoting his lunch counter on the show.

* DeadpanSnarker: Everyone.

* SlobsVersusSnobs: John essentially is a one man version of the Snobs here while everyone else is the Snobs. A DownplayedTrope example as he doesn't really look down on the others, just has very different mannerisms and education level. Even then, Dexter often shows him up by pointing out his lack of general knowledge.
* SpicyLatina: Mahalia is a middle aged example of such.
* TheSponsor: John had as his AA sponsor David Crosby, perhaps the Poster Boy for rock star addicts. Once at the start of a meeting Crosby admitted he had had fallen off the wagon, leading John to respond: "My ''sponsor'' needs a '''sponsor'''?"

* ThemeNaming: The two police officers are name [[Literature/BookOfGenesis Adam Hampton and Eve Eggers]]. For additional fun their surnames contain the words "ham" and "eggs", frequently referred to as "Adam and Eve" in HashHouseLingo.

* VehicularSabotage: In one episode, John is forced to rent a bus to group of neo-Nazis. After spending the episode trying to find a way to avoid this, he finally admits that the law says that he '''must''' rent them a bus. He then adds that the law doesn't say anything about '''not''' shoving a screwdriver through the gas tank as he holds up a screwdriver.

* {{Foil}}: Dexter and John while also being NotSoDifferent. They're both the most intelligent and rationale people at the bus station but have had their lives derailed by forces outside their control. They eventually become VitriolicBestBuds.

Other characters include John's assistant, Mahalia Sanchez (Liz Torres); lunch counter attendant Dexter Walker (Daryl Mitchell); janitor Heavy Gene (Chi [=McBride=]); high-class escort Carly Watkins (Gigi Rice); beat cops Adam Hampton (Lenny Clarke) and Eve Eggers (Elizabeth Berridge); and starting in season 2, a nurse named Catherine Merrick (Alison [=LaPlaca=]).

* {{Foil}}: Dexter and John while also being NotSoDifferent. They're both the most intelligent and rationale people at the bus station but have had their lives derailed by forces outside their control. They eventually become VitrolicBestBuds.

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Carly

* DelusionsOfEloquence: A flaw of John's that was subject to {{Flanderization}}. John believes himself to be a RenassianceMan and genius writer. Later seasons show he's never actually written anything of note and his understanding of literature is apparently not that much greater than a typical college graduate. He even calls out his favorite author over not understanding his own work.

* {{Flanderization}}: John was originally a RenassianceMan who was trapped in a job he was grossly overqualified for due to, essentially, waking up in it after a month-long bender. Later seasons emphasized he was neither as intelligent or cultured as he thought he was, even getting into an argument with an author he loved over what the author REALLY meant.

* SpicyLatina: Mahalia

* ThoseWackyNazis: The B plot in one episode centred around John being forced to rent a bus to a group of neo-Nazis.

* AngryBlackMan: Dexter (to John)

* DeadpanSnarker: Everyone

* WorldOfSnark

A 1993–96 Creator/{{NBC}} sitcom starring John Larroquette (''Series/NightCourt'') as recovering alcoholic [[TheDanza John Hemingway]], the night shift manager of a bus station in UsefulNotes/StLouis.

A 1993-96 Creator/{{NBC}} sitcom starring John Larroquette (''Series/NightCourt'') as recovering alcoholic [[TheDanza John Hemingway]], the night shift manager of a bus station in UsefulNotes/StLouis.

Other characters include John's assistant, Mahalia Sanchez (Liz Torres); lunch counter attendant Dexter Walker (Daryl Mitchell); janitor Heavy Gene (Chi [=McBride=]); high-class hooker Carly Watkins (Gigi Rice); beat cops Adam Hampton (Lenny Clarke) and Eve Eggers (Elizabeth Berridge); and starting in season 2, a nurse named Catherine Merrick (Alison [=LaPlaca=]).

* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: "John's Lucky Day" features a guest spot by Charlie Robinson, John's former ''Series/NightCourt'' co-star. Harry Anderson later turns up in "Cosmetic Perjury."
* MsFanservice: Carly, for obvious reasons

* ExecutiveMeddling: The show's tone was lightened after the first season.

* ActorAllusion:
** Larroquette is a recovered alcoholic himself.
** In one episode he finds himself joining in when two bus riding Trekkies insist on speaking [[Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock Klingon]]

A 1993-96 Creator/{{NBC}} sitcom starring John Larroquette (''Series/NightCourt'') as recovering alcoholic [[TheDanza John Hemingway]], the night shift manager of a bus station in St. Louis.

A 1993-96 NBC sitcom about recovering alcoholic John Hemingway, the night shift manager of a bus station in St. Louis. Other characters include John's assistant, Mahalia Sanchez; lunch counter attendant Dexter Walker; janitor Heavy Gene; hooker Carly Watkins; cops Adam Hampton and Eve Eggers; John's AA sponsor, Chester; and starting in season 2, a nurse named Catherine Merrick.