Dark Justice (1991–1993) User Reviews

Suit on the bench, leather on the street

[blooutcast · 7/10 · 21 September 2006]

Nick was clearly a highly successful judge to have made it from cop to District Attorney to Your Honor in such a short time. He was supposed to die in the bombing, but neither he nor the bomber had any way of knowing his wife and daughter would take the wired car before him. That incident by itself did not change his purpose — it was the outcome of the trial that set the tone for his double life. The judge recruited some lower-level offenders (which he was clearly able to sentence more easily) for an unusual form of community service: join his leather-clad vigilante patrol – the Night Watchmen – to bring down those who were able to use legal loopholes to get off scot-free (as did the bomber). He still operated from the bench by day, except that he warned those he knew were guilty: justice is blind, but it sees in the dark. By night, off came the glasses, down came his hair, and the suit was replaced by a leather outfit. And off they went on their motorcycles, to target the antagonist.

3 Nick actors

[ebodusa-64578 · 8/10 · 20 January 2024]

3 actors apparently played the lead of Nick the judge. I never saw any with the original actor nor was I aware there was someone who played the role prior, but I am aware of the 3rd actor who's name I don't know and is not listed in the cast on IMDb. They evidently brought the show back in 2000 I think on TNT with the new lead actor having a strikingly similar look to the 2nd and most popular Nick. It had everyone else back from the original and I'm not sure how long it lasted but it seemed to keep in step with the most popular of the 3 Nick's show but there still seemed to be something missing. We can thank the fact that CBS was willing to trash all of their crimetime lineup just to have a late show on their network for not getting more of this show at the time.

A Dark Knight

[starrywisdom · 16 July 2008]

Loved this show! I thought Bruce Abbott was perfection in the role: a true Dark Knight, with a sense of humor. The show should have lasted at least twice as long as it did, especially when one considers the boring, imitative, humorless CSI-type clones that infest today's schedule. (Not "NCIS", though: that has a lot of the same sensibility as DJ.) Dick Moon, Clayton Gibbs and Janet Gunn were likewise terrific, and the writing was clever and witty. Some of the plot twists were hilarious, and I never found it boring. Is it still not yet available on DVD? Because I would buy it in a heartbeat...I taped a bunch of them, but DVDs are so much better than homemade.

Oh,and by the way, Bruce's hair was pinned up for the courtroom sequences and left in its natural long state otherwise.

A darker version of Hardcastle and McCormick - "Justice may be blind, but it can see in the dark."

[safenoe · 9/10 · 13 November 2016]

If Hardcastle and McCormick symbolized the Reagan era with flashy soundtracks and fast cars and so forth, then Dark Justice sort of presaged the end of the Reagan-Bush era, where a judge has to take matters into his own hands big time and no questions asked.

For me Dark Justice is a guilty pleasure, and you can sort of imagine there are some judges out there who wish they could execute justice beyond the robes, ensuring confidence in the justice system after all. It was a pleasure seeing Judge Nicholas Marshall and his team of experts get their way in the end.

The first series was filmed in Barcelona, with the second and third series moving to LA.

Judge Marshall was played by Ramy Zada in season 1, and then Bruce Abbott (husband of Kathleen "The Doors" Quinlan) in seasons 2 and 3. None of this two Darrins like in Bewitched I guess.

the miracle of the hair...

[bettesbaby-2 · 10/10 · 23 January 2007]

My mom introduced it to me, along with Silk Stalkings and the others mentioned.

The hair was done this way. They shot all the long hair biker sequences for several episodes then cut his hair and shot all the short hair sequences. She was of the opinion it was tied and tucked. Nice idea if he had short extensions put in to make it appear short, too much hassle. It could have been a wig too, but I did some close examination of the before and after. The hair did show his roots attached to his head and when he was in court his hair was not "padded" like that of lumpy wig wearers and the bike sequences showed the same uniform closeness of hair to head.

Excellent show, when are they going to turn it to DVD

It's a great dramatic show.

[clhpetunia · 22 April 2000]

I just recently discovered this show and I really like it a lot. The story is different from other shows on TV right now. It has some comedy and drama and a lot of action, and all the actors just seem to go well together. I really like Bruce Abbott in the title role. I didn't know it was on a few years ago, I thought it was a new show. Silly me. I like it anyway and hope it stays on long enough for me to tape several of the episodes. (Unless they are available on VHS!)

Dark Justice is an Awesome show

[tweetymac5 · 6 September 2002]

I enjoyed Dark Justice when it first appeared in the early 90's as part of the CBS Crimetime after Primetime lineup. The first season was good with Ramy Zada in the lead role, but you could tell the first season was shot in Spain. When the show moved back to the states and Bruce Abbott took over the lead role Dark Justice became a awesome show. The chemistry between Bruce(Nick) and Janet(Kelly) was great. They also interacted well with Clayton(Gibbs) and Dick(Moon). This show should have lasted alot longer than three seasons. I was glad to see Dark Justice being aired on TNT. I have since taped all the episodes. I would like to see a TV movie made and bring back Bruce, Janet, and Clayton to there roles. No one could replace Dick. There could be a Nightwatchmen story where they kill Moon and the group goes after the bad guys who did it.

This show rocks! Or at least, it used to....

[matthewc-2 · 22 August 2000]

This used to be a totally awesome show. But then Ramy Zada left and was replaced by some loser, and it just went downhill from there.

If you get the chance, see the Ramy Zada episodes. They were really good. There was the right combination of seriousness and humor, and good, creative stories. It really was good.

I've only seen a couple of the episodes with the new guy, and I guess they weren't that bad, but it's just not the same. See the Ramy Zada episodes, and you'll be happy.

A Really Really Good Show

[aer0nikita · 20 February 2000]

This is a really good show. It has some sad moments, and fun moments too. My mom got me hooked to this show, in December of 99.,She always told me about this show, she said it was good.So when I found out it was on TNT. I knew I had to see it. People do yourself a favor a watch this show, it's on Monday Through Fridays, on TNT 5:00 P.M. This show RULES!!!

OK but the miracle of the hair?

[skoyles · 16 October 2003]

My wife and I watched this show along with "Sweating Bullets", "Forever Knight", etc in the group of syndicated shows that made up what we collectively referred to as "sleaze" - and we enjoyed them all. "Dark Justice" had an edge to it lacking most of the time in the others. The vengeance theme never outweighed other moral considerations. The only real irritation was "the miracle of the hair": our hero would be neatly shorn in court and a wildly hirsute biker immediately after. Could he have tucked it down the back of his shirt? No. I fear our crusading jurist wore a six quart wig.