Night Court

Night Court was a situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 1984 until May 1992. The show focused on the nutty antics during the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment courtoom, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. Stone (as played by Harry Anderson) and his cast of loonies.

Description

The comedy style on Night Court could best be described as broad, almost slapstick comedy. Logic and realism were frequently abandoned for the sake of a joke: cartoon animal Wile E. Coyote once appeared in a brief gag as a defendant. A typical plot might have Judge Stone trying to stop a group of rival ventriloquists and their dummies from assaulting each other, (then NBC chairman) Brandon Tartikoff bailing out a Nielsen family, or Harry pushing the court staff to meet a deadline of 200 cases to be adjudicated before midnight. The show featured several defendants who appeared before the court again and again; notable were the Wheelers, Yugoslavians who pretended to be a hick family from West Virginia and, at one point, even ran a concession stand in the courthouse.

Related Topics:
Slapstick - Wile E. Coyote - Defendant - Plot - Ventriloquists - Brandon Tartikoff - Nielsen - Yugoslavia - Hick - West Virginia - Concession stand

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The main characters were slightly off-kilter. Harry was an amateur magician whose father (played by John Astin) was a former mental patient; Harry loved movies and fashions from the 1940s, and idolized crooner Mel Tormé. Assistant District Attorney Dan Fielding (John Larroquette) was a sex-obsessed narcissist who would do anything to get a woman to sleep with him. Bailiff Bull Shannon (Richard Moll) was a (mostly) dim-witted hulk of a figure who was gentle and often childlike. Public Defender Christine Sullivan (Markie Post), though attractive and voluptuous, was honest to a fault and somewhat naïve. Court clerk Mac Robinson (Charles Robinson), a veteran of the Vietnam War, was very sweet and would do anything for anyone. The various female bailiffs (the first two of whom died early in the show's run) were acerbic and comically gruff.

Related Topics:
Magician - John Astin - 1940s - Crooner - Mel Tormé - District Attorney - John Larroquette - Narcissist - Bailiff - Richard Moll - Markie Post - Charles Robinson - Veteran - Vietnam War

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Night Court was originally developed as a vehicle for comedian/magician Harry Anderson. Anderson had developed a following with his performances on Saturday Night Live and made several successful appearances as "Harry the Hat" on the sitcom Cheers. (For the first several years of its run, Night Court aired on NBC Thursday nights after Cheers.) In later seasons, while Anderson remained the key figure, Larroquette became perhaps the better known personality, winning a number of awards for his performance as Fielding.

Related Topics:
Comedian - Saturday Night Live - Cheers

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