| 1 | %% |
| 2 | %% |
| 3 | %% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them. |
| 4 | %% |
| 5 | %% |
| 6 | |
| 7 | [[quoteright:345:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/night_court_opening.jpeg]] |
| 8 | |
| 9 | A supremely zany {{sitcom}} created by Reinhold Weege (a former ''Series/BarneyMiller'' writer/producer), produced by his company, Starry Night Productions until season 7 (alongside Creator/WarnerBros), and aired on Creator/{{NBC}} from 1984–92, ''Night Court'' followed the goings-on of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a night-shift Manhattan arraignment court]] populated by a madcap band of lawyers, judges, and bailiffs, including (by the end of the series): |
| 10 | |
| 11 | * Harold T. "Harry" Stone (Creator/HarryAnderson), the laid-back judge, Mel Tormé fanatic, and amateur magician, who only got the job as a night court judge because he was the only one who answered the call on a Sunday. |
| 12 | * Reinhold "Dan" Fielding (Creator/JohnLarroquette), the [[ThePornomancer womanizing]], selfish, pigheaded, but always witty and acid-tongued assistant district attorney. |
| 13 | * Christine Sullivan (Creator/MarkiePost), the public defender, who despite being a [[HeadTurningBeauty beautiful]] and independent woman is an utterly naive, morally-upright prude. |
| 14 | * Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon (Creator/RichardMoll), the huge, certifiably [[GeniusDitz brilliant but ditzy]] bailiff. |
| 15 | * Mac Robinson (Creator/CharlieRobinson), court clerk and [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]] veteran, the accomplice to most of Judge Stone's pranks, his verbal foil and his closest friend. |
| 16 | * Roz Russell (Creator/MarshaWarfield), a [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan-snarking]], tough-as-nails bailiff whose strength is the fodder for many jokes. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | The show is usually considered a satire and subversion of the LawProcedural genre, featuring bizarre, wacky crimes, such as groups of rival ventriloquists and their dummies assaulting each other (although the show was also praised for its refusal to deal with violent and "glamorous" crime and called "The most realistic law show on the air" by ''Time Magazine'', no less). Logic and realism were frequently abandoned for the sake of a joke: cartoon animal [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Wile E. Coyote]] once appeared in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh1pZqmxvmM brief gag]] as a defendant. Notwithstanding this, many legal professionals confide that ''Night Court'' is far ''[[RealityIsUnrealistic more]]'' realistic than most straight Law Procedurals. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | The show featured regular guest appearances by Creator/JohnAstin (of ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' fame) as Buddy Ryan, Judge Stone's certifiably insane birth father. Harry Stone's idol Mel Tormé made frequent guest spots, as did Creator/BrentSpiner (later famous for his role as Data on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'') as Bob Wheeler, patriarch of a family of Yugoslavians who pretended to be a hick family from West Virginia and, at one point, even ran a concession stand in the courthouse. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | A [[Series/NightCourt2023 revival series]] premiered on NBC January 17, 2023. Owing to Harry Anderson's death in 2018, it's a SpinOffspring series featuring Harry's daughter Abby (Creator/MelissaRauch) as the new judge and John Larroquette reprising his role as Dan Fielding. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | ---- |
| 25 | !! "All rise, TV Tropes Court Part 2 is now in session, the Honorable Judge Harold T. Stone presiding": |
| 26 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 27 | |
| 28 | [[folder:A–E]] |
| 29 | * AbhorrentAdmirer: |
| 30 | ** Bernie, the original proprietor of the cafeteria newsstand, is this to Selma. |
| 31 | ** When Flo replaced Selma, she colluded with Bull to scare Bernie off by acting like this before he had a chance to. |
| 32 | ** Dan has a 50/50 chance of being seen as this by any given woman. On the flip side, any woman actively pursuing Dan has a 90% chance of being one of these. |
| 33 | ** Dan was this to Christine for most of the series. He eased up a little towards the end though, but the leering never stopped. |
| 34 | -->'''Christine:''' What if I had a sex change?\ |
| 35 | '''Harry:''' He would counter with his own... then none of us would be safe. |
| 36 | * AccidentalAdultery: One case concerns a Vietnam veteran who went MIA and eventually came home to find his wife remarried. This proves to be a hard choice for the wife because she loves both of her husbands. |
| 37 | * ActorAllusion: One of the many, '''many''' people who have taken the court hostage over the years was a woman with a grenade who couldn't distinguish television shows from reality. She was played by Marion Ross, aka [[Series/HappyDays Mrs. Cunningham]]. She lists her many friends which were fictional TV characters and it included "The Fonz". |
| 38 | ** Another one: Dan is being held hostage by an insane woman who acts out scenes from horror movies. When the TV announces that ''Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974'' is about to begin, he says, "Seen that already." John Larroquette was the narrator for the original film. |
| 39 | ** John Larroquette's character Dan, is a Captain in the Army Reserves, and is punished by having to serve in Alaska (see Reassigned to Antarctica below for the details). At the end of the movie ''Film/{{Stripes}}'', John Larroquette's character, a Captain in the Army, is punished by having to serve in Alaska. |
| 40 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: In "World War III",American and Soviet arms negotiators have been at each other's throats for most of the night, until Harry orders them to wait in his office to cool down. The American has a tense phone call with his wife, who is refusing to follow the doctor's advice, leading the Soviet to grudgingly ask after her health. |
| 41 | -->'''Glasscock''': Women... can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.\ |
| 42 | '''Karpov''': I have been "without" for two months. [[AnythingThatMoves Even the dancing bear started to look good.]] |
| 43 | ** They're sitting beside each other on the couch, staring straight ahead, [[{{Corpsing}} not moving a muscle in their faces]]... before they crack up and fall over each other laughing. |
| 44 | * AdamWesting: Mel Tormé in his later appearances, for instance, it turned out his home was literally filled with awards including a keyring of keys to the cities, and that every year he would sneak into the bailiff's Christmas choir in disguise and scat his way through carols. |
| 45 | * AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Season 5's "Hit The Road, Jack" has bag lady Papaya Patty brought before Harry. Leading to this: |
| 46 | -->'''Harry:''' And what's the people's problem with Papaya Patty, mister prosecutor?\ |
| 47 | '''Dan:''' Papaya Patty was pinched panhandling in a public park. \ |
| 48 | '''Harry:''' ''Pshaw!''\ |
| 49 | [...] \ |
| 50 | '''Harry:''' Well, mister prosecutor, should we pass along Papaya Patty's problem to public housing? \ |
| 51 | '''Dan:''' Perfect, partner! \ |
| 52 | '''Harry:''' Recess! ''[bangs gavel]'' |
| 53 | * AnAesop: Early episodes emphasized a particular moral dilemma that the case du jour revolved around; as time wore on the show became more focused on the ensemble cast's character quirks. Although this still crept up in several later episodes. Musings on the UsefulNotes/ColdWar (which at the time the show aired [[FailedFutureForecast looked like it would never end]]) were common. |
| 54 | * AesopAmnesia: Exactly ''how many'' times did Dan have to learn not to be a closed-minded JerkAss? |
| 55 | %%* AmbiguouslyHuman: A lot of the jokes around Bull focused on this. |
| 56 | * AmusingInjuries: Suffered by most of the cast at one point or another. |
| 57 | ** Most likely to be suffered by Bull whose [[ToonPhysics supposed indestructibility]] and his ditz tendencies combined often. |
| 58 | ** Dan suffered a few, usually at the hands of Bull or Roz. One particularly infamous incident involved Bull using Dan's body to "invent the human pretzel." |
| 59 | ** Most likely to be '''inflicted''' by Roz, or Bull in descending order. |
| 60 | ** In one episode Roz gets shot in the rear end by Lisette at the crossbow range. A few days later Lisette gets "the other cheek". |
| 61 | * AntiHeroSubstitute: The defendant on one episode's case was an actor who played an extremely cheesy but popular Wild West hero called the Red Ranger ([[Franchise/PowerRangers no, not that one]]), a stereotypical family friendly, {{Aesop}}-spouting [[TheFifties fifties]] ChasteHero, who was arrested for boycotting a [[ContinuityReboot new movie]] starring a much [[GrimDark "edgier"]] and more historically accurate Red Ranger. |
| 62 | * AppealToTradition: In Season Three's "The Apartment", Quon Le's large extended Vietnamese family comes to live with her and Mac, driving him to homicidal rage, until her grandfather (Creator/KeyeLuke) suffers a heart attack and Mac saves his life. Said grandfather then reveals that he speaks English, and is actually wealthy enough to put the whole family up at a luxury hotel. Mac asks why then they chose to stay with him and Quon Le? |
| 63 | -->'''Grandfather''': Ancient tradition! It would be an insult not to. ''(leans in)'' Hey... some tradition sucks rocks, don't it? |
| 64 | * ArmorPiercingQuestion: Dan has been unjustly accused of corruption and suspended and thus making ends meet working as a waiter. At the same time, Roz has been put on a new diet due to her diabetes and hates being unable to enjoy sweets so declares she's just going to go for it. She tells Dan that he has to fight back as she picks up a piece of cake and snaps on how you can't just give it up when the going gets tough, ''"you have to stick it out."'' Just as she's about to bite into the cake, Dan dryly asks, "You mean like you're sticking with your diet?" Roz freezes as she realizes he has a point. |
| 65 | * ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: |
| 66 | ** In "The Hostage" a mentally unstable defendant gets free and takes a firearm from the evidence table. Mac tells Harry that the gun isn't loaded; but then says he isn't sure about that. Any confiscated firearm would be unloaded well before it makes it to court; this shouldn't even be a question. |
| 67 | ** In "The Cop and the Lady" Tony casually hands his service revolver off to Christine who promptly loses it to the psycho of the week. No cop, especially one who's served long enough to be promoted to detective, would hand off his weapon to a civilian for any reason. |
| 68 | ** One of the many things that gets Rhoda kicked out of the bailiff training program is that she lost her service revolver. |
| 69 | ** Bull handles Roz's new gun and ends up shooting himself in the toe because he was carrying it improperly. Even considering it's Bull, a bailiff with over ten years of experience and training should know better. |
| 70 | ** In "Still Another Day In the Life" a defendant is allowed to appear in court brandishing a loaded shotgun and wearing a bandolier of spare ammunition. |
| 71 | * AsHimself: |
| 72 | ** Mel Tormé, a couple of times. |
| 73 | ** Then NBC Entertainment president [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Tartikoff Brandon Tartikoff]] once showed up to post bail for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neilsen_ratings a Neilsen Family]] so they could get home to watch ''Series/MisfitsOfScience''. |
| 74 | ---> '''Roz:''' It's been cancelled.\ |
| 75 | '''Brandon Tartikoff:''' ...I knew that! |
| 76 | ** Creator/JohnnyCarson, long-time host of ''Series/TheTonightShow'', did a quick cameo playing off his numerous marriages to younger, blonde women as he tried to ask Christine out through a romantic note she thought was a prank. |
| 77 | ---> '''Bull:''' Excuse me, but aren't you married now?\ |
| 78 | '''Johnny Carson:''' ''[confused]'' I - I don't know.[[note]] He was; he had just married for the fourth and final time.[[/note]] |
| 79 | * AscendedExtra: |
| 80 | ** Phil the Bum is perhaps the best example of this. Originally introduced in Season Two as one of the many background characters in the gallery of the courtroom, he became BumblingSidekick to Dan in Season Three and continued to make semi-regular appearances up through the middle of Season 8, where his accidental death facilitated Dan's HeelFaceTurn. |
| 81 | ** Art The Repairman also qualifies, having first appeared in Season One, continuing to appear up through the GrandFinale. In the time between, he had an entire episode devoted to his efforts to woo Christine, gave away the bride at Bull's wedding and eventually began dating Bull's mother. |
| 82 | ** Lisette Hocheiser, the [[TheDitz ditzy]] stenographer that was featured in the later seasons. She appeared in nearly every episode of those seasons (although usually only had a line or two), but later was treated like one of the gang, to the point that she was the focus of some B-plots. |
| 83 | ** Christine Sullivan, who was originally only intended to be a one-time guest character in Season 2 while Bille Young was intended to be the permanent public defender character. After Ellen Foley left the series Markie Post became available, so Christine returned to the show in Season 3 as a series regular and remained that way for the rest of the show's run. |
| 84 | * AshesToCrashes: A man named Herb dies, and his two daughters get into a fight over his ashes, ending up in Harry's court. They eventually resolve their differences and agree to stand by whatever arrangement Harry decides upon. Herb's remains are left at court, in Harry's office, and they eventually disappear, leading to the following dialog: |
| 85 | -->'''Art The Repair Man:''' Oh that, yeah I'm sorry, Your Honor, I had to use that herb tea to test the coffee maker.\ |
| 86 | '''Harry:''' Art, this wasn't herb tea! [[{{Pun}} This was Herb!]]\ |
| 87 | '''Dan:''' ''[SpitTake]'' |
| 88 | * AsianBabyMama: DoubleSubversion with Quon Le, who didn't become pregnant until after she and Mac were already married. And Mac, in defiance of the standard AsianBabyMama trope, is a Black American soldier who served in Vietnam. |
| 89 | * AssInAmbassador: Frederick Streiko in Season Nine's "My Life As A Dog Lawyer". |
| 90 | * AtTheOperaTonight: "A Night Court at the Opera". |
| 91 | * AttendingYourOwnFuneral: Dan does this after everyone thinks he died when his Army plane crashed in the Arctic. |
| 92 | * BackToSchool: Harry is forced to retake a high-school history class in "A Family Affair". This is a more justified example than most as it was revealed that he received an incomplete in the class, which would have invalidated his high school diploma and law degree and gotten him kicked off the bench unless he passed the exam. |
| 93 | * BadassBoast: Harry gets an epic one when he wins the [[EscalatingWar prank war]] against the upstart Judge Cleaver: |
| 94 | -->'''Harry:''' Cleaver, you may be younger. You may be faster. You may even be smarter. But you will NEVER, EVER, be ''crazier'' ...than '''me'''. |
| 95 | * BadassNormal: Harry, not so much in terms of physical strength, but his ability to get in people's heads and resolve tense, violent situations peacefully. |
| 96 | * BalloonBelly: In "Yet Another Day in the Life" the pipes in the courthouse burst resulting in flooding. Bull comes across a leaking overhead pipe and decides to plug two of the holes with his fingers. When a third one bursts over his head he just tilts his head back, opens his mouth and drinks from it. By the end of the episode when Art has the situation under control, Bull is extremely bloated. While Harry and Christine are horrified, Bull just casually asks if the session is over before waddling (complete with sloshing noises) to the [[PottyEmergency men's room]]. |
| 97 | * BecomingTheMask: A subtle example with the Red Ranger mentioned above, as the episode goes on it becomes clear he's been playing his character for so long he no longer differentiates between his persona and his real self; when talking about the show he refers to his character as "I" and "me", as if he really did have those adventures, and frequenly refers to himself as "Red Ranger" as if it was actually his name. He hasn't even taken off his costume in thirty years. It takes Harry point-blank telling him he's just an actor to snap him out of it. |
| 98 | * BerserkButton: Do not insult Mel Tormé around Harry. |
| 99 | * BetterAsFriends: Harry and Christine start dating at the end of Season 8. Midway through season 9, they split amicably, remaining friends. Lampshaded in the same episode where they break up, where Harry invites her to a symposium, which Christine says sounds "really boring" and says no. Instead of being disappointed, Harry is actually giddy: |
| 100 | --> '''Harry''': Isn't it great? We can say "no" again! |
| 101 | * BestWoman: Roz was this to Bull at his wedding. |
| 102 | %%* BetaCouple: Mac and Quon Le. |
| 103 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: |
| 104 | %%** Bull and Mac are both genuinely scary when they get upset. |
| 105 | ** There are limits as to how much Harry would tolerate; certain crimes he refused to take in his usual easy-going manner. One such example came in the Season 7 episode "A Closer Look," where a felony suspect is about to be set free after the court nearly misses his 48-hour arraignment deadline; Harry sternly tells him he nearly made it, but didn't, and holds him over for trial. |
| 106 | * TheBigGuy: The series at one time held the Guinness World Record for the tallest sitcom cast, with all four male cast members well over six feet tall,[[note]] In ascending order, Charles Robinson was 6'3", Harry Anderson was 6'4", John Larroquette is 6'4.5", and Richard Moll was 6'8". Marsha Warfield is nearly six feet tall at 5'11", and even Markie Post at 5'6" was above the average height for American adult women.[[/note]] but Bull is a giant among giants. He is so tall that the door frame to his apartment has a special hole cut into the top so that he can go in and out without having to stoop. |
| 107 | ** Subverted for laughs in "Nuts About Harry", when a group of mental patients enters, led by the 7'4" Kevin Peter Hall[[note]] Hall's official height was 7'3", but his character's is described as 7'4"[[/note]]: |
| 108 | --->'''Wendell''': Hey! The little fella said to be quiet. ''(Bull gives him a DeathGlare)'' |
| 109 | *** Since one of the other mental patients is played by Creator/JamesCromwell (6'7"), this is probably the ''only'' thing he has ever appeared in which makes him appear of short or average height. |
| 110 | *** Another beanpole, Creator/MichaelRichards (6'3"), whose height makes him ''shorter than all of the male cast members'', appeared in a different episode as a man who believes himself invisible. |
| 111 | * TheBigRottenApple: Zig-zagged. On the one hand, New York City is portrayed as a filthy, crime-infested dump, as it often is in fiction. But most of the criminals are either harmless StupidCrooks or semi-sympathetic [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Cloudcuckoolanders]], rather than genuinely evil or dangerous. |
| 112 | * BilingualBonus: Many non-American characters would speak their native languages with no subtitles with humor being mined from the main characters' attempts to communicate. The staff's efforts to find appropriate interpreters make the subplots of several episodes. |
| 113 | * {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The layout of the courtroom suffered from this in the early seasons. The same door could lead to Harry's chambers, Mac's office, another courtroom, etc. By season three, the doors which led to the usual places (the courtroom, Harry's chambers, the canteen) were pretty consistent, but the courtroom is explicitly and repeatedly said to be on the 18th floor even though the only elevator ever shown has a topmost limit of 12. Assuming the building in the opening credits is the one they work in, it doesn't look like it has even 12 floors. |
| 114 | * BornInAnElevator: |
| 115 | ** Christine's son in the seventh season finale. |
| 116 | ** Harry was [[spoiler:born in a mental institution]]. Explains a lot, doesn't it? |
| 117 | * BornInTheWrongCentury: |
| 118 | ** Harry is basically a relic from TheForties, despite having been born in TheFifties and living in TheEighties. |
| 119 | ** Christine's old fashioned sensibilities and prudish behavior are also out of place in the late-80's/early-90's. One of the reasons the two are a popular shipping pair. |
| 120 | * BornUnlucky: The Wheelers are misfortune magnets. |
| 121 | * BorrowedCatchphrase: Wanda borrows Bull's "O-okay" at [[spoiler:their wedding]]. |
| 122 | * BottleEpisode: Inverted; the show primarily centered on the courtroom and the floor it was on. Leaving there was a special occasion. |
| 123 | ** The two-part episode "Crossroads" is a partially straight example. The main cast is quarantined in the courtroom after being exposed to a virus and each person passes the time telling stories of what they did before working for the courthouse. But since their flashbacks are dramatized the flashback settings don't make it a complete bottle episode. |
| 124 | * {{Bowdlerization}}: The season 8 episode "Bringing Down Baby" saw Roz's supervisor chew her out over her "inappropriate footwear" (purple socks). In the original airing, Roz's reply was "I can kick ass in bunny slippers!" Subsequent airings changed "ass" to "butt". |
| 125 | * BrainBleach: Everyone became sick to their stomachs when they found out that Art was planning to marry Bull's mother. |
| 126 | * BreastExpansion: [[https://youtu.be/UYqhqxaaEdE Done to Dan Fielding]]. |
| 127 | * BreakTheHaughty: Frederick Streiko, the [[AssinAmbassador ambassador]] from the [[{{Ruritania}} tiny European nation]] of Rogash, flaunts the laws of the City with abandon, invoking [[DiplomaticImpunity diplomatic immunity]]. Harry admits that he has no authority to fine Streiko or put him in jail, but he does have the authority to deport him back to Rogash. Streiko protests that in Rogash (population approximately 13), there is ''"no shopping, no good Chinese takeout, no Playboy Channel."'' Harry invites him to sign a pledge agreeing to abide by the City's laws, and he does so immediately. |
| 128 | * BrokenAesop: Subverted, Tony and Christine's marriage [[spoiler:ends the way you'd expect a marriage in which the couple had known one another less than six months and got married before one of them went away for six months to end.]] Notable because in the 80's sitcom world this was a well-executed, harsh reality check. |
| 129 | * BuildingOfAdventure: The action very rarely leaves the 18th floor of the courthouse. In fact most of the scenes take place between the courtroom, the cafeteria, Harry's chambers, or the adjoining hallways thereof. |
| 130 | %%* BumblingSidekick: Phil to Dan |
| 131 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: The whole cast (of the most consistent line-up from seasons 4-9) [[OnlySaneMan except for Mac]], who was just [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]]. Everyone else? Well.... |
| 132 | ** Harry was famous for his juvenile antics, jokes and magic tricks in the courtroom. In one episode, Christine is defending him, saying that he didn't get his law degree from a Cracker Jack box. She then pauses and looks at him to silently confirm that this isn't the case. |
| 133 | ** Christine is prudish, overly naive, idealistic, and often immature. Also an extreme Anglophile. |
| 134 | ** Dan was a Lothario with the morals of a rutting pig. |
| 135 | ** Bull was a genius ditz with little common sense. |
| 136 | ** Roz was angry, mouthy and prone to violence. |
| 137 | ** It's suggested that their personality quirks are what kept most of the characters on the night shift so long. |
| 138 | * ButtMonkey: |
| 139 | ** Despite frequently deserving the bad things that happened to him, Dan Fielding suffered several indignities that not even he deserved. Chief among these were him losing all his savings after his accountant dropped dead at an IRS Audit after Dan was hit with a GypsyCurse. |
| 140 | ** Mel Torme, who suffered pain and humiliation at the hands of the cast in almost every appearance. |
| 141 | * CampStraight: In the early seasons, Dan's snobbish and slightly prissy behaviour and love of the finer things meant he skirted the edges of this, so much so that he was MistakenForGay once. This aspect of his character pretty much vanished from season 3 onwards, as he became much more over the top and his womanizing was emphasized. |
| 142 | * CantHoldHisLiquor: Christine is a female version; it takes very little to get her drunk, and in one episode, it took ''nothing''; it was eventually revealed to her that the drink she was consuming had no alcohol, and she was being wild and crazy all on her own. |
| 143 | * CannotTellFictionFromReality: An old lady holds the court hostage to save an unjustly imprisoned man, not realizing the guy was just a character in a SoapOpera. Harry uses a TV news film crew to employ TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat (although she thinks it's TheTelevisionTalksBack) to show her the difference between reality and TV. |
| 144 | * CaptainErsatz: Monte "Potty-Man" Potter for Creator/AndrewDiceClay. The same year "It's Just a Joke" aired, Diceman became the first comedian to sell out Madison Square Garden. |
| 145 | * CasanovaWannabe: Dan Fielding. His luck with the ladies tended to be DependingOnTheWriter. Generally, they went whichever route would be funnier. |
| 146 | * CatchPhrase: Several. |
| 147 | ** Bull has one - "Ooo-kay." |
| 148 | ** Harry's standard-issue sentence ("$50 fine and time served"). Lampshaded and parodied in Season 9. Replacement prosecutor Creator/GilbertGottfried suggests, just to break up the monotony, ''$55''. Christine objects, Harry decides to split the difference at $52.50, and it prompts a tear from Bull, "the end of an era". |
| 149 | ** Harry says "(name), if that is your real name..." when questioning a stranger on several occasions. |
| 150 | ** "What's wrong with this picture?" (Harry, upon being presented with an utterly ridiculous situation) |
| 151 | ** "Thank you, Nani Darnell." Said by Harry after someone makes a great show of giving him an item he needs. Darnell was the wife and assistant of American magician Mark Wilson. |
| 152 | ** Several characters use "Say, that is good news" over the course of the show. |
| 153 | ** Dan's "Ciao, baby!" |
| 154 | ** Mac's "Oh my dear ''lord''!" |
| 155 | ** And, of course, Buddy's standard conclusion to most of his stories regarding his hospital stay or past strange behavior, "But I'm feeling ''muuuuch'' better now" (delivered with a big crooked grin). |
| 156 | * CelebrityParadox: "Yet Another Day in the Life" had a case involving a fight between fans of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. The latter series starred Brent Spiner, who played recurring character Bob Wheeler on ''Night Court''. |
| 157 | * ChickMagnet: Dan fancied himself something of one. Ironically, Harry and Bull were much better at attracting women with far less effort, if not particularly successful at maintaining lasting relationships. |
| 158 | * ChivalrousPervert: Dan Fielding, despite his protests to the contrary. Protesting the "chivalrous" part, that is. |
| 159 | %%* ChristmasEpisode: There was one almost every year. |
| 160 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: |
| 161 | ** Happened repeatedly in the show's first two seasons: Sheila (the very first public defender in the pilot), Lana (the first clerk in the pilot and most of Season One), Charlie (clerk for a few episodes at the end of Season One) Liz (the public defender in Season One) and Billie (the public defender for most of Season Two) all disappeared without any explanation and were all replaced without comment in the very next episode. Although this is a milder form than the TropeNamer, as personnel could be plausibly transferred to different courts or shifts without warning or later comment. |
| 162 | ** Happened with an actual brother in the pilot, where Harry made reference to a baby brother who was never seen or referenced again in the entire run of the show and whose existence would probably muck up or at least complicate emerging details about Harry's backstory. |
| 163 | ** But what's probably the most jarring example are a couple of occasionally seen recurring characters, the hapless hicks, Bob and June Wheeler. In their final episodes they were actually being set up to have a semi-regular presence on the show, when they bought the courthouse cafeteria. But then the actor who played Bob, Creator/BrentSpiner, got cast as Data on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', and so both Wheelers vanished without another mention. What makes their disappearance feel all the more abrupt is that their last episode was actually a SeasonFinale with a CliffHanger ending where the Wheelers weren't among the ones imperiled. Come the next Season Premiere, and the cliffhanger is resolved, but with no sight or mention of the Wheelers. This is also true to a lesser extent of the Wheelers' little girl, Carol Ann. She's with them in their first 2 episodes, but not any of their remaining episodes. |
| 164 | ** In the seventh season, Buddy moved to a new home closer to Harry and became a semi-regular. When a new team of producers took over the following season, Buddy disappeared without explanation and never appeared on the show again. |
| 165 | * ChurchOfHappyology: While it was intended as a parody of pop psychology rather than cults, the support group Christine starts going to after her divorce has a lot of Happyology-esque traits. |
| 166 | * CitizenshipMarriage: Mac and Quon Le started out as this. Subverted later on as it blossomed into actual love. |
| 167 | * CityPeopleEatSushi: Inverted in one episode, where two Sumo wrestlers from Japan are disgusted by sushi, but do seem to like American food, including [=McDonalds=]. |
| 168 | * ClarkKentOutfit: One that took years to set up. Everyone thinks it's cute, if not laughable, when Mac is asked to appear in an underwear ad, until he strips down and reveals that under his sensible, unflattering clothes, he's pretty ripped. |
| 169 | * CliffHanger: Multiple episodes, including a good portion of the [[SeasonFinale Season Finales]]. |
| 170 | %%* ClipShow: Ad nauseum. |
| 171 | * CloudCuckooLander: |
| 172 | ** Bull, for most of the show's run. |
| 173 | ** Later, Lisette the stenographer. |
| 174 | ** Everybody in the show ''thinks'' Harry is one of these. |
| 175 | ** Buddy was DEFINITELY one of these. But he's feeling MUUUUUUUUUUCH better now. |
| 176 | %%* CodeSilver: More than once. Once even done to create a ClipShow. |
| 177 | * ComedicWorkSeriousScene: This is a comedic look at a New York City arraignment court (which, ironically enough, was once called the most realistic court show on TV at the time). Harry's frequent pronouncement of "Fifty Dollars and time served" was almost his catchphrase. One case even featured Wile E. Coyote put on trial for harassing the Road Runner (it was that kind of show). However, lest anyone think it was all laughs: |
| 178 | ** One early episode had Harry reveal that he'd once stolen a car and taken it for a joyride. He'd intended to take it back, but he lost control and crashed into a liquor store. His (we would later learn) adoptive father never lived long enough to see that Harry matured and became a judge, instead of a hoodlum. |
| 179 | ** Harry is left with no choice by existing law but to evict a mother and son from their apartment. The son is subsequently shot trying to rob a liquor store. Harry [[DespairEventHorizon is nearly driven to quit]]. It's ultimately Dan who convinces Harry not to quit with a rather moving speech about how Harry is a good, impartial, and fair judge and the justice system would suffer greatly without him. |
| 180 | ** HookerWithAHeartOfGold Carla B thinks [[MistakenForFlirting Harry is interested in her]] because he's nice to her, and waits for him in his chambers in a state of undress. When she thinks she's been made a fool of, she threatens [[DrivenToSuicide to jump from the window]]. It takes a sincere and heartfelt talk from Harry to bring her back down again. |
| 181 | * TheComedyDrop: When Christine faints under the mistaken belief that Bull fell from the roof, Bull carries her down to Harry's office. He tells everyone she's not as light as she looks before dumping her on Harry's sofa. |
| 182 | * ComicallyMissingThePoint: Bull, frequently. Take season 3's "Monkey Business," for example -- Bull tries to save an orangutan from its owner's potentially lethal experiments, but Harry has to remind him what the consequences are. |
| 183 | -->'''Harry:''' I gotta order you to produce that animal in the next 10 minutes. If you do not do that, then I have no choice but to find you in contempt of my court. You'll be fined fifty dollars, and you'll be put in ''jail'' until such time as you choose to comply with my order. You will ''lose your job, Bull!'' And in all likelihood, you will never again be allowed to work for the city of New York for the rest of your natural life! \ |
| 184 | '''Bull:''' ''[horrified] FIFTY DOLLARS?!'' |
| 185 | * CooldownHug: In the second episode, Harry delivers one to an angry, runaway teen, played by Creator/MichaelJFox. |
| 186 | * CracksInTheIcyFacade: Dan Fielding is introduced as a self-interested jerk with a perverse streak a mile wide. Several episodes point to him having a hidden soft side, though. The first major example is when he falls in love with a wealthy but homely woman, and then decides he still wants to be with her when her father threatens to cut her off if she's with Dan. Unfortunately, she decides she can't live without the money, and leaves him. Over the course of the series he becomes a much more selfless and philanthropic person. |
| 187 | * CrapsackWorld: The world in which Harry Stone was never born in "Hey, Harry, F'Crying Out Loud -- It's a Wonderful Life ...Sorta". Apparently Harry's friendship was the only thing keeping Dan Fielding from becoming a CardCarryingVillain and taking over New York City from behind the scenes. |
| 188 | * CrazyWorkplace: |
| 189 | ** Judge Harry Stone is almost ''the'' textbook example of a BunnyEarsLawyer. The Assistant District Attorney, [[Creator/JohnLarroquette Dan Fielding]] is a HandsomeLech. Bailiff Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon is a shaven-headed giant. Many of the Public Defenders who come through are unprepared for the assorted oddballs and loons whom they have to represent, or they are the LoveInterest for Judge Stone. A trio of cantankerous Bailiffs served as Bull's partners over the years, two of them being cases of ActorExistenceFailure, and many of their clients were very reasonably "held over for psychiatric evaluation". The common sentence for the plethora of HookerWithAHeartOfGold characters that came through was "Fifty dollars and time served". And, at one point, this was described as the most realistic law show on television. |
| 190 | ** In addition to the regular cast, whose characters are, at best, eccentric, and at worst, {{Bunny Ears Lawyer}}s, the defendants brought through include Yakov Korelenko, played by [[TheDanza Yakov Shmirnov]], who once tried to light himself on fire, a pair of rival gangs... based on ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and then new ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', with the latter literally beaming out, and [[WesternAnimation Wile E. Coyote]]. |
| 191 | * CrossOver: |
| 192 | ** ''Night Court'' was introduced to a new generation from the crossover/ShoutOut in ''Series/ThirtyRock''. |
| 193 | ** There's also the fan theory that con-man Harry The Hat from ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' moved from Boston and is currently masquerading as a judge in New York City. |
| 194 | ** Judge Wilbur from ''Series/MyTwoDads'' showed up from time to time. |
| 195 | * CurseCutShort: During ''Santa Goes Downtown'' while dealing with a couple of shoplifting juveniles (who also refuse to give their names) |
| 196 | --->'''"Mary":''' ....Nobody cares about us except us, which is why we are getting married.\ |
| 197 | '''Harry:''' You.. look a little young to be getting married....\ |
| 198 | '''"Eddie":''' You're looking a little young to be a judge!\ |
| 199 | '''Harry:''' Touché! You little s...\ |
| 200 | '''Liz:''' Your honor! |
| 201 | * CuteButCacophonic: "High pitched squeal" was pretty much Lisette's default setting. |
| 202 | * DeadEndJob: The series went through three female bailiffs over the course of its run. This wasn't entirely intentional as the first two, Selma and Florence, were elderly women who both passed away [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim when their actresses passed in real life]]. The third bailiff, Roz, made it to the end of the series, though one episode focused on her having a diabetes scare. |
| 203 | * DeadpanSnarker: ''Everybody.'' More than once it's been suggested that their occasionally mouthy behavior is what keeps them on the night shift. |
| 204 | * DealWithTheDevil: Dan sells his soul for the princely sum of $100.00. [[spoiler:Turns out it was just a prank set up by Mac.]] |
| 205 | * DeepSouth: |
| 206 | ** Dan was originally from there and his parents were (in Dan's mind, anyway) one step removed from Ma and Pa Kettle. Actor Creator/JohnLarroquette is in fact from Louisiana, so this is TruthInTelevision to a certain extent. When Dan's dad shows up, he confirms that Dan's descriptions of his home town and its inhabitants have been pretty accurate. |
| 207 | ** The Wheeler family was originally portrayed as being from West Virginia, until outcry over stereotyping revealed them to truly be from Yugoslavia. Per RuleOfFunny, neither their names nor their accents changed after this revelation. |
| 208 | * DeathGlare: This is pretty much Roz's default facial expression. Anyone caught in it had best step carefully. Though he rarely uses it, Bull has a pretty good one, too. |
| 209 | * ADeathInTheLimelight: Dan's lackey, Phil the Bum, has significant screen time and backstory in the episode where he is killed off. |
| 210 | * DenserAndWackier: Even The Other Wiki acknowledges that the writers started making the plot secondary to the jokes as the series went on. Most people who remember the show remember it for being like this. |
| 211 | * DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: |
| 212 | ** This exchange from Bob & June Wheeler: |
| 213 | --->'''Harry:''' What are you folks doing here? I thought you went home to West Virginia.\ |
| 214 | '''Bob:''' Sir, we're not from West Virginia.\ |
| 215 | '''Harry:''' You're not?\ |
| 216 | '''June:''' No, sir. We perjured ourselves.\ |
| 217 | '''Bob:''' And we lied, too. |
| 218 | * DepravedKidsShowHost: Emil Dutton, aka Mr. Froufrou, a clown and defendant in Season 1, who even [[EveryoneHasStandards Dan]] called a "fallen idol of children everywhere". |
| 219 | -->'''Lana:''' Charged with gambling, disorderly conduct, inciting a riot, attempted assault, attacking an officer and resisting arrest.\ |
| 220 | '''Harry:''' What, no lewd behaviour?\ |
| 221 | '''Dutton:''' I was too drunk. |
| 222 | * DidYouJustHaveSex: In "Jail Bait", Christine winds up having a one-night-stand with a young street artist she defended. The next day, she is smiling a little more than usual, leading Dan to realize and announce loudly "You boffed the kid?!?" |
| 223 | * DietEpisode: In the two-parter where Dan was facing disbarment, a subplot revolved around Roz going on a diet. Christine decides to join her as a diet buddy, but it proves to be a turbulent relationship as they both get on each other any time either one tries to cheat, or when Roz appears to be losing weight more rapidly than Christine. In the end, Christine is the one who ends up snapping, gorging herself on junk food in the cafeteria. |
| 224 | %%* DiplomaticImpunity: PlayedWith in the ambassador from [[Ruritania Rogash]] in "My Life as a Dog Lawyer". |
| 225 | * DirtyOldMan: Lampshaded in "Harry On Trial", when Judge Landis (Creator/RayWalston) invites Billie out for a drink. |
| 226 | -->'''Landis''': Oh, don't worry, I'm a judge, not a dirty old man.\ |
| 227 | ''[Billie gives a "why not?" shrug and walks out the door he is holding for her.]''\ |
| 228 | '''Landis''': I lied, I'm both. ''(follows her out)'' |
| 229 | * DisappearedDad: Harry finds out this was the case when Buddy Ryan confesses to being his real father. |
| 230 | ** In fairness to Buddy, he was totally prepared to do the honorable thing. But Harry's mother was released from the mental institution first and married another man when it looked like Buddy might not be released. When Buddy did get out and he tracked her down again, it was agreed by all three of them that it would be best to wait until Harry Jr. was older before they told him the truth. But then Buddy and Harry's mother both relapsed and were recommitted, leaving Harry Stone Sr. to raise his son alone, dying before he could tell Harry the truth of his birth or why his mom had disappeared. |
| 231 | ** Later, when Buddy and Harry's mom were both out again, she sent him a letter to try and reconnect, and assumed he didn't want to know her when it wasn't answered. After she died (which was after he was appointed a judge, as she had been in the gallery to see him work), the letter finally arrives at the court ("Mac, I should have gotten this letter ''three Presidents ago''!" "They said they were sorry.") and calls the number in it, learns she's dead, and brings Buddy into his life. |
| 232 | * DisappointedInYou: When Harry's past as a juvenile delinquent surfaces, he decides to tell about what had happened. Taking a car for a joyride, he crashes into a liquor store. He notes the two nights in jail and a couple of weeks in reformatory were nothing compared to his trial, where his father just sat there staring at him, and after it was all over, all he could tell his son was, "You disappointed me, Harold." [[MyGreatestFailure It has haunted Harry ever since]], especially since his father dies before he could see him turn his life around. |
| 233 | * DistractedByTheSexy: |
| 234 | ** Christine flashes Otis in "Another Day in the Life" [[spoiler:to swing his arm wrestling match with Harry at the end]]. |
| 235 | ** In "Undressed For Success", Mac takes an underwear modeling gig for extra money. While he's changing in Harry's office, the [[AccidentalPervert women walk in]] just as he's taken off his shirt and all stop in their tracks. |
| 236 | %%* DownerEnding: |
| 237 | %%** "Leon, We Hardly Knew Ye". |
| 238 | %%** "Alone Again, Naturally" |
| 239 | * DoWrongRight: Several examples, usually from Dan: |
| 240 | ** Season Five's "Her Honor, Part 3": |
| 241 | --->'''Dan''': Are you out of your mind?! I could go to jail for impersonating a judge!\ |
| 242 | '''Mac''': Hey, it's on the phone, nobody's gonna know.\ |
| 243 | '''Dan''': Why me?\ |
| 244 | '''Mac''': Well... because it's sneaky and underhanded and deceitful(?)\ |
| 245 | '''Dan''': ...''(nods)'' Nobody does it better. |
| 246 | ** Then in the same season's "Ladies Night", when Christine and "Big Maggie" get into a CatFight at a male strip club: |
| 247 | --->'''Dan''': Ladies, ladies, this is all wrong, stop it!\ |
| 248 | ''[The ladies stop and look at him in confusion.]''\ |
| 249 | '''Dan''': At least have the decency to oil up!\ |
| 250 | ''[They resume fighting.]'' |
| 251 | * DyingDeclarationOfHate: played for hilarious effect in Season 5's "Fire", when a man casts his vote for Dan in the State Assembly Race (making the race a tie and calling for a runoff election), then commits suicide. |
| 252 | -->'''Harry''': ''(reading)'' "I can't stand living in this crummy city another day, so as a final gesture of my contempt for New York, I'm voting to put that scummy worm Dan Fielding into office..." |
| 253 | -->''[Shot of Dan listening to this with a pursed-lipped, less-than-amused expression.]'' |
| 254 | -->'''Harry''': "Fielding and New York deserve each other. Goodbye, and good riddance." |
| 255 | -->'''Phil''': ''(sniffles)'' What a tribute! |
| 256 | * DynamicEntry: When Christine is being sexually harassed by a judge in his chambers, Bull puts a stop to it by knocking down the man's office doors and giving him a DeathGlare. The man takes the hint. |
| 257 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Christine appeared in one episode of Season Two before becoming a main character in Season Three and for the rest of the show's run. This was because the producers desperately wanted Markie Post to be a regular but she was already under contract to play Terri Shannon on ''Series/TheFallGuy'' and was only available for that one episode. The character of Christine was created specifically with the intention of being brought back once Post's schedule cleared up. |
| 258 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: |
| 259 | ** Dan is originally much more straightlaced and is portrayed as a snob with a bit of a lascivious side. Midway through the first season, his sexual appetite becomes more and more prominent and his characterization becomes much more animated. |
| 260 | ** Bull is just a little sterner in early episodes. He also has a thin trace of hair rather than being completely bald. His quasi-mother/son relationship with Selma is also notable. |
| 261 | ** As discussed elsewhere, ChuckCunninghamSyndrome runs rampant within the first two seasons, but it's especially strange since even between the first and second episodes, they go from one public defender to another. For that matter, Christine's appearance in the second episode of season two in which she plays a substitute public defender before handing the reins over to a character named Billie only to return in season 3 after Billie's departure, is a little weird, though at least when Christine comes and goes, it's explained that they're using subs and her being one is important to the plot. |
| 262 | ** The original court clerk, Lana, seemed to originally be part of a sort of "will they/won't they" with Harry despite being engaged. In one episode, she's replaced with a perky, pretty clerk, yet there's no romantic tension with Harry or any particular dynamic with anyone. Eventually, Mac Robinson becomes Court Clerk, and since he's a dude, his relationship with Harry is a far cry from Lana's. |
| 263 | ** Early on, Harry was a complete buffoon who didn't take his job seriously, and his unconventional courtroom methods didn't even work. While he would never lose his goofy, fun-loving side, he would become all-business in the courtroom and his "hunches" on how to resolve various cases usually worked well. The first episode was about a group of straight-laced professionals unsure how to rein in their wacky judge. Before too long, ''they'' were the wacky ones and Harry was the [[OnlySaneMan one trying to rein ''them'' in]]. |
| 264 | * EccentricMillionaire: It was revealed in Season 8 that Phil The Bum was one. In addition to living on the streets as a homeless man, he also possessed a crippling fear of musical instruments and had a life insurance policy that paid an insanely large sum if he was killed by one. [[note]] Which, as it turned out, he was, crushed by a piano outside Carnegie Hall. [[/note]] |
| 265 | * EightiesHair: Christine until the seventh season. |
| 266 | * ElectionDayEpisode: One episode revolves around a local election which Dan was participating in. A fire forces everyone to take shelter in the morgue. After they're rescued, it's revealed that Dan initially lost the election, but this became a tie shortly afterward due to an uncounted vote. This leads to a second example. |
| 267 | * EmbarrassingFirstName: Two examples. |
| 268 | ** Daniel "Dan" R. Fielding, who had his name legally changed from Reinhold Fielding Elmore. |
| 269 | ** "Bull" Shannon's real first name was Nostradamus. This was revealed in Season 8, although much earlier episodes seemed to imply his real first name actually was Bull. |
| 270 | *** This is doubly embarrassing for Bull, as his mother named him that because "she was always crazy about that hunchback!" He is quick to stop any attempts to correct her. |
| 271 | *** His mother also gave him his nickname; not because of his size but because of her reaction to the news she was pregnant: "Bull!" |
| 272 | * EpicFail: In "Once in Love With Harry," Dan Fielding loses an election to a dead man. This later happened [[TruthInTelevision in real life]] in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_Missouri,_2000 the 2000 U.S. Senate election in Missouri]]. |
| 273 | * EskimoLand: Dan finds himself there after his Army plane crashes in the Arctic. |
| 274 | * EverybodyDidIt: In Season Three's "Harry and Leon", a "field representative" of a "novelty entertainment" firm hits Dan in the face with a chocolate cream pie. Inverted in that everyone hired the firm to pie Dan, but none of them realized it except Dan, who arranged in advance for the firm to keep one "hit" fee, and give him the rest in exchange for not getting sued. |
| 275 | -->'''Mac''': You knew we all called?\ |
| 276 | '''Dan''': ''Yes, I knew''! You hate me, you all hate me, everybody hates me! For the first time in my life, I'm taking advantage of ''being me''. |
| 277 | * EveryoneHasStandards: |
| 278 | ** Dan is an arrogant, smug, womanizing jerk, but he has ''very'' strong morals and ethics when it comes to the law, and is proud of it. At least three separate storylines centered upon someone attempting to bribe Dan and being reported to the authorities. When a private law firm offered him a more glamorous and higher paying job, Dan found out that the woman doing the hiring didn't consider him the most qualified, she just wanted to sleep with him -- Dan boasted to her that he has the highest conviction rate and fewest overturns on appeals of ''any'' prosecutor in the city. And while he did sleep with her, it was only because she was attractive; he refuses the job. |
| 279 | ** In ''The Night Court Before Christmas'', Dan spends a whole minute ranting at a toy company executive about what an unfeeling bastard he is for taking back the stolen toys accidentally donated to an orphanage on Christmas Eve, coolly finishing off with "And if you knew exactly who was saying this to you, you'd appreciate the full measure of that insult". |
| 280 | ** In ''Guess Who's Listening To Dinner'', Dan finds out that the woman he is dating is the daughter of a notorious mob boss [[note]] Played by the late Creator/TonyJay, although speaking with a New York accent [[/note]]. Before he can end the relationship, he is invited to dinner at her house, being told that "Dad" is anxious to talk with Dan about his future with her. Everyone expects this to be an attempt by the Mafia to bring Dan "into the family", so they'll have an "in" with the NYC District Attorney's office. The truth is that dad knows about Dan's reputation ("To put it mildly, you have the morals of a rutting pig.") and he's so desperate to avoid a society scandal he's willing to pay Dan to discreetly break up with his daughter. |
| 281 | ** In ''Giving Thanks'', Dan saves Christine's life by performing the Heimlich Maneuver on her when she's choking during lunch; when she asks how she can repay him, he demands that she sleep with him. In the end, however, Dan is unable to go through with it because he knows Christine doesn't really want him, and releases her from her promise. |
| 282 | * EvilTwin: Con-man Will Sanders, to bum Phil Sanders. |
| 283 | %%* ExactlyWhatItsaysOnTheTin |
| 284 | [[/folder]] |
| 285 | |
| 286 | [[folder:F–J]] |
| 287 | * FacePalm: Bull might be one of the earliest regular users of the gesture in pop culture. Though he usually did it when he realized the implications of something stupid he'd done. |
| 288 | * FaintInShock: In one episode, Dan keels over in relief after learning that he's just been the victim of Mac's elaborate prank, and hasn't literally [[DealWithTheDevil sold his soul]] to the devil. |
| 289 | * FakeBoobs: Dan is given a literal pair -- of the [[BreastExpansion inflatable sort]] -- during the prank war between Judge Stone and Judge Cleaver. |
| 290 | * FemmeFatalons: The female lawyers made use of these on a couple of occasions, Billie Valentine once left visible scars in Harry's door with hers. |
| 291 | %%* FictionalCountry: Rogash in "My Life as a Dog Lawyer". |
| 292 | * FlameWar: Actually {{Lampshaded}} when Judge Stone had to deal with an argument between fans of the old series and The Next Generation - literally. The TNG fans teleported away, which impressed everyone, while a fan said, "Oh, but can they do this?" (Vulcan Salute). |
| 293 | * {{Flanderization}}: |
| 294 | ** Dan, from a DeadpanSnarker who had good luck with the ladies into a full-on ChivalrousPervert. A rare example of this being done ''right'', as Dan's later, more extreme characterization was far more popular. |
| 295 | ** Bull, who went from a GeniusBruiser to a CloudCuckooLander with increasingly infrequent moments of being a GeniusDitz. |
| 296 | * FluffyTheTerrible: Bull somehow ends up with an alligator he names "Muffin". |
| 297 | * AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted: "Mac's Millions." Mac's grandfather dies and leaves all his money to Mac, who naturally quits his job at the courthouse. Then he loses most of his newfound wealth when he's sued over damages caused by a restaurant he bought in a previous episode. |
| 298 | * FriendlyScheming: One Halloween episode has Dan casually "selling his soul" to a man claiming to be the devil, but then getting more and more frantic when the guy starts displaying encyclopedic knowledge of Dan's past misdeeds. It turns out that it's all a prank on Mac's part and Dan faints in relief. |
| 299 | * FrozenDinnerOfLoneliness: In the two-parter "Dan's Operation", Dan goes into the hospital to have surgery for an ulcer, and winds up slipping into a coma. After Harry upbraids Dan for his reckless lifestyle (Dan went into a coma after trying to have sex in his hospital bed), Dan reveals his inner hurt, talking about how he had a frozen dinner alone on Thanksgiving. |
| 300 | * FullyAbsorbedFinale: |
| 301 | ** The ''Series/ThirtyRock'' episode "The One with the Cast of ''Night Court''". |
| 302 | ** The second-season finale of the 2023 ''Series/{{Night Court|2023}}'' series resolves the LeftHanging cliffhanger in the last episode of the original show, in which Dan ran off to Washington, DC, to proclaim his love for Congresswoman-elect Christine Sullivan. Apparently Dan did make it to DC and proclaimed his "undying love" for Christine, and they were an item for a while, but he left her because he felt that he wasn't good enough for her. |
| 303 | %%* FunnyForeigner: Two main recurring ones. |
| 304 | %%** Russian immigrant Yakov Korolenko. |
| 305 | %%** Also, The Wheeler family. They were Yugoslavian. |
| 306 | %%** Mac's Vietnamese wife Quon Le also qualifies. |
| 307 | * FurAndLoathing: During his HeelFaceTurn in Season Eight, Dan becomes something of a [[StrawmanPolitical hyper-environmentalist]]. He then turns down a hot date with an old girlfriend because she's wearing a [[PrettyInMink mink coat]]. |
| 308 | * GeniusBruiser: |
| 309 | ** Bull Shannon, in the earlier seasons, when his character was meant to look like dumb muscle but was actually quite well-read and insightful. One episode even had his intelligence being discovered by a group of research scientists who recruit him to help in their work... until he reveals that he hates doing research full time, loves being a bailiff, and goes back to his old job (but still helps them out on occasion). |
| 310 | ** To a lesser degree, Mac Robinson. Although it wasn't played up as much, Mac was in phenomenally good shape for a man his age and could hold his own in a fight. He was also an understated genius, being reluctant to start using a computer as part of his job but eventually being capable enough with them to write his own programs at a time when that required some know-how. |
| 311 | * GeniusDitz: Bull Shannon, in the later seasons, after his {{Flanderization}} into a technically brilliant but often oblivious CloudCuckooLander. His IQ was tested at 181. Then he realized he was holding the results upside down... |
| 312 | * GentleGiant: Bull Shannon, who worked with Big Brothers and attempted to write a children's book despite being incredibly intimidating. |
| 313 | %%** To a lesser degree, Mac Robinson. |
| 314 | * GiveMeASign: Done frequently; just about every character has a soliloquy where they look to the sky and talk to "God" or someone deceased at least once. |
| 315 | * GodGuise: There was more than one occasion involving people claiming to be God. One instance involved two men ''both'' claiming to be God (and then assaulting each other with turkey rolls), followed by another case involving dueling ''Moses''. Another one had a crazy guy attempting to run for the position of God as if it were a political office. |
| 316 | * GoneHorriblyRight: A con-man works out a scheme where he sent checks of a few dollars to the city as a tender offer for famous city landmarks; when the city cashed the check, it was a ''de facto'' acceptance of his offer, giving him ownership of the landmarks. His plan was to blackmail the city into paying him market value to reclaim the landmarks. Instead, the city decided to leave his claim uncontested and instead bill him for the taxes and upkeep on the properties, a ruinous sum. The man winds up begging the city to invalidate his claims. |
| 317 | * GoshDangItToHeck: |
| 318 | ** Christine seems almost incapable of swearing, it takes three days of mental torture taking care of a neighbor's baby to get her to the point where she'd even consider it. In a nearly verbatim example: |
| 319 | --->'''Christine:''' Darn it all to heck!!\ |
| 320 | '''Dan Fielding:''' You watch your ''language,'' young lady! |
| 321 | *** When she is furious at Harry for voting for Dan instead of his female opponent in the State Assembly race: |
| 322 | ---->'''Harry''': Miss Sullivan, in this case I happen to think that Dan is more qualified.\ |
| 323 | '''Christine''': Why, because he has a pair of...?\ |
| 324 | ''[sees Roz looking at her expectantly]''\ |
| 325 | '''Christine''': ...pants?\ |
| 326 | '''Roz''': ''[pouts in disappointment]'' Chicken! |
| 327 | ** Mac has one when Harry springs his ultimate prank in his prank war with another judge. |
| 328 | --->'''Mac Robinson:''' ''Un-dirty-word-believable!'' |
| 329 | * GrievousHarmWithABody: Two examples, both in Season 5: |
| 330 | ** In "Hit the Road, Jack", a riot is started in the cafeteria that involves Christine's father ''"knock[ing] Harry cold"'': |
| 331 | --->'''Christine''': What happened?!\ |
| 332 | '''Bull''': Your father hit him with something.\ |
| 333 | '''Christine''': What?\ |
| 334 | '''Sparky''': ''(a little person)'' Me! |
| 335 | ** In "Mac's Dilemma", Dan describes the actions of the defendant in a bar fight as getting into an argument with someone ''"...and then attacked him with a blunt instrument. Specifically, the manager."'' |
| 336 | * GroinAttack: |
| 337 | ** In a Season One episode, a group of beauty contestants are brought in for attacking their pageant coordinator: |
| 338 | --->'''Dan''': Your Honor, according to witnesses, Miss Congeniality led the attack with a kick to the groin. |
| 339 | ** Narrowly averted in "Chrizzi's Honor": the gang is trapped in Christine's apartment with a professional hitman stalking one of the guests. Dan says the simplest solution is just to scream for help out the window: |
| 340 | --->'''Det. Costas''': Stay away from the windows! |
| 341 | --->'''Dan''': Come on, we're on the sixteenth floor! ''[yells out the window]'' HELP! |
| 342 | --->''[There is a gunshot, and a bud vase on the coffee table shatters. As everyone else ducks, Dan turns, rapidly calculates from the trajectory that the bullet passed cleanly between his legs, and leaps away from the window.]'' |
| 343 | --->'''Dan''': ''[high-pitched, nearly inaudible whisper]'' Help... help! |
| 344 | ** In "Hit the Road, Jack", Christine's father Jack surprises her with "guess who?" hands over her eyes; she responds by elbowing him in the sides and grabbing him in a headlock, before realizing who he is; naturally, he is very proud: |
| 345 | --->'''Jack''': You remembered everything I taught you, except the knee to the groin. Thank you for that. |
| 346 | ** Hilariously lampshaded in "Heart of Stone", when the courthouse handyman returns Harry's suit of medieval armor; whne the codpiece falls off, he says it just needs some ''"minor adjustment"'', and hits it with a hammer - hard, and repeatedly. |
| 347 | --->'''Harry''': Mario...! ''(shivers)'' Could you maybe do that out in the hall? |
| 348 | --->'''Mario''': You know, back in the old days, they used to do this while you was still wearing it. ''(bang)'' I guess that's why the age of chivalry ground to a halt, ya know? |
| 349 | ** In "Branded, Part I", Dan makes the mistake of laughing his head off at a [[IWasQuiteALooker picture of Roz in her younger years]]. She responds by [[RuleOfFunny pulling Dan's trousers up to his armpits]], whereupon Dan apologizes in a very squeaky voice. |
| 350 | * GypsyCurse: The entire court was hit with one in Season Two. Bull fell into a deep trance and Dan lost all his savings after his accountant, who was in the middle of an IRS audit at the time, dropped dead. |
| 351 | * HalloweenEpisode: As with Christmas, there was one almost every year. The elaborate, funny, and clever costumes were a kind of RunningGag. |
| 352 | %%* HandsomeLech: Dan Fielding. |
| 353 | %%* HappilyMarried: Mac and Quon Le. |
| 354 | * HarmlessElectrocution: In "Death of a Bailiff", Bull is hit by lightning. Although his heart stops briefly, he recovers quickly and claims he's ready to get back to work. |
| 355 | * HaveAGayOldTime: In the episode "The Trouble Isn't in Your Set," Dan tells a woman (played by Marion Ross) to get lost by saying "go suck on a tea bag." Sounds a bit dirtier today.... |
| 356 | * HeadTiltinglyKinky: |
| 357 | ** Dan's boss' niece (played by Creator/TeriHatcher) is attempting to seduce Dan (who feared the boss's wrath), and shows him pictures she took of herself in a photo booth ("Think about shot #3!"). Dan yelps when he sees the picture, then ''turns it upside down'' and yelps AGAIN! |
| 358 | ** In another episode, Harry learns his GirlOfTheWeek is secretly a porn star. He and Dan watch one of her movies in chambers, and both tilt their heads, then Dan stands up and leans over to tilt his head further. |
| 359 | * HeartbrokenBadass: |
| 360 | ** Harry, several times. But the worst was when his girlfriend Margaret [[spoiler:had to go into witness protection]]. |
| 361 | ** Dan has an affair with a female political rival. They end up having to part ways, [[ItMakesSenseInContext and she gives him her old girl-scout compass in case he wants to find her again]]. Later, Dan turns down a date with one of his airhead girlfriends with "Not tonight, I've got a heartache" and looks at the compass. |
| 362 | * HeelFaceTurn: During Season 8, Dan made an honest attempt at becoming a better person after being placed in charge of a charitable organization. It was a slow transformation but by the end of the season he was as nauseatingly cheerful and pure as he used to be sarcastic and sleazy. |
| 363 | %%* HelloAttorney: |
| 364 | %%** Christine Sullivan. |
| 365 | %%** Billie Young before her too. |
| 366 | * HesBack: |
| 367 | ** In "Puppy Love" Dan's do-gooder ways have turned him into a simpering wimp with women, going to petting zoos and getting emotional about hand-holding and "cute" things. The woman he's dating gets frustrated that she went to the trouble of attracting the "great Dan Fielding," and got this wimp. After some name-calling and a couple of slaps Dan carries her off to the maintenance closet and has sex with her. As the pair of them exit, walking funny and putting various items of clothing back on, Dan turns to Christine and says, "I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack." |
| 368 | ** In another episode, Dan struggles with a long bout of impotence. He eventually manages to shake it off by ravishing an attractive female lawyer over his lunch break. Having regained his confidence he swaggers over to Christine's desk and leans over to her: |
| 369 | --->'''Dan:''' You know those disgusting, animalistic urges I used to torment you with?\ |
| 370 | '''Christine:''' ''[wearily]'' Yes.\ |
| 371 | '''Dan:''' They're baaaack. |
| 372 | * HoldingInLaughter: When Bull is reading some of his poetry out loud, Mac gets up and shoves a donut in his mouth to keep from laughing. It doesn't work for long. |
| 373 | * HollywoodLaw: Several instances where the law or related legal process were misinterpreted or entirely made up and manipulated for drama or comedy purposes. |
| 374 | * HookerWithAHeartOfGold: A lot of these came through Harry's courtroom. Many of them came back so often the staff seemed to regard them as friends. One even turned out to be a highschool classmate of Christine's father. ("She was voted 'Girl Most Likely To.'") |
| 375 | %%* HostageSituation: Many episodes centered around this. |
| 376 | * HotWitch: |
| 377 | ** Christine wore this costume during one of the Halloween episodes. In that same episode, Harry dated an attractive woman who turned out to be an actual witch. |
| 378 | ** Speaking of Christine, she was once shown to be able to make pieces of paper burst into flames with a snap of her fingers, including things she couldn't possibly have rigged beforehand. And it was never mentioned again. |
| 379 | * HugeGuyTinyGirl: |
| 380 | ** Mac and Quon Le. |
| 381 | ** Bull and several of his {{love interest}}s qualify too. |
| 382 | ** Pretty much any girl the male characters hooked up with qualified as the entire male cast was uncommonly tall (at one point even holding the world record for "tallest regular cast"). |
| 383 | * HumanKnot: Bull does this to Dan Fielding in one episode when Dan tries to stop him from leaving Harry's office. |
| 384 | * HurricaneOfPuns: Frequent. Surprisingly, Dan was more often to blame for this than Harry. When Dan was in a coma and a bosomy prostitute was being arraigned, Dan's flunky Phil jumped up and made an appropriate pun, sadly explaining that Dan would've wanted it that way. Another time he was gone, the others gathered around Harry's bench to talk about an overweight transvestite that had been on the docket earlier, and one of them comments they could just hear Dan calling him "[[Music/PuffTheMagicDragon Puff the Magic Drag Queen]]." |
| 385 | * HypercompetentSidekick: Mac, though [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] in that his boss wasn't incompetent. |
| 386 | * IBrokeANail: In an episode featuring Christine's meddling father, he buys her a big 1949 Buick on the grounds that it's safer than modern cars. She blows up at him for trying to take over her life, but they reconcile shortly afterward. The next day news comes that Christine was in a horrific car crash and her car went end over end. |
| 387 | -->'''Judge Stone:''' Oh my god, what happened to ''her''?\ |
| 388 | '''Christine:''' ''[enters casually]'': I think I broke a nail. |
| 389 | * IDrankWhat: Art the repair man accidentally used a man's ashes to test a newly repaired coffee maker, prompting the "This wasn't herb tea! This was Herb!" remark from Harry... and a horrified look on Dan's face from behind the mug from which he is drinking. |
| 390 | * IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: In ''Another Day In The Life'', Christine flashes a millionaire to {{distract|edByTheSexy}} him so Harry can win an arm-wrestling contest and save an orphanage. |
| 391 | * ILoveTheDead: In the episode, "Fire", when the staff are driven to the morgue in the courthouse's basement; then the power goes out: |
| 392 | -->'''Mac''': Great! Now we're trapped in the dark in a burning building surrounded by dead bodies! |
| 393 | -->'''Hooker''': I got a client from Jersey who'd pay big bucks for this. |
| 394 | * IOweYouMyLife: |
| 395 | ** Dan saves Christine from choking and exacts a night of passion in a hotel as a way of repayment. A MomentKiller came (much to Christine's relief) in the form of a jumper on a ledge outside their window. |
| 396 | ** Mac's old Vietnam war buddy who saved his life shows up in court and wants him to lose a file so that he won't go back to prison for breaking parole. He later releases Mac from the debt, not wanting to taint the most noble thing he ever did. |
| 397 | * ISurrenderSuckers: Harry gets into a pranking duel with a new judge, with his judge's robe on the line, and is thoroughly beaten when Judge Cleaver rigs his bench to collapse at the end of the day. Harry concedes defeat, forfeits his robe, and leaves in a sulk; then reveals to Christine that he had to lose, to lure the little twerp right into his trap. Cue a remote control, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd_3Qjt6nH8 a scream in the next room]]. |
| 398 | -->'''Harry:''' You may be younger, you may be faster, you may even be smarter. But you will never, ''ever'', be crazier - than ''me.'' |
| 399 | * ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: |
| 400 | ** In "Dan's Escort" a wealthy older woman wants to pay Dan for sex to try and forget her late husband. She wants "one sleazy, meaningless encounter with a nondescript, morally bankrupt gigolo." |
| 401 | --->'''Dan:''' HEY! Who are you calling '''nondescript'''? |
| 402 | ** Also from "A Modest Proposal" |
| 403 | --->'''Christine:''' You are pre-judging him just because he's not a skinny, ridiculous, adolescent clown.\ |
| 404 | '''Harry:''' I am '''not''' skinny! |
| 405 | * IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Used in "Dan the Walking Time Bomb" to convince Dan's psychotic ex-classmate not to kill him. |
| 406 | * ImprobablyHighIQ: Bull Shannon, who outscored everybody else in the cast at 181. Then he realized he was holding the paper upside down. |
| 407 | * InPrisonWithTheRogues: Lampshaded in "Her Honor": |
| 408 | -->'''Dan''': Great, that settles it, I am going to prison!\ |
| 409 | '''Bull''': ''(earnestly)'' Well, look on the bright side, Dan: you'll know lots of people, 'cause you convicted most of 'em.\ |
| 410 | '''Dan''': '''''AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!''''' |
| 411 | * InstrumentalThemeTune: A bass- and saxophone-heavy number composed by Jack Elliott. |
| 412 | * InsultBackfire: Anytime anyone convinces Harry of being crazy, they're met with him affirming their assertation. |
| 413 | ** Anyone accusing Dan of being a depraved, immoral pervert will usually get indifference or enthusiastic agreement from him. |
| 414 | *** Dan did stick up for himself when he was accused of being unethical, which he wasn't. He may be a perpetually horny gigolo with the libido of a teenager, but he is an ethical and law-abiding one. |
| 415 | * InvincibleClassicCar: The 1949 Buick that Christine's father gave her. It does indeed protect her in a massive crash. |
| 416 | * IronicEchoCut: |
| 417 | ** [[https://youtu.be/UYqhqxaaEdE When a magician performs a trick]] in which sees Dan experiencing BreastExpansion. |
| 418 | ---> '''Dan:''' ''(after looking downward)'' I've been [[VisualPun booby trapped!]]\ |
| 419 | '''Harry:''' That is so un-humorous. I can't believe anybody would find that funny.\ |
| 420 | ''[Roz and Christine start laughing]'' |
| 421 | * IrrationalHatred: Harry towards Barry Manilow, to the point that he nearly had a stroke when Christine told him that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8G__N8jZpY Mel Tormé recorded some music with Manilow]]. |
| 422 | * ItHasBeenAnHonor: In "Crossroads: Part 2", when the whole cast are quarantined in the courtroom, believing they've been exposed to a deadly biological weapon, Mac says that, no matter what happens, he wouldn't have given up his job or his friendship with the rest of them; everyone reciprocates warmly, except (of course) [[{{Jerkass}} Dan]]: |
| 423 | -->'''Dan''': Yes, I'd give up knowing you to avoid dying in this lousy courtroom. Call me a stick-in-the-mud. |
| 424 | * ItWasADarkAndStormyNight: In "Clipshow: Part 1", Bull begins this way when relating the events of "Death of a Bailiff", when he was [[HarmlessElectrocution struck by lightning]]. |
| 425 | * ItsAWonderfulPlot: The episode "Hey, Harry, F'Crying Out Loud -- It's a Wonderful Life ...Sorta", in which a guardian angel shows Harry what the world would have been like without him. |
| 426 | * JapaneseTourist: Courtesy of one of the fly-through cases: |
| 427 | -->'''Dan Fielding''': Mr. Hubbell was on his way to a seminar on subway hospitality, when he was mugged outside of city hall.\ |
| 428 | '''Mr. Hubble''': They took everything. My wallet, my keys, my cash...\ |
| 429 | '''Billie Young''': And after pleading with several passer-bys for bus fare, Mr. Hubbell attempted to panhandle from a group of Japanese tourists. They turned him down.\ |
| 430 | '''Harry Stone''': And?\ |
| 431 | '''Dan Fielding''': He mugged ''them.'' Your Honor, the state wishes to submit evidence. We have affidavits from the victims, some shredded yen, and over seventy action-packed photographs of the incident. |
| 432 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: |
| 433 | ** Dan was usually rude, condescending, arrogant, and self-centered, but he was capable of truly astounding levels of sincerity and sensitivity. He also risked his life, multiple times, to save both his friends and total strangers. |
| 434 | ** Bernie, the concession stand operator mentioned above in AbhorrentAdmirer, is also this to Selma as well. In many of his appearances with Selma, he would also often, in a very kindly and paternal way, try to persuade her to give up smoking. |
| 435 | * JobsOnlyVolunteer: Subverted when Harry explains how he became a judge. A judge position has just opened up and had to be filled immediately. The official in charge had a list of judge candidates and started calling up people on the list. However, this happened on the weekend and almost everyone on the list could not be reached by phone. Harry was at the bottom of the list but was the first candidate who was home and able to pick up the phone, so he was offered the job. Harry than points out to everyone that he might have been at the bottom of the list and gotten the job through weird luck but he was still on the list, thus he was vetted and considered competent enough to be a judge. |
| 436 | * JustEatGilligan: Invoked, it turns out Buddy spent 1971 coming up with ten thousand ways to get Gilligan off the island. |
| 437 | -->'''Mac:''' Uh, like making a bamboo raft?\ |
| 438 | '''Buddy:''' ''[impressed]'' Ten thousand and ''one''! |
| 439 | * JustTheIntroductionToTheOpposites: Everything, and everyone, is different in the Day Court. The cases are standard fare with no nuts. The crummy cafeteria is turned into a posh restaurant where reservations are required. Perhaps most worrying... Roz is a cheerful, friendly person. And Bull rides around the building selling Fruzen Schnitzel from his bicycle cart. |
| 440 | [[/folder]] |
| 441 | |
| 442 | [[folder:K–O]] |
| 443 | * LamazeClass: Two instances. |
| 444 | ** The Season 3 finale, "Hurricane", focused upon the cast having to deliver several babies after a Lamaze class becomes trapped in the courthouse during the titular hurricane. |
| 445 | ** Season 7 episode "My Three Dads" centers upon Dan, Bull and Harry all trying to help Christine at hers. |
| 446 | * LargeHam: There are some ''colorful'' personalities on this show. It'd border on WorldOfHam if there weren't people like Roz and Mac to level things out. |
| 447 | ** Basically, just give Dan a bowl of scenery and stand back. For someone who prefers a dry wit, he sure is thin-skinned... and gets ''extremely'' animated when things don't go his way (and because it's Dan, that's most of the time). |
| 448 | ** Harry himself -- a consummate jokester who makes big, goofy faces to go with all his gags. |
| 449 | ** Bull might not be on Harry and Dan's level, but he's an utterly guileless CloudCuckoolander with his heart always on his sleeve, so he tends to be a bit hammy at times. |
| 450 | ** And speaking of hearts on sleeves, that also describes Billie Young, the public defender from season 2 (before Christine was a regular). Very animated, very passionate, ''extremely'' hammy. |
| 451 | ** A lot of the cases Harry has to judge involve some really strange, and really loud, characters. Many of them enter the court arguing at the top of their lungs. |
| 452 | * LaughTrack: Actually a StudioAudience, where the same person (sometimes identified as creator Reinhold Weege's father) is often heard laughing uproariously. |
| 453 | * LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In the episode "Her Honor, Part 2," Harry has lost his job. Christine is trying to convince him not to give up hope and says, "There has got to be a way we can get your job back" Harry responds, "Like what? Like it turns out I'm on ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' and [[AllJustADream I've been dreaming all this]]?" |
| 454 | * LimitedAdvancementOpportunities: They all spend years working in a shabby night court. One wonders why Dan and Christine, both highly competent lawyers, can't get promoted. Averted at the end of the series when Christine wins election to Congress. |
| 455 | ** Dan does try several times to get elected to higher office, but never succeeds. In one election, he loses to an opponent who was known to have died before the election took place. |
| 456 | ** Season 6 has a StoryArc about Dan running for state assembly. The election ends in an exact tie (forcing a run-off election) due to a suicidal man who voted for Dan then killed himself, leaving a note explaining that the world was so screwed up it deserved "a man like Fielding." His opponent in the run-off turns out to be a gorgeous woman, and the two of them spend the night of the run-off in a hotel together. Dan's description of the run-off results: "Honey, you're kicking my head in." |
| 457 | ** Dan is also shown trying to get a promotion sometimes, usually hampered by his being a sleazebag. |
| 458 | * LockedInAFreezer: There was never a literal freezer, but various episodes did center upon the cast being trapped due to various hazards, including... |
| 459 | ** ... a fire, which forced the cast to take refuge in the courthouse morgue. |
| 460 | ** ...a hurricane. |
| 461 | ** ...the release of a deadly virus. |
| 462 | ** ...stuck elevators. At least twice. |
| 463 | ** ...snowed in. Twice. Once with no food and once with no working heat. |
| 464 | ** Harry also once locked himself in a safe. |
| 465 | ** Christine and Tony got trapped in a boiler room, though that could be considered SaunaOfDeath. |
| 466 | * LongRunnerCastTurnover: Only three regulars made it all the way through the show's nine-year run: Harry Anderson as Judge Harry Stone, Richard Moll as Bull the bailiff, and John Larroquette as prosecutor Dan Fielding. Three different actresses filled the role of the second bailiff (as different characters). Karen Austin, who played the court clerk and was Judge Stone's original love interest, left before the first season was over and was eventually replaced by Charles Robinson as Mac. Four different actresses played public defenders--Gail Strickland in the pilot, Paula Kelly for the rest of Season 1, Ellen Foley for Season 2, and Markie Post for Seasons 3-9. |
| 467 | * LukeIAmYourFather: Buddy eventually reveals that he's Harry's biological father. |
| 468 | * MagicalRealism: Multiple examples. |
| 469 | ** ToonPhysics kick in frequently, particularly when Roz is inflicting pain on Dan or Bull. |
| 470 | ** Wile E. Coyote himself - in animated form - was brought in for his repeated harassment of The Roadrunner. |
| 471 | ** Bull experiences an AlienAbduction in the final episode. |
| 472 | ** Even in the early, more serious seasons, SantaClaus was depicted as a real person. |
| 473 | ** In Season 2, a fortune teller with real magic powers cursed Dan and Bull and conjured up Mel Torme's home phone number for Harry. |
| 474 | ** A trio of costumed ''Franchise/StarTrek'' convention-goers claim that Harry has no authority over them, as they were Federation members... just before beaming out of the courtroom. |
| 475 | ** Two psychic defendants get in a telekinetic fistfight. Later, one of them telekinetically bangs Harry's gavel as he's accusing them all of being frauds. |
| 476 | * MalignedMixedMarriage: Quon Le and Mac faced difficulties winning the approval of both Mac's rich grandfather and Quon Le's father. |
| 477 | * ManOfWealthAndTaste: Dan very much wants to be one, he just never had the money. |
| 478 | * MattressTagGag: At the start of "Russkie Business" Yakov shows up claiming to be a criminal and produces the mattress and pillow tags he's removed as proof. |
| 479 | * MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In "Santa Goes Downtown", one of the defendants in Harry's court is a man who claims to be SantaClaus. Two other defendants are a pair of teenage runaways, Eddie and Mary, and "Santa" tells Harry that he might be able to persuade them to return home if he appears to know things about them that he wouldn't ordinarily know. So he looks at the missing persons file on Harry's desk, and surprises Mary by knowing her full name and her parents' names, and Eddie by knowing his name and address. Then a doctor from a mental hospital shows up and identifies "Santa" as John Stevens, a patient who goes missing every Christmas, sometimes for weeks. After Harry is able to persuade Eddie and Mary that their families miss them in spite of the deception, they ask Stevens how he knew so much about them, and Harry admits he looked at the missing persons file on them, and opens the folder... only to discover the file is for Ben Kurosawa and Nancy Tanaka. Whether or not Stevens really is Santa is left ambiguous, although Harry does see a reindeer in the hallway later in the evening... |
| 480 | * MissedTheCall: How Harry got his judgeship in the first place. The outgoing mayor was trying to stack the bench on his last day in office, a Sunday. He had a long list of candidates of which Harry was the bottom of the list. Being a Sunday afternoon, the majority of the people on the list weren't home to take the mayor's calls. (This was well before cell phones were common, obviously.) His Honor got to the bottom of the list and... Harry was home. Which is how a young, goofy guy like Harry got to be a judge. |
| 481 | -->'''Harry:''' I may have been at the bottom of the list, but I '''was''' ''on'' that list. |
| 482 | * MissingMom: Harry. He thought he had been abandoned by his mother for years until Buddy Ryan came to him and revealed that Harry's mother had been in and out of mental institutions for years. She had avoided contact after being released for fear that public knowledge that his mother was a mental patient might hurt Harry's career. She attempted contact by mail once, but the letter was lost in the mail for ''three Presidents''. |
| 483 | * MistakenForFlirting: Harry Stone is nice to everyone. HookerWithAHeartOfGold Carla B. isn't used to being treated nice by people unless they want her "professional" services. So she mistakes Harry's friendliness for flirting with her. When she learns this isn't the case, she's devastated, but Harry still treats her kindly and lets her down easy. |
| 484 | * MondegreenGag: "Death of a Bailiff", Bull gives away all his possessions after a near-death experience in which he thinks God said to him "Give to the poor, and thou shalt have riches in heaven." It was actually Art whom Bull was feeding cable to, who said over a walkie-talkie, "Give me some more; I'll shout when it reaches eleven." |
| 485 | %%* MoodWhiplash: All. The. Damn. Time! |
| 486 | * {{Mooning}}: A rare female version. Billie does this out the window of Harry's chambers in "The Computer Kid". Why? To convince a stodgy, stick-in-the-mud family to get out and live a little. The episode ends with quite a few people in the building across from Harry's office mooning back. The others look stunned, but Billie looks pleased as punch at this development. |
| 487 | * MoralityPet: |
| 488 | ** Phil, to Dan. Not at first, but Dan took Phil's death very hard and it was clear that he cared about Phil a lot more than he would ever dare let on. |
| 489 | ** In one episode it was shown that Harry was this to Dan. It was the episode where it's shown what would happen if Harry was never born. Dan goes full-blown CardCarryingVillain and takes over New York. |
| 490 | * MrViceGuy: Dan Fielding. Lech, pervert, he-slut--but also a man who cares about his friends and the law. And also surprisingly health-conscious. He always carries latex gloves and condoms in his briefcase, and once has a key prosecution witness who wanted to be all over him but was rebuked thusly: |
| 491 | --> '''Dan:''' Don't touch me without a note from your doctor! |
| 492 | * MyEyesAreUpHere: Markie Post was [[BuxomBeautyStandard quite busty]], and several gags revolve around Christine's bust size; usually around her disgusted reactions to lecherous admiration of her breasts. |
| 493 | * MyOwnPrivateIDo: Two examples. |
| 494 | ** Christine and Tony were married in an improvised ceremony in an Italian restaurant the night before Tony was due to go overseas for a DEA operation. |
| 495 | ** Bull - sick of how all of his friends and family were at each other's throats regarding plans for his wedding - improvised a more quiet, personal ceremony on the roof of the courthouse. |
| 496 | * NarrativeProfanityFilter: The defendant in "Death Threat" who claims to be [[AGodAmI God]] is brought in over an altercation he started at a deli. Some strong words were exchanged, which Dan liberally paraphrases for the court. |
| 497 | --> '''Dan:''' Blumbert was unimpressed, and told him to leave. And then he told Blumbert to "be fruitful, and multiply." But not in those words. |
| 498 | %%* NewYearHasCome: "New Year's Leave" |
| 499 | * NicenessDenial: |
| 500 | ** "Dan's Boss": Dan learns that his new boss is a midget named Vincent Daniels. Dan spends the majority of the episode denigrating and insulting Vincent, until he ends up rather predictably fired. Harry gives Dan a WhatTheHellHero lecture, which Vincent overhears. He relates the story of his DisappearedDad, and Dan has a JerkassRealization and sincerely apologizes. Vincent rehires him, leading to this moment: |
| 501 | ---> '''Dan:''' You're taking me back?\ |
| 502 | '''Vincent:''' Yes. Because I think you're being sincere. Also, I've seen your conviction record. You're good.\ |
| 503 | ''(Dan looks gratified)''\ |
| 504 | '''Vincent:''' But most of all I'm taking you back because it will give me the opportunity to make your life a LIVING HELL! You think you're a tough customer? Well, move over, Buster! Because I'm the toughest, I'm the meanest, I'm the nastiest little man God ever put on this earth! I'm going to make you run, I'm going to make you jump, I am going to make you slither on the ground like a snake!\ |
| 505 | '''Dan:''' GOD BLESS YOU! ''(Dan hugs him, then leaves)'' |
| 506 | ** "Dan's Operation Pts. 1 & 2": Two particularly heartbreaking moments from the two parter. In the first half, Harry is trying to give Dan some sound, heartfelt advice, and Dan, in no mood, snaps at him, saying, "Has it ever occurred to you that the only reason I listen to you is that it is my job! I have to!" After Dan goes into a coma and then comes out of it, he and Harry have another heart to heart where Dan expands on that, saying that of the many, many women he's slept with, none of them have ever said to him "I love you", and he says that it's because in order to be loved, on must be able to give, and he ''cannot'' give. Harry, however, gives Dan a YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre speech. |
| 507 | ** "Earthquake". Dan is trapped in an elevator with Roz and two sumo wrestlers (ItMakesSenseInContext), after an earthquake immobilizes it between floors. Dan is panicking due to claustrophobia, until Roz slaps him. But when they're freed, Roz tells everyone that Dan was a real cool customer who handled himself well. When Dan asks her about it, later, she gives us this gem: |
| 508 | ---> '''Roz:''' I don't want anyone to know I was nice to you.\ |
| 509 | '''Dan:''' Why?\ |
| 510 | '''Roz:''' Because then everybody would want to be my friend. Then they'd want to hang around all the time, and sooner or later two of them would get into an argument. And I'd try to cool them off, but I'm not much good at that, so I'd just gun 'em all down, and end up frying in the electric chair.\ |
| 511 | '''Dan:''' (nods, then smiles) Better to be safe than sorry. |
| 512 | * NobodysThatDumb: Harry gives a ''very'' convincing tirade to [[CruelToBeKind convince Leon that Harry doesn't give a damn about him]], finally convincing Leon to shape up and look for a caring foster family. Afterwards, Christine says she was entirely convinced, and Harry, surprised, says he thought everybody except Leon knew he was faking it. |
| 513 | -->'''Christine''': ''(a little desperately)'' Bull?\ |
| 514 | '''Bull''': I have only three active brain cells, Christine, and even ''I'' knew. |
| 515 | * NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: |
| 516 | ** The female defendant in "Auntie Maim" was clearly based on Creator/ZsaZsaGabor. |
| 517 | ** Another episode had a character who was clearly based on Creator/AndrewDiceClay, right down to repurposing a nursery rhyme as an off-color joke. |
| 518 | ** "Amour or Less" featured two feuding twin sister advice columnists Anna and Vanna Landers, obviously patterned after Esther and Pauline Friedman, AKA Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren. |
| 519 | * NoodleImplements: |
| 520 | ** What the hell was Harry building with all of those things he had delivered in "Her Honor Pt. 3"? Not everything he ordered wound up on those glasses. |
| 521 | ** Most of the things Dan keeps in his briefcase. |
| 522 | ** Buddy once went looking for dice and a salami for a party game. |
| 523 | * NoirEpisode: "Hey, Harry, F'Crying Out Loud -- It's a Wonderful Life ...Sorta", where most of the episode is shot in the style of a 1940s Creator/WarnerBros gangster flick. |
| 524 | * NoodleIncident: |
| 525 | ** Buddy's life is a string of these (but he's feeling ''much'' better now!). |
| 526 | ** Bull has also had his share of these. |
| 527 | ** Dan's sex life qualifies too. |
| 528 | * NotInFrontOfTheKid: |
| 529 | ** In the episode "Let It Snow", a [[BadSanta guy dressed as Santa Claus]] is brought before the court for something involving a prostitute, and there's a kid present as a witness, so Harry asks them all to be mindful of this. The term "UnusualEuphemism" gets strained to the breaking point: |
| 530 | --->'''Mandy''': ''(the prostitute)'' I'm the gift that keeps on giving.\ |
| 531 | '''Lorenzo''': ''(the pimp)'' I'm the elf who handles the money.\ |
| 532 | '''Dan''': ''(the prosecutor)'' Anyway, after the, um...?\ |
| 533 | '''Harry''': ''(the judge)'' "Gift exchange"?\ |
| 534 | '''Dan''': ''(points at Harry and mouths, "thank you")'' Santa... forgot to leave anything under her tree.\ |
| 535 | ...\ |
| 536 | '''Mrs. Stapleton''': ''(the mother)'' My boy heard Santa use the most vile gutter-words imaginable!\ |
| 537 | '''Santa''': Have somebody [[GroinAttack tug on your sack of goodies]] and see what you say, lady! |
| 538 | ** In a later episode when a couple are brought in for performing a live sex act while a group of schoolchildren are visiting the courthouse- |
| 539 | --->'''Dan:''' Right, sir. The defendants are charged with... "playing doctor".\ |
| 540 | '''Harry:''' Very good.\ |
| 541 | '''Dan:''' Apparently it was an exploratory surgery...\ |
| 542 | '''Harry:''' ''(gavel)'' Dan!\ |
| 543 | '''Christine:''' Sir perhaps the children should be excused.\ |
| 544 | '''Harry:''' Mr. Prosecutor, does this get much worse before it gets any better?\ |
| 545 | '''Dan:''' Well sir I was about to introduce the stage props into evidence...\ |
| 546 | '''Schoolteacher:''' Oh please, God no! If you have any shred of decency you'll stop right there!\ |
| 547 | '''Dan:''' ''(pause)'' As I was saying, Exhibit A.... |
| 548 | * NotTheIntendedUse: When Christine starts to feel sick during her wedding ceremony, Roz opens Dan's briefcase so she can puke in it. Dan protests that it cost him over $200, whereupon Roz says she can believe it because there aren't any leaks. |
| 549 | * NotMeThisTime: When Florence was being forced into retirement after reaching the mandatory age, Bull drove out to Albany and somehow managed to acquire Florence's original birth certificate in hopes that they could possibly change it somehow. When it looks like Florence is going to retire anyway, the birth certificate randomly goes up in flames, destroying the evidence of her age. All eyes went to Harry, expecting this to be one of his magic tricks, but he was just as surprised as everyone else, not that anyone believed him. [[spoiler:Turns out Christine was the one responsible.]] |
| 550 | * ObfuscatingStupidity: |
| 551 | ** Harry's favorite M.O.; Dan has used it a time or two as well. |
| 552 | ** A [[BuxomBeautyStandard busty new hire]] (Jennifer Richards) in the DA's office pretended to be a BrainlessBeauty to discourage Dan from trying to get her in bed. |
| 553 | * OddFriendship: |
| 554 | %%** Roz and Christine are presented as one at first. |
| 555 | ** Later as Christine has responsibilities as a mother, Roz and Lisette become this. They even take an interest in one another's hobbies. |
| 556 | * OfCorpseHesAlive: In one episode an important Japanese man dies in the court and his body ends up lost and riding around on an electric wheelchair around the courthouse. |
| 557 | * OhCrap: |
| 558 | ** Dan, after insulting the little person who turns out to be his new boss, Vincent Daniels: |
| 559 | --> '''Vincent:''' Excuse me, I'm afraid I'm a little lost. I was wondering if you could direct me. ''[holds out card with office number on it to Dan]'' |
| 560 | --> '''Dan:''' Certainly; first left, take the corridor and then [[Film/TheWizardOfOz follow the yellow brick road]]. *bursts out laughing* I crack myself up. |
| 561 | -->'''Vincent:''' Who are you?\ |
| 562 | '''Dan:''' Dan Fielding. ''[sarcastic baby-talk voice]'' Can you say that? ''[starts laughing again]''\ |
| 563 | '''Vincent:''' I'm Vincent Daniels, your new boss. ''[pause as Vincent gets shit-eating grin on his face while [[JawDrop Dan's jaw hits the floor]]]'' [[IronicEcho Can you say that]]? |
| 564 | ** After Dan was mistakenly forced to abstain from sex for two weeks, upon finding out - "I haven't had sex in two weeks!" and starts looking around at everyone in the cafeteria. Roz, typically the least likely to be intimidated shouts "Run for your lives girls!" and they all rush out. Dan's still looking around, prompting Harry to shout "Better safe than sorry, guys!" and then ''they also run out''. |
| 565 | * OldFriendNewGender: A season two episode had Dan learning an old friend of his from high school had now become a woman. He had trouble dealing with it at first. |
| 566 | * OnlySaneMan: Mac. Even his spotlight episodes tended to be far less weird than the others. This was slightly averted in the last few seasons when he became an aspiring filmmaker who specialized in pretentious schlock. |
| 567 | * OrphanedPunchline: A RunningGag had characters saying "so the nun says, $20, same as in town!" This is actually the punchline to a RealLife dirty joke, which the writers couldn't tell in full on the show. |
| 568 | * OverlyLongAirplaneBannerGag: "Constitution" actually does it without an airplane. Bull puts up a "Welcome Home Roz" banner that runs the entire length to the courtroom: ''eighteen floors''. Plus six feet. |
| 569 | [[/folder]] |
| 570 | |
| 571 | [[folder:P–T]] |
| 572 | * ParanormalEpisode: In an episode, Harry used his magic hobby to convince another character that he was exorcising some evil spirits, at one point using a book gimmicked to shoot flames when you open it. After it's all over, Art (the janitor) comes in saying "sorry I'm late" and gives Harry the prop burning book. So... what was up with that other book? |
| 573 | ** The show liked gags like this, designed to yank the audience's collective chain. Other episodes had Bull somehow bring Harry's stuffed armadillo to life, and Bull turn into a child. |
| 574 | * PersonaNonGrata: In "My Life as a Dog Lawyer", an arrogant European diplomat invokes DiplomaticImpunity and Harry admits he has no power to fine or imprison him, but he can send him home; given the choice between staying in [[BigApplesauce The Big Apple]] and returning to his flyspeck of a country (where the only pastime, industry or national political activity seems to be "listening to the Swiss"), he immediately promises to be a good boy from then on. |
| 575 | * PieInTheFace: |
| 576 | ** The entire cast pays to have this done to Dan in "Harry and Leon" (Season 3, Episode 14); in that same episode, [[spoiler:Bull pays to have it done to Harry]]. |
| 577 | ** Also, in "Top Judge" (Season 5, Episode 20), [[spoiler:the rival prankster judge Jimmy Cleaver (played by former [[Series/SaturdayNightLive SNL]] cast member Gary Kroeger [from 1982-1985]) hits Harry with this prank (pie coming from a briefcase with a clown hand throwing it), causing Harry to accept Cleaver's prank/joke war challenge]]. |
| 578 | * PleasePutSomeClothesOn: On the episode "Prince of a Guy," a woman who has been arrested for [[SkinnyDipping swimming nude]] in Central Park claims to be a princess from a tropical island. While standing in Harry's office, he asks her to just relax. She obliges by [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl removing her bikini top]] with [[ToplessnessFromTheBack her back to the camera]], forcing Harry to say, "[[ICantBelieveImSayingThis I've never actually said this to anyone before]], but could you put your top back on?" It becomes [[NakedPeopleAreFunny even funnier]] since Roz was in the room with the two of them. When Harry said relax and the princess disrobed, Roz says, "I'm your witness sir. You did absolutely nothing to provoke this." After Harry [[EatingTheEyeCandy continues to stare]] for a couple of seconds, Roz quips, "Of course, [[NotHelpingYourCase you are doing nothing to stop it, either]]." |
| 579 | * PoliceCodeForEverything: The Wheelers are brought in on a 509b violation. |
| 580 | -->'''Harry:''' I don't believe I'm familiar with that one.\ |
| 581 | '''Dan:''' Well Sir, it's not used in Manhattan very much. It involves the illegal detonation of poultry. |
| 582 | * ThePollyanna: Christine is infamous in the court for being a cheerful goody-two-shoes. When her personal life runs into turmoil, she becomes a StepfordSmiler. |
| 583 | * PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: In "New Year's Leave," an Inspector Girard shows up to take an escaped convict back to prison. As soon as Mac hears the name, he's instantly prompted to ask if the Inspector is looking for [[Series/TheFugitive a one-armed man]]. Not only does Girard not get the joke, he claims he's never watched TV. Seconds later, Harry enters and makes the exact same joke upon hearing Girard's name. |
| 584 | * PostScriptSeason: Season 8 is over. Dan quits his job and loses the Phil Foundation fortune. More importantly, Harry and Christine have professed their love to one another. OK, that's the end. What's that? We've been renewed? Oh, crap! |
| 585 | * ThePrankster: |
| 586 | ** Harry took professional pride in it. |
| 587 | ** Cleaver, to the point where he challenged Harry. [[spoiler:And lost, big time.]] |
| 588 | * PrenupBlowup: When Harry is about to get married, Dan brings him what looks like a condom. When Harry turns it down, Dan expertly unfolds what then turns out to be a multiple pages long document, saying it's really a pre-nup, to Harry's even greater dismay. |
| 589 | -->'''Harry:''' Those things really take away the romantism and spontaneity out of a wedding.\ |
| 590 | '''Dan:''' you're still confusing it with a condom. |
| 591 | * PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: During one of the "Day in the Life" episodes, Harry adjudicates a dispute between three young black men and three rapping Hasidic Jews. |
| 592 | -->Well thank you judge, we love to rhyme\ |
| 593 | to jive, to rap, to get down, l'chaim!\ |
| 594 | So thanks to the shiksa for getting us off\ |
| 595 | And to everybody else, mazel tov! |
| 596 | * ProdigalFamily: Resident CasanovaWannabe Dan Fielding prided himself on his suave, urbane image; an unexpected visit from his parents collapsed the lies he'd been feeding his co-workers and friends, revealing his bayou-country background and (in Dan's mind, at least) the most embarrassing first name ever. |
| 597 | * ProfessionalButtKisser: Dan sucked up to anyone with any kind of authority, whether it be political, legal or even religious. |
| 598 | * PutOnABus: |
| 599 | ** Original court clerk Lana (Karen Austin) and public defenders Liz (Paula Kelly) and Billie (Ellen Foley) had all come and gone by the end of the second season; their departures were unexplained. |
| 600 | ** Harry's girlfriend Margaret (Mary Cadorette) and Christine's husband Tony (Ray Abruzzo) had their departures explained; Margaret had to go into witness protection, while Christine and Tony divorced when they were unable to make their marriage work around their professional obligations. The fact that they had very little in common other than mutual sexual attraction didn't help either. |
| 601 | * RaceAgainstTheClock: On four separate occasions, and for four different reasons, Harry and his staff must get through an absurdly huge caseload by midnight. |
| 602 | ** Could actually be justified. Harry often spends more time than other judges would trying to get to the bottom of a problem, helping the involved parties come to a mutually agreeable solution/working through their issues, which slows down the courtroom, meaning cases can get built up to the point that they get dinged by their "managers" for having too much of a backlog, and have to work fast to clear it. |
| 603 | * RealAfterAll: |
| 604 | ** Santa Claus in the first season ChristmasEpisode "Santa Goes Downtown". Not only does he know the real names of the teenage runaways in Harry's court (played by Creator/MichaelJFox and Olivia Barash) even though they are using fake [=IDs=], but a certain antlered member of his crew shows up to meet him (Selma refuses to deal with the "deposit" said animal leaves behind). Oddly averted in later seasons, when Bull has to be reassured by Roz that Santa is real, after Dan says that the last words he spoke to his younger sister two decades earlier were "There is no Santa." |
| 605 | ** Then there was Bull's reaction after Harry used anatomically correct paper dolls, scissors and a stapler to explain how Dan's best friend as a boy had become a woman. |
| 606 | ---> '''Harry:''' Kinda reminds you of how you felt when you found out about The Easter Bunny, huh?\ |
| 607 | '''Bull:''' What about the Easter Bunny? |
| 608 | * RealityIsUnrealistic: [[WordOfGod According to Reinhold Weege]], the story Harry tells about how he became judge, that is, he got his assignment because the outgoing mayor of New York City made a huge number of appointments on his last day, and Harry was the only person on the judges' list who was home and was able to receive the call and accept his nomination, was actually a very true story involving former UsefulNotes/LosAngeles mayor Sam Yorty. Per Weege, Yorty was so angry that he lost his re-election bid to Tom Bradley, that he decided to hurt Bradley, whom he personally hated, by filling all of the judicial openings with unqualified or under qualified personnel.[[note]]Amusingly, Bradley was actually relatively unscathed by this action, and actually served 20 years in office, eight more than Yorty, and only ended up leaving office in 1993 due to low popularity points in response to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots 1992 Los Angeles riots]].[[/note]] Lana actually [[LampshadeHanging points this out]] at the beginning of the pilot episode, in which she mentions that she doesn't know anything about "Judge Stone" because the mayor filled all the vacancies at the last minute. |
| 609 | * ReallyGetsAround: Dan, who was [[{{Understatement}} rather notorious]] for this. |
| 610 | --> '''Dan:''' Harry, do you know how many women I have slept with?\ |
| 611 | '''Harry:''' Dan, it doesn't matter how many women you've slept with! [[{{Beat}} <beat>]] A hundred?\ |
| 612 | '''Dan:''' You ever see the signs over the golden arches that say, "over 4 billion served"? Let's just say I'm competitive. |
| 613 | * "TheReasonYouSuck"Speech: Dan delivers a beautiful one in the climax of "Branded: Part 2": |
| 614 | -->'''Dan''': I would also like to thank Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Wood, for teaching me a very important lesson. You see, all my life I wanted to be rich and important, like you. Even as a kid back in Louisiana, I would wear a tie while slopping hogs, pretending they were reporters, all clamoring to ask me questions about my latest courtroom triumph. I would graciously answer each in turn, until my bucket was empty and my tie was covered with pig phlegm. All those years ago, and then suddenly, I had the chance to become one of you! To my own surprise, I said no. Because I realized that... you're not better than the people I grew up with. You're not even better than the pigs. |
| 615 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Harry, who combined this trope with a large dash of BenevolentBoss. Later seasons challenged this a bit, as it was established that he frequently used his authority to force the court staff to do various activities (e.g. birthday parties, forming a bowling team). His intentions were good, but it caused some minor resentment in later episodes. |
| 616 | * ReassignedToAntarctica: |
| 617 | ** This almost literally happened to Dan, who was in the US Army Reserves. He was [[ReassignedToAntarctica Reassigned To The Arctic Circle]] to help give physicals to polar bears, after he was caught faking an injury in order to avoid being called into active duty. Ironically, Dan only did that because he thought he was being sent into combat; his actual orders involved doing reconnaissance work with his ActionGirl commanding officer in a BananaRepublic, posing as a couple at some exotic resort. |
| 618 | ** Also happened, less literally, in Season Nine, when Dan was briefly reassigned to working in the Dog Court. |
| 619 | * RedHerring: Harry thinks the fact that he and Buddy both had an allergic reaction to some au gratin potatoes is proof that Buddy's his biological father (as he had suspected for a while). Turned out that Buddy was allergic to the potato, Harry to the cheese. Later, Buddy does fess up to being Harry's dad. |
| 620 | * ReluctantRetiree: Florence, in the episode "Flo's Retirement". Averted after the only existing copy of her birth certificate mysteriously burns to ashes, leaving no definitive proof of her age. |
| 621 | * RenegadeSplinterFaction: PlayedForLaughs in "The Mugger": |
| 622 | -->'''Mac''': They said they might be able to get a hostage negotiator out here in... two hours.\ |
| 623 | '''Harry''': Two hours?!\ |
| 624 | '''Mac''': They said all their people are tied up right now.\ |
| 625 | '''Harry''': Tied up with what?\ |
| 626 | '''Mac''': [[LiteralMetaphor Rope]]. They're being held hostage by a militant splinter faction of Up With People.\ |
| 627 | '''Harry''': ''[shakes head]'' [[TakeThat It was only a matter of time...]] |
| 628 | * {{Retcon}}: The Wheelers really were intended to be from West Virginia, but after a number of people from that state complained, it was later revealed that they had actually come from Yugoslavia (where presumably the show had fewer viewers). |
| 629 | * RetiredBadass: Mac was an Army Ranger (or possibly a Marine) in Vietnam before working as a clerk. |
| 630 | * RevolvingDoorCasting: A whole bunch. |
| 631 | ** Four actresses played the public defender: Gail Strickland (pilot only), Paula Kelly (the rest of Season 1), Ellen Foley (Season 2) and Creator/MarkiePost (Seasons 3-9). |
| 632 | ** Three female bailiffs: Selma Diamond, Florence Halop and Creator/MarshaWarfield for the last six seasons. |
| 633 | ** Creator/KarenAustin, who played the court clerk and was the original romantic foil for Judge Stone, departed after only ten episodes. The show eventually settled on Charles Robinson in Season 2. |
| 634 | * RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: in "Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson": |
| 635 | -->'''Christine''': Oh, don't tell me you've never delivered a baby before!\ |
| 636 | '''Dr. Adelman''': ''(a podiatrist; sarcastically)'' Well, just how many people who ''aren't'' obstetricians have?\ |
| 637 | ''([[ContinuityNod Christine, Harry, Mac, Dan and Bull all raise their hands]].)''\ |
| 638 | '''Dr. Adelman''': What are you, some kind of a cult? |
| 639 | %%* RichInDollarsPoorInSense: Several of Dan's would-be girlfriends. |
| 640 | * RippedFromTheHeadlines: Several examples. |
| 641 | ** The Season 5 Episode "Who Was That Mashed Man?" was based on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Lone_Ranger#Clayton_Moore_Lawsuit the now infamous court battle]] between Radio/TheLoneRanger star Clayton Moore and the owner of The Lone Ranger copyright, Lew Grade.[[note]]When Grade (the guy who brought us ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'' and ''Series/TheMuppetShow'') attempted a DarkerAndEdgier reboot called ''The Legend of the Lone Ranger'', lawyers forced the original Lone Ranger actor to stop touring with his costume; legal stuff ensued, the public got wind of this and supported the actor, resulting in the movie dying quickly at the box office (the fact that the movie was terrible didn't help). This was pretty much the nail in the coffin for Grade's movie-making aspirations; his previous film, the notorious flop ''Film/RaiseTheTitanic'', as well as the Music/VillagePeople movie ''Film/CantStopTheMusic'' had killed the ITC/EMI joint venture AFD (Associated Film Distribution) and forced him to sell the remainder of the AFD films to Universal.[[/note]] ''Night Court'' used an Expy called The Red Ranger in the same situation. |
| 642 | ** The Season 8 Episode "It's Just a Joke" featured a character who was based on comedian Creator/AndrewDiceClay and a plot that was based upon his court battles regarding his right to Free Speech. |
| 643 | * {{Rule 34}}: A one-time character and one of Dan's regular squeezes was an air stewardess with a bizarre fetish for lacrosse. |
| 644 | * RunningGag: |
| 645 | ** Any time that Mel Torme guest-starred he and Judge Stone would spend the entire episode managing to (unintentionally) avoid each other. Almost as often, Mel would be accidentally abused in some way while at the courthouse, causing him to dislike Harry, his biggest fan. |
| 646 | %%** The cafeteria's tuna log. |
| 647 | ** People saying how Dan's hair looks stupid. |
| 648 | %%* SavingTheOrphanage: The plot of Season 5's "Another Day in the Life." |
| 649 | * SassyBlackWoman: Averted, Roz is incredibly deadpan, and generally alternates between stoicism and rage. |
| 650 | * ScaryBlackMan: |
| 651 | ** Genderflipped: Roz is a scary black woman whom even the gargantuan Bull fears. |
| 652 | ** Mac's not above intentionally invoking this when he has to. |
| 653 | ** Aversion: Bull is a Scary ''White'' Man. |
| 654 | * SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp: Harry's grade school bully showed up as a defendant in one episode. |
| 655 | * SchizoTech: Occasionally pieces of super-technology such as teleporters, a handheld laser weapon or a sentient AI appeared, at a time when things like the internet and analogue cell phones were cutting-edge marvels. |
| 656 | * ScreamingBirth: The Season 3 Finale feature ''four'' simultaneous screaming births with our heroes having to handle the deliveries themselves because the courthouse is locked down. The highlight is Christine delivering triplets as the Spanish-speaking father begs God to stop giving him children. |
| 657 | * SeasonFinale: Night Court had some of the greatest CliffHanger ones: |
| 658 | ** Season 4 ended with Harry being fired, Christine being appointed a judge in his stead, and Harry planning the biggest practical joke of all time in retaliation. |
| 659 | ** Season 5 ended with Dan – who was in the US Army Reserves – getting called up and presumed dead after his plane crashed into the Arctic Ocean. |
| 660 | ** Season 8 ended with Harry and Christine having apparently confessed their love for one another and Dan having mysteriously disappeared. Apparently, this ''was'' planned to have been the SeriesFinale, with Christine and Harry getting married and Dan joining the priesthood. A last-minute renewal forced them to make some sudden changes to restore the Status Quo at the start of Season 9, with Christine and Harry quickly agreeing they were better off as friends and Dan quickly being cleared of the criminal charges that drove him insane at the end of Season 8. |
| 661 | ** Season 9 ended with Christine being elected to high office, Dan resigning his post to follow after her having realized his true love for her, and Bull being abducted by aliens. While this turned out to be the show's final episode, it was ''not'' intended to be the SeriesFinale, for obvious reasons. Most accounts say that the decision to cancel the series was handed down the same Friday the final episode was filmed, and that the cast was informed their belongings would be thrown out if their dressing rooms were not cleaned Monday morning. |
| 662 | * ServileSnarker: |
| 663 | ** After Dan saved Christine's life he tried to bed her in a hotel run by a sarcastic, snobby British manager. (No, not [[Series/FawltyTowers that one]].) |
| 664 | ** Mac plays this role for Harry very often, when he's not doing regular snark at everyone else. |
| 665 | * SharpDressedMan: Dan Fielding always comes into court with a nice suit. He talked up one particular suit as his best and most expensive yet, [[TemptingFate so of course,]] it was irreparably damaged by episode's end. |
| 666 | * ShipperOnDeck: Mac and Roz are revealed to be this for Harry and Christine in "A Modest Proposal". |
| 667 | * ShirtlessScene: Mac had one, revealing that he was astonishingly buff for a man his age. |
| 668 | * ShoeShineMister: For a little while there's a shoeshine stand that's an important place in the courthouse, with the shiner as a recurring character. |
| 669 | * ShooOutTheNewGuy: In season 3, Harry adopted [[HeartwarmingOrphan an orphan]] named Leon. Leon was only shown actually living with Harry for one episode, and he was PutOnABus before the season ended. |
| 670 | * ShoutOut: |
| 671 | ** During one of the "Day in the Life" episodes, one of the cases involved a children's author called "Dr. Wiggles", a Creator/DrSeuss esque children's writer. The entire case was done in Seussian verse. |
| 672 | ** In one of the Halloween episodes, Harry starts dating a girl who turns out to be a self-confessed witch. When she tells him, he pauses and asks [[Film/TheWizardOfOz "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?"]] |
| 673 | * SingingTelegram: Dan goes off on an assignment with the army and the staff at the court receives a telegram. Harry pays the delivery boy some extra money to have him sing it to them. So, he sings to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" [[spoiler:"The U.S. Army sadly states/sometime yesterday/Captain Fielding's plane went down/north of Hudson Bay."]] |
| 674 | * SkewedPriorities: In "Night Court of the Living Dead", Dan tries his hand at talking down a suicidal jumper on the ledge outside Harry's office: |
| 675 | -->'''Dan''': Look, I know things seem tough, but trust me, there's no problem that's worth leaping to your death...! But if you do jump, could you bear left so you don't hit my car? |
| 676 | %%* SnowedIn: ''Twice.'' |
| 677 | * SmallNameBigEgo: Frederick Streiko, the [[AssInAmbassador ambassador]] from the tiny European nation of Rogash, is so outraged over being arrested for a minor traffic offense that he declares a state of war between the two countries. Harry has trouble taking this seriously, until the State Department informs him that Rogash (population approximately 13) is in possession of both a nuclear warhead and several cruise missiles (gifts from the U.S. government in gratitude for allowing them to spy on the Swiss). |
| 678 | * SoBeautifulItsACurse: Christine suffers frequently from this; in the episode "Giving Thanks", Dan frankly tells her that, although there are boundaries he will not cross (such as coercing or guilting her into sleeping with him), she will never be entirely "safe" from his advances; |
| 679 | ** In "The Law Club", Dan is appalled to learn that Christine has been named the ultimate prize in a "sexual scavenger hunt" by a Manhattan lawyer's club, not only because of her looks, but because her prudish reputation makes seducing her a real challenge; |
| 680 | ** In "Passion Plundered", an attractive reporter comes to the courthouse to interview Harry, and has Harry and Dan falling over each other trying to seduce her, neither of them knowing she's a lesbian; even male viewers wince at Dan's {{jerkass}} reaction to finding out: |
| 681 | --->'''Pamela''': I don't believe this! I thought I was coming to a municipal court, not a junior high school!\ |
| 682 | '''Dan''': Well, what I want to know is, where do you get off looking like ''that''... and liking girls? |
| 683 | * SociopathicSoldier: In "Nuts About Harry": |
| 684 | -->'''Harry''': Thanks, Mac. You've obviously had some experience with...\ |
| 685 | '''Mac''': Unhealthy minds? Oh, yeah. [[TheVietnamVet In 'Nam]] we had one fellow who really burned out all his circuits. Went running around the compound screaming "Kill! Kill!" Crazed as hell, boy.\ |
| 686 | '''Harry''': What'd they do with him?\ |
| 687 | '''Mac''': [[CrazySane Made him an officer.]] |
| 688 | * SpeaksInShoutouts: Nana Visitor plays a homicidal crazy woman with MultiplePersonalities. Her personalities are taken from various movies. |
| 689 | * SpecialGuest: |
| 690 | ** Harry's idol, Mel Tormé, made periodic cameo appearances {{as himself}}. |
| 691 | ** Also, Creator/JohnAstin as Buddy. |
| 692 | ** Yakov Smirnoff made several appearances as [[TheDanza Yakov Korolenko]]. |
| 693 | ** Creator/JohnnyCarson had a brief cameo in one episode. |
| 694 | ** On one occasion, [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Wile E. Coyote]] turned up as a defendant. Yes, [[RogerRabbitEffect in cartoon form]]. |
| 695 | ** Creator/MichaelJFox (then known primarily as Alex Keaton in ''Series/FamilyTies'') played a shoplifter in the first season's Christmas episode (which, strangely enough, was only the show's the second episode). |
| 696 | * SpringCleaningFever: Christine in Season 7's "Still Another Day In The Life." She's heavily pregnant and going through her nesting phase, so she spends the whole episode obsessively sanitizing the entire courtroom. By the end, ''she's driving a Zamboni through it.'' |
| 697 | * StatusQuoIsGod: The show did follow the standard SitCom mold of having everything go back to normal, if not by the end of the episode, than almost always before the end of the season. |
| 698 | ** Most of the cast's romantic relationships were short-lived and didn't last long. Even Christine's marriage ended part-way through the following season and Harry's longest-lasting relationship was only half a season. The most notable exception was Mac and Quon Le, whose marriage lasted the entire run of the show. |
| 699 | ** Numerous episodes depicted cast members quitting or being forced from their position in the Night Court only to wind up back in their old job by the episode's end. |
| 700 | ** During Season 8, Dan's lackey Phil died, Dan inherited his hidden fortune and used it for altruism, reforming into a truly virtuous and noble man, and at the end of the season Phil's brother Will stole the money and Dan vanished. After the first two episodes of Season 9, Dan was back at the court and back to his old self, Will reformed and took Phil's place, and Phil's money was given to someone else to manage for the causes Dan had planned it for and nothing else was said of it. |
| 701 | ** Despite Mac being set up to inherit his family's money very early on, when it finally happens, [[spoiler:Mac ends up being sued for an incident involving the restaurant he bought causing a fire, leaving him broke. Ironically, he's quite happy with this chain of events, as he ended up ''only'' being broke; he was deeply in debt before becoming rich. He was initially much worse off after the fire, until Quon Lee talked the building owner into settling for the damages... which happened to be all the money they had. This was a change from her previous ways, as she was the one who actually accumulated all that debt, mostly because she just didn't have the background to understand about credit cards when she first showed up.]] |
| 702 | * SteppingOutToReact: After hearing the details of an mishap involving sideshow performers at a '''child's''' birthday party, Judge Harry Stone reminds the court this is a very serious manner, ducks down behind his bench to laugh hysterically, then reappears with a sober expression. |
| 703 | * StoppedDeadInTheirTracks: "The Wheels of Justice pt. 2", after Harry was forced to evict a family and the son was shot trying to hold up a liquor store, Harry [[TenMinuteRetirement quits]]. The reason it's only a brief pause for him? They track him down to a pool hall where he's hustling pool, and after the others leave, Dan tears into him, in one of his greatest JerkWithAHeartOfGold moments. He tells Harry he'd just broken him in and now he was going to have to deal with a new guy. When that doesn't sway Harry, he says he'll give Harry's respects to the downtrodden. Harry accuses Dan of not playing fair, and tries to walk off. Dan stops him dead in his tracks by going into SincerityMode and telling him he was just and fair, and that he admired him for it. |
| 704 | -->'''Dan Fielding:''' I'll give your respects to the downtrodden and oppressed, I'm sure they'll understand.\ |
| 705 | '''Harry:''' You're not playing fair, Dan.\ |
| 706 | '''Dan Fielding:''' You were good Harry! Very good! (Harry stops) You were impartial. You were fair. Patient. Compassionate. Understanding. And I admired you. (Harry turns to look at Dan, astonished) That's really hitting below the belt, isn't it? |
| 707 | * StrawCharacter: |
| 708 | ** Dan is a Republican, not uncommon in the Reagan era. It's mostly used for one liners and to create conflict with Harry, who is a Democrat. |
| 709 | ** Christine was a stereotypical "bleeding heart", often displaying inordinate amounts of compassion and trust towards her clients. During her brief stint as a judge she is visibly distraught at having to bound over a convenience store robber for trial, and she once let a group of transients stay in her apartment, who subsequently robbed her blind. |
| 710 | ** One episode featured a lamaze class which included an aggressively independent StrawFeminist single mother (Dan pretends to spot several well-known male chauvinists in a successful bid to use her anger to get through the last stages of childbirth) and a stereotypical "limousine liberal" yuppie couple (who ask Harry and Mac to marry them seconds before their child is born, doubling back on their previous indifference toward marriage). |
| 711 | ** The show also regularly featured straw conservative {{Rabid Cop}}s, and several members of the Secret Service, who were depicted as trigger-happy paranoiacs. |
| 712 | * StressVomit: Christine is so stressed out over whether she should accept a marriage proposal that she throws up in Dan's briefcase - we don't see it, but Bull figures out how to use his instant camera right then and captures it. |
| 713 | %%* StupidCrooks: A lot of them. |
| 714 | * SubvertedCatchphrase: Bull in one early episode: |
| 715 | -->'''Bull:''' All rise, Criminal Court Part 2 is now in session, the Honorable Judge Harold T. Stone--running things.\ |
| 716 | '''Harry:''' ''[looks at Bull]'' Running things?\ |
| 717 | '''Bull:''' I'm on a variety kick. |
| 718 | * SurrealHumor: The entire show is a parade of one inexplicable, credulity defining premise after another. |
| 719 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: |
| 720 | ** Bailiff Selma Hacker was replaced by Florence Kleiner in Season 3. Bull even lampshades their similarities by describing Selma to Florence as short, angry, and having a funny voice. |
| 721 | ** Averted in Season 4 on with Roz, part of the reason being that since Florence Halop only lasted a year as Selma Diamond's replacement before having her own health problems, they decided to retool the replacement to be markedly younger. |
| 722 | * SweetPollyOliver: Andy, the boy Bull was assigned as part of a Big Brothers program, turned out to be a girl named Stella (portrayed by Creator/PamelaAdlon, natch). Stella disguised herself as a boy purely to be able to experience what it was like to have a father, since all of the men in the Big Brothers program wanted to be paired with boys instead of girls. |
| 723 | * TakeThat: Several examples. |
| 724 | ** In "Dan's Parents": |
| 725 | --->'''Harry''': Dan, they can't be that bad.\ |
| 726 | '''Dan''': My God, Harry, they're ''Democrats!''\ |
| 727 | '''Harry''': ...I stand corrected. |
| 728 | ** In Season Two's "World War III", Bull asks Yakov if life in the Soviet Union is really that bad. Yakov asks Bull to imagine that he's ''"in the middle of Milwaukee"'', and will ''stay'' in the middle of Milwaukee no matter how far he goes in any direction. Bull runs off screaming. |
| 729 | --->'''Yakov''': ''[to his brother]'' Works every time. |
| 730 | ** In ''The Mugger'': |
| 731 | --->'''Mac''': They said all their other people are tied up at the moment.\ |
| 732 | '''Harry''': Tied up with what?\ |
| 733 | '''Mac''': Rope. They're being held hostage by a [[RenegadeSplinterFaction militant splinter faction]] of Up With People.\ |
| 734 | '''Harry''': ''(sighs)'' It was only a matter of time. |
| 735 | ** "The Constitution (Part Two)" leveled a few at UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, who was the United States President at the time. |
| 736 | --->'''Ronald''': ''[over phone]'' Larry, he's the President! If he wants to play with the knobs, let him! |
| 737 | ** One episode featured a jab at then Vice President Dan Quayle's youth and foolishness, as a boy in a suit was mistaken for Vice President Quayle by his own Secret Service detail. |
| 738 | ** Another episode has a defendant who can't be more than 10 who is a practicing surgeon and called [[Series/DoogieHowserMD Loogie]]. |
| 739 | ** [[https://youtu.be/v_5viqRkYUM A couple is put before Judge Stone accused burning books in public]] -- 1,200 copies of the same book. Judge Stone goes on an angry tirade expressing his disgust toward anyone who would perform such an act. After Mac reads that the book is titled ''The Genius of Music/BarryManilow'', Harry gives the couple a hefty penalty [[spoiler:[[BaitAndSwitchComment of one dollar]].]] |
| 740 | * TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: Harry uses this on a delusional, gun-toting woman (played by [[Series/HappyDays Marion Ross]]) who was holding the courtroom hostage. |
| 741 | * TenMinuteRetirement: In season 3's "Wheels of Justice" 2-parter, Harry briefly quits his job after being unable to stop a family from being evicted from their apartment, and said family's son chastising him, and the law in general, for failing them. It takes a passionate appeal from Dan that is equal parts [[TheReasonYouSuck "Reason You Suck"]] and [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre "You Are Better Than You Think You Are"]] to get Harry to take up the gavel again. |
| 742 | * ThanksgivingEpisode: "Harry and the Madam", "The Last Temptation of Mac" |
| 743 | * TheatrePhantom: In the episodes "A Guy Named Phantom (Part 1)" and "A Guy Named Phantom (Part 2)", Harry and Christine are both confused over their feelings for each other, but before they can work them out, the deranged Dan (referring to himself as "The Phantom," wearing a mask and cape, and living in hiding) kidnaps Christine at a courthouse costume party. |
| 744 | * ToonPhysics: Used in several places on the show, more often in later seasons, especially around Bull and his supposed indestructibility. |
| 745 | ** In one episode, Bull sits directly next to a briefcase of TNT going off, but only has his uniform ripped up a little. |
| 746 | ** Another time Bull uppercuts Dan a good fifteen feet into the air and into a perfectly Dan-shaped hole in the wall. |
| 747 | ** Bull once glued his fingers to his head trying to fix something of Roz's he had broken. She pulled his fingers free, resulting in comedically stretched fingers. |
| 748 | ** When Harry receives a piece of shocking news, his 40+-year-old picture of Mel Torme changes to a wide-eyed-jaw-dropped expression of shock. |
| 749 | ** Roz once folded Dan neatly in half and stuffed him into a trash can. |
| 750 | ** Bull gets stuck in an elevator that descends 18 stories to the ground floor and is compressed to half his normal height as he walks out of it. |
| 751 | ** Dovetailed with BalloonBelly the time Bull attempted to stop the drip from a leaky pipe. Having used both fingers to plug the holes, he simply opened his mouth below a third drip. Later, Harry and Christine are horrified upon seeing his distended physique. Bull blithely walks away, sloshing as he goes, headed for a restroom. |
| 752 | [[/folder]] |
| 753 | |
| 754 | [[folder:U–Z]] |
| 755 | * UglySlavicWomen: This trope became a running gag for Creator/YakovSmirnoff's character. In his first appearance on the show, Smirnoff's character ([[TheDanza also named Yakov]]) is an immigrant from Soviet Russia who speaks almost no English, and Harry is forced by circumstance to befriend him despite the language barrier (ItMakesSenseInContext). At one point, Harry gets to see the inside of Yakov's wallet and see photos of his loved ones. Harry is initially confused as to why Yakov has a photo of Soviet Premier Breshnev in his wallet, until Yakov explains that's his ''wife,'' Sonia. Since then, each time Yakov made an appearance, reference is made to how painfully ugly Sonia is, until the episode where finally we get to meet Sonia... and [[SensualSlav she's absolutely gorgeous.]] Naturally, Yakov thinks she's a KGB impostor, even as she claims her new appearance is due to MagicPlasticSurgery, required due to an accident. |
| 756 | ** PlayedWith as Sonia weeps and begs her husband to still love her, even after she has been horribly "disfigured" by her surgery, prompting Flo to wonder if they've been dropped into some alternate universe. |
| 757 | * UnresolvedSexualTension: Harry and Christine's interaction was heavily laced with this. |
| 758 | * UnusualEuphemism: When Yakov's wife Sonya is coming from the Soviet Union he mentions being "excited", which is technically accurate, though he really means he's "horny". When Sonya is delayed entering the country, Christine tells him not to get excited and he says, "Enough with that dirty talk." |
| 759 | * UnusuallyUninterestingSight: |
| 760 | ** Wile E. Coyote being arraigned. |
| 761 | ** The reaction of the original Trekkies when the ''TNG'' fans beam away. |
| 762 | ** Most of Bull's AmusingInjuries when the cast sees them. Especially when the explanation was that he had angered Roz in some way. |
| 763 | *** One notable [[InvertedTrope inversion]], after Bull drinks water from a busted pipe to mitigate flood damage, Harry and Christine are shocked at how [[BalloonBelly bloated]] he's become. Bull, being [[CloudCuckooLander Bull]], just goes about his business as usual. |
| 764 | ---> '''Bull:''' ''(As he waddles his swollen body to the men's room)'' See you Monday. |
| 765 | * VirginShaming: In "Giving Thanks", Dan's "romantic assignation" with Christine is interrupted by a jumper outside their hotel room: |
| 766 | -->'''Christine''': Mr. Phelps, why are you doing this?\ |
| 767 | '''Phelps''': Because I'm 38 years old...\ |
| 768 | '''Dan''': ''(pouring himself a glass of champagne)'' Well, so am I!\ |
| 769 | '''Phelps''': ...and I'm a virgin.\ |
| 770 | '''Dan''': ''(lifts his glass)'' Happy landings. |
| 771 | ** The others' reactions as they enter are scarcely more helpful: |
| 772 | -->'''Mac''': ''(entering)'' Hello! What's going on?\ |
| 773 | '''Roz''': The man on the ledge has never had sex.\ |
| 774 | '''Mac''': Oh, my dear Lord!\ |
| 775 | '''Harry''': Cyril, if you didn't go around telling people, nobody would know.\ |
| 776 | '''Bull''': ''(entering)'' Evening! ''(sees Phelps)'' What's with the virgin in the window? |
| 777 | * VisualPun: Dan's reaction to [[https://youtu.be/UYqhqxaaEdE Judge Cleaver's "presto mammario!"]] |
| 778 | --> '''Dan:''' I've been booby trapped! |
| 779 | * VitriolicBestBuds: Most of the cast with each other, although the best example would be Harry and Dan. Although Dan's respect for Harry as his superior is begrudging as best, and Harry doesn't always approve of Dan's less-then-moral tendencies. However the two have had some zany moments together, and when the situation requires it, they have each other's backs. |
| 780 | * WeWantOurJerkBack: The cast's reaction to Season 8's Do-Gooder Dan. |
| 781 | * WeirdnessMagnet: The courtroom. |
| 782 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: The man who takes an original copy of The US Constitution hostage in ''Constitution (Part 2)'' His motivation? He just wanted thirty seconds to speak about how important the document was in the midst of a tacky television special celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Constitutional Convention. |
| 783 | * WhatAPieceOfJunk: Christine's Buick Roadmaster. |
| 784 | * WifeHusbandry: Averted, as Mac and Quon Le first met when she was a child in Vietnam and he was in his twenties, but he didn't fall in love with her until she was an adult. |
| 785 | * WrittenInAbsence: Harry Anderson does not appear in the Season 9 episode "Guess Who's Listening to Dinner?" It's explained that Judge Stone had to take time off after contracting [[TheFoodPoisoningIncident food poisoning]]. |
| 786 | * WrongBathroomIncident: "Harry and the Rocker" has a Downplayed example. Due to Harry dating the titular Rocker of the episode, the courthouse is inundated by hundreds of the musician's screaming (and highly androgynous) fans. Liz and Selma position themselves outside of the restroom area and begin taking bets on whether the person entering is a man or a woman. At one point, a person enters the restroom. Liz bets "Male" and "Selma" bets "Female". The individual turns to the left at the junction, heading for the Women's Room. Liz hands Selma a buck. But then the individual returns to the junction, proceeds to the men's room, and Selma has to return Liz's dollar and also fork over another to settle her incorrect wager. |
| 787 | * YodelLand: In "My Life As A Dog Lawyer", the antagonist is an [[AssInAmbassador arrogant diplomat]] from the [[{{Ruritania}} fictional]] European nation of Rogash, which despite its tiny population is eagerly courted by the United States because it is ideally poised for spying on Switzerland. When Harry threatens to deport the diplomat home, the man protests that ''"listening to the Swiss"'' is his country's only pastime, industry or national activity. Harry says he can stay in New York if he signs a pledge promising to respect the City's laws and waive his diplomatic immunity if he ever steps out of line: |
| 788 | -->'''Streiko''': And if I don't sign?\ |
| 789 | '''Harry''': Then you're gonna be listening to an awful lot of yodeling.\ |
| 790 | ''[Streiko grabs the pen.]'' |
| 791 | * YoureInsane: Said frequently to Harry, usually with the same response: |
| 792 | ** In "Billie and the Cat: |
| 793 | --->'''Billie''': ''(muttering)'' They told me you were nuts.\ |
| 794 | '''Harry''': Beg pardon? |
| 795 | ** In "Caught Red Handed": |
| 796 | --->'''Arthur Thursby''': You're insane!\ |
| 797 | '''Harry''': [[TheyCalledMeMad They called me mad at the university!]] |
| 798 | ** In "Pen Pal": |
| 799 | --->'''Detective Griffin''': ...You're crazy.\ |
| 800 | '''Harry''': ''(smiles)'' That's what they tell me. |
| 801 | |
| 802 | [[/folder]] |
| 803 |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Series / NightCourt
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
