History Trivia / NightCourt

* 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".
** Another episode had Dan 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 [[Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974 original film]], [[Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre2003 2003 remake]], and the ending of the [[Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacreTheBeginning prequel to the latter]].

** Averted with Harry Stone played by Harry Anderson, oddly enough. According to series creator and executive producer Reinhold Weege's DVD commentary, the character was called Harry and was a devoted Tormé fan and magician before magician-turned-actor (and devoted Tormé fan) Harry Anderson auditioned for the role.

* HostilityOnTheSet: As the show went along, John Larroquette and Richard Moll grew to despise one another. Moll also couldn't get along with Harry Anderson after awhile because Anderson was close with Larroquette. Reasons for the feud tend to boil down to both sides claiming the other was jealous over who was the true "star" of the show. It kept Moll from participating in the 30 Rock reunion (Larroquette had a filming commitment with ''Series/BostonLegal'' at the time the show was taped).

* RealLifeRelative: In Season 2, Dan's parents were played by real-life married couple John [=McIntire=] and Jeanette Nolan. Amusingly, the two also appeared together in ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' and ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound''.

* HostilityOnTheSet: As the show went along, John Larroquette and Richard Moll grew to despise one another. Moll also couldn't get along with Harry Anderson after awhile because Anderson was close with Larroquette. Reasons for the feud tend to boil down to both sides claiming the other was jealous over who was the true "star" of the show. It kept Moll from participating in the 30 Rock reunion (Larroquette had a filming commitment with Boston Legal at the time the show was taped).

** Anderson did numerous magic tricks during his time on the show, which, considering that he is a REAL amateur magician (and former conman) isn't that surprising.

** A second-season story where a substitute judge turns out to be a low-level employee posing as a judge, was taken beat-for-beat from a ''Series/BarneyMiller'' episode about someone pretending to be a cop. The same actor, Phil Leeds, played both characters.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Averted, Dan makes use of a cell phone several times, Harry owns several laptop computers And Mac eventually trades in his beloved files for a computer as the series goes on.

** Like ''Series/BarneyMiller'' before it, the show had a number of actors who appeared on the show (many of whom also appeared on BM, such as Stanley Brock, John Dullaghan, George Murdock, and Alex Hentlehoff) in different roles. See the main page for more details.

* DyeingForYourArt: Richard Moll shaved his head to play Bull, leading the actor to joke that he it was a relief to see that he could grow a full head of hair during hiatuses.

** In "Not My Type", Christine attempts to entertain the crowd on her date with Art with a performance of Bach's Two-Part Invention No. 3 in A minor,[[note]] Actually D major, but mis-identifying the key allows for the crowd to snicker at its similiarity to a term for an underaged person.[[/note]] and the angle of the shot reveals that Markie Post actually is playing the piano and not miming.

** A lot of advertisements for NBC, which was the most popular TV network throughout most of the eighties, mentioned almost all their other hit shows but left Night Court out completely.

** Stuart Pankin has also played three separate characters in the series, including a podiatrist who has to deliver Mac and Quon Le's baby, and a rock star's greedy business manager. Amusingly, Florence Stanley, who also made appearances on the series as her ''Series/MyTwoDads'' role of Judge Margaret Wilbur, would later work together on ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}''.

** Stuart Pankin has also played three separate characters in the series, including a podiatrist who has to deliver Mac and Quon Le's baby, and a rock star's greedy business manager.

* [[AuthorExistenceFailure Actor Existence Failure]]: Selma Diamond after the second season, and Florence Halop after the third. Marsha Warfield was hired because she was much younger, so this could be prevented from happening a third time.

** In "Not My Type", Christine attempts to entertain the crowd on her date with Art with a performance of Bach's Two-Part Invention No. 3 in A Minor, and the angle of the shot reveals that Markie Post actually is playing the piano and not miming.

* YouLookFamiliar: John Astin appears in an early episode as a hospital patient before playing Harry's dad, Buddy.
** Will Utay appeared as a defendant in an early episode before his recurring role as Phil Sanders; likewise, Cathy [=McAuley=] appeared in a Season 7 episode as a woman Dan attempted to pick up, before returning the next season as Wanda, Bull's girlfriend/wife
*** Like Series/BarneyMiller before it, the show had a number of actors who appeared on the show (many of whom also appeared on BM, such as Stanley Brock, John Dullaghan, George Murdock, & Alex Hentlehoff) in different roles. See the main page for more details.
** The king of this (on Night Court, at least) has to be actor Jack Riley, who played five roles over the course of the series, including a murderous clown, a gay dog breeder interested in Dan, and the doctor in charge of Dan's surgery.

** Larroquette also showed off in three episodes. Once, his ability as a MotorMouth of a [[RattlingOffLegal description of the charges against a defendant]] in the episode "A Day In The Life", his skill as a pianist in the episode "Christine's Friend", and as an accordionist on Part 1 of the episode "A Guy Named Phantom", that was a homage to "The Phantom of the Opera".

** In "Not My Type", Christine attempts to entertain the crowd on her date with Art with a performance of Bach's Two-Part Invention in D Major, and the angle of the shot reveals that Markie Post actually is playing the piano and not miming.

** Larroquette also showed off in two episodes. Once, his ability as a MotorMouth of a [[RattlingOffLegal description of the charges against a defendant]] in the episode "A Day In The Life" and his skill as an accordionist on Part 1 of the episode "A Guy Named Phantom", that was a homage to "The Phantom of the Opera".

** Averted with Harry Stone played by Harry Anderson, oddly enough. According to series creator and executive producer Reinhold Weege's DVD commentary, the character was called Harry and was a devoted Tormé fan and magician before magician turned actor Harry Anderson auditioned.

** Larroquette also showed off in two episodes. Once, his ability as a MotorMouth of a [[RattlingOffLegal description of the charges against a defendant]] in the episode "A Day In The Life" and his skill as an accordionist on Part 1 of the episode "A Guy Named Phantom", that was a homage to "The Phantom of the Opera". In "Not My Type", Christine attempts to entertain the crowd on her date with Art with a performance of Bach's Two-Part Invention in D Major, and the angle of the shot reveals that Markie Post actually is playing the piano and not miming.

** Larroquette also showed off in two episodes. Once, his ability as a MotorMouth of a [[RattlingOffLegal description of the charges against a defendant]] in the episode "A Day In The Life" and his skill as an accordionist on Part 1 of the episode, "A Guy Named Phantom", that was a homage to "The Phantom of the Opera". In "Not My Type", Christine attempts to entertain the crowd on her date with Art with a performance of Bach's Two-Part Invention in D Major, and the angle of the shot reveals that Markie Post actually is playing the piano and not miming.

** Larroquette also showed off in two episodes. Once, his ability as a MotorMouth of a [[RattlingOffLegal description of the charges against a defendant]] in the episode "A Day In The Life" and his skill as an accordionist on Part 1 of the episode, "A Guy Named Phantom", that was a homage to "The Phantom of the Opera".** In "Not My Type", Christine attempts to entertain the crowd on her date with Art with a performance of Bach's Two-Part Invention in D Major, and the angle of the shot reveals that Markie Post actually is playing the piano and not miming.

** Larroquette also showed off in two episodes. Once, his ability as a MotorMouth of a [[RattlingOffLegal description of the charges against a defendant]] in the episode "A Day In The Life" and his skill as an accordionist in an episode that was a homage to "The Phantom of the Opera" in Part 1 of the episode "A Guy Named Phantom".
** In "Not My Type", Christine attempts to entertain the crowd on her date with Art with a performance of Bach's Two-Part Invention in D Major, and the angle of the shot reveals that Markie Post actually is playing the piano and not miming.