History YMMV / NightCourt

** While John Larroquette won four consecutive UsefulNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s and Harry Anderson was nominated for three, the rest of the long-running regulars were never nominated. This was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the ''30 Rock'' reunion episode, where Markie Post complains that Anderson and Larroquette considered themselves above their castmates because they were the only ones nominated for Emmys: "I would have been nominated for Emmys too, but I was too hot to be taken seriously!"

* CrazyIsCool: Harry.
-->'''Harry:''' ''[having trapped a rival prankster judge in a giant balloon]'' Cleaver, you may be younger. You may be faster. You may even be smarter. But you will NEVER, EVER, be crazier... ''[pulls out a giant pin]'' than me.

** Bull Shannon was one as well, for being a lovable GeniusDitz, the GentleGiant and [[TheRedStapler popular enough to get his own doll for a time.]]

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** One episode had an actor who played a [[Radio/TheLoneRanger Lone Ranger]]-esque character who was upset about a new, grittier movie that went completely against what his show/movies were about. He threatened to kill himself with a suspended air conditioner. In the end, it all worked out because the movie bombed with audiences, so the old guy wins a moral victory. While, as mentioned on the main page, this was based on something that actually happened in 1980, when the owner of The Lone Ranger copyright forced the original Lone Ranger actor from the TV series to stop touring with his costume because the owner wanted to do a DarkerAndEdgier film reboot, in 2013, ''another'' Darker and Edgier [[Film/TheLoneRanger2013 film adaptation]] of ''The Lone Ranger'' was made by Disney, and was also poorly received. This would seem HilariousInHindsight except that Disney's ''Lone Ranger'' is on track to becoming one of the biggest {{Box Office Bomb}}s of all time.
** In the Season 8 episode "Death Takes a Halloween", Harry jails a defendant who claims to be the Angel of Death. As a result, no one is able to die. The episode has a scene where Harry, while speaking on the telephone, makes some offhand or throwaway joke about people jumping off the World Trade Center and miraculously surviving. Not as funny come September 11, 2001. After the planes hit the World Trade Center, some of the occupants tried to escape by jumping from some of the higher floors.
** One season finale reveals that Dan is an army reservist. He starts to panic when he finds out his next assignment is to a war zone and the others try to calm him down. After Christine's attempt, he jokes that he'll go off to war and get killed, then Christine will find out she's carrying "little Dan". A few years alter, Christine starts dating Tony, a police detective. He later joins a task force that goes to South America to take down a notorious drug dealer. Just after he leaves, Christine discovers she's pregnant with his child. (Possibly lessened by Tony coming home unscathed.)

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Anyone who was a fan could tell you the show had an uncanny ability to provide equal parts humor and pathos almost constantly.
** Creator/HarryAnderson was primarily known as a con-man, magician, and comedian before playing Harry Stone and showing that he could play for genuine pathos and move audiences, earning three Emmy Award nominations for his work.

* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: Dan gets one in "Harry and Leon" (Season 3, Episode 14).
** To explain, the episode starts as a sort of BigLippedAlligatorMoment with an employee from a "novelty entertainment" company named Paul Hodo (played by Lorry Goldman), who's the first case on the docket, being charged with "assault with a deadly weapon" ([[PieInTheFace throwing a pie]] that was frozen in a man's face, causing facial injury and a pending divorce). After the case ends as usual (Harry: "$200 fine and time served"), then-bailiff Florence telling the man that his price of USD$100 for pieing somebody in the face is too steep. Dan then insults Flo, and Flo is suddenly OK with the price, asking if the man took Visa credit cards.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjiWblC_iG8 opening]] sounds like a softer, jazzier version of the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu_o0k8ow38 Password Plus]]'' theme.
** It also sounds a little similar to the ''Series/BarneyMiller'' theme, not surprising because both themes were composed by Jack Elliott and both shows were comedies about the criminal justice system.

---->'''Christine:''' Dan! You saved my life!!
---->'''Harry:''' ''(exasperated)'': Miss Sullivan, he felt you up!

* LGBTFanbase: The LGBT community has praised the show for their depictions of trans and homosexuals. See Valus Resonances for more.

*** Dan also groped Christine and stole her underwear while she was choking. Even if he saved her life, he still committed ''sexual assault'' and would be considered a monster in any modern TV show.

* ValuesResonance: The show was quite progressive for its time in handling homosexual issues, never showing it as a negative and showcasing the cast being quite understanding about it. Heck, two of the most memorable episodes involved Dan (one where he gets trapped in an elevator with a gay man and another where he finds out his childhood best friend was a [=MTF=] trans), both episodes tackling the subject very tastefully while still keeping the humor present.

* LGBTFanbase: The show was quite progressive for its time in handling homosexual issues, never showing it as a negative and showcasing the cast being quite understanding about it. Heck, two of the most memorable episodes involved Dan (one where he gets trapped in an elevator with a gay man and another where he finds out his childhood best friend was a [=MTF=] trans), both episodes tackling the subject very tastefully while still keeping the humor present. As such the LGBT community has praised the show for their depictions.

* AwardSnub: While John Larroquette won four consecutive UsefulNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s and Harry Anderson was nominated for three, the rest of the long-running regulars were never nominated. This was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the ''30 Rock'' reunion episode, where Markie Post complains that Anderson and Larroquette considered themselves above their castmates because they were the only ones nominated for Emmys: "I would have been nominated for Emmys too, but I was too hot to be taken seriously!"

* LGBTFanbase: The show was quite progressive for its time in handling homosexual issues, never showing it as a negative and showcasing the cast being quite understanding about it. Heck, two of the most memorable episodes involved Dan (one where he gets trapped in an elevator with a gay man and another where he finds out his friend was a [=MTF=] trans), both episodes tackling the subject very tastefully while still keeping the humor present. As such the LGBT community has praised the show for their depictions.

* AwardSnub: While John Larroquette won five consecutive UsefulNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s and Harry Anderson was nominated for three, the rest of the long-running regulars were never nominated. This was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the ''30 Rock'' reunion episode, where Markie Post complains that Anderson and Larroquette considered themselves above their castmates because they were the only ones nominated for Emmys: "I would have been nominated for Emmys too, but I was too hot to be taken seriously!"

%%* ArcFatigue: The Leon saga.
* AwardSnub: While John Larroquette won five consecutive Emmy Awards and Harry Anderson was nominated for three, the rest of the long-running regulars were never nominated. This was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the ''30 Rock'' reunion episode, where Markie Post complains that Anderson and Larroquette considered themselves above their castmates because they were the only ones nominated for Emmys: "I would have been nominated for Emmys too, but I was too hot to be taken seriously!"

** Creator/HarryAnderson was primarily known as a con-man, magician, and comedian before playing Harry Stone and showing that he could play for genuine pathos and move audiences.

** A season 4 episode had Dan [[IOweYouMyLife saving Christine's life]] and, in return, demanding that Christine sleep with him. Even though Christine only pretended to accept because she knew [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Dan would never actually go through with it]], no show after TheEighties would have a man do that and still be considered just a JerkAss rather than a criminal.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The show could be quite heavy-handed in its dealings with social issues, especially when it came to accepting what conservatives consider as "alternate lifestyles." Considering it was produced in a time when America was panicking over the loss of "traditional" values, the show was necessary in depicting that those who were "different" should be treated with compassion and that change could be dealt with humor and grace rather than anger and fear.

* CrazyAwesome: Harry.

** Markie Post was originally a model on ''Series/CardSharks'', and had played Terri on ''Series/TheFallGuy''.

** Three ''Saturday Night Live'' cast members appeared on this show: Denny Dillon (from the [[SeasonalRot 1980-1981 season]]) was Rhoda on the episode "Educating Rhoda", Creator/GilbertGottfried (also from the 1980-81 season) was on the season nine two-part premiere, "A Guy Named Phantom", and Gary Kroeger (who was on the show from 1982 to 1985[[note]]which, compared to season six, wasn't that bad, though [[JustHereForGodzilla most people only watched it because of]] Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo...at least until the 1984-1985 season, when people either gave up on the show since Murphy and Piscopo left or stuck around and watched it for Billy Crystal and Martin Short[[/note]]) was on the season five episode "Top Judge".
*** Conversely, two cast members from ''Saturday Night Live'''s early 1980s rival show, ''Fridays'', was on this show: Michael Richards was on the season two episode "Take My Wife, Please" as a man who thought he was invisible, while Mark Blankfield played a wannabe street magician who vanished in a cloud of smoke in front of Judge Stone.

** Ellen Foley, who played public defender Billie Young in season 2, sang back-up vocals for Music/MeatLoaf. Her best known vocals are on "Paradise By the Dashboard Light" ("I wanna know right now / Will you love me forever?")

** As noted on this page, horror fans (particularly those who have seen the original 1970s version of ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre'') will surely recognize John Larroquette's baritone.

* BrokenBase: The infamous "Wile E. Coyote" cameo from the season 7 episode "Still Another Day in the Life". Either it's a hilarious throwaway gag that comes part and parcel with a zany show like this or a nonsensical non-joke that feels like something ''Family Guy'' would do out of desperation and doesn't add anything to the episode.

* SeasonalRot: Season 7 was the first season made with no input from series creator Reinhold Weege, and it went over the top with the surrealism (including the controversial Wile E. Coyote gag) as well as a not-very-well-received story arc where Christine gets married and pregnant.

* ValuesDissonance: Dan's lecherous behavior pushed the limits of acceptability even for the time - even allowing for the exaggerated nature of the show's universe. The only remotely saving grace is that Dan usually ended up punished, hurt, or humiliated for his actions. In modern times, Dan's libido ''might'' have been tolerated (though likely he would've been hit with multiple sexual harassment complaints, along with suspensions and mandatory counselling), but his habit of getting grabby would've gotten him fired with speed (if not arrested).

** Averted with season 8, where a new team of showrunners brought some realism back to the show and the ratings improved, but played very straight with season nine, which NBC wanted and the actors only agreed to do it because it paid well. Season 9 being the show's low point was parodied on the ''30 Rock'' episode, "The One With the Cast of ''Night Court''" where Harry Anderson and Markie Post blame Jenna being cast as a werewolf judge as the reason why season nine was a failure and the network refused to give the show a tenth season.

** In the Season 8 episode "Death Takes a Halloween", Harry jails a defendant who claims to be the Angel of Death. As a result, no one is able to die. The episode has a scene where Harry, while speaking on the telephone, makes some offhand or throwaway joke about people jumping off the World Trade Center and miraculously surviving.

* LGBTFanbase: The show was quite progressive for it's time in handling homosexual issues, never showing it as a negative and showcasing the cast being quite understanding about it. Heck, two of the most memorable episodes involved Dan (one where he gets trapped in an elevator with a gay man and another where he finds out his friend was a [=MTF=] trans), both episodes tackling the subject very tastefully while still keeping he humor present. As such the LGBT community has praised the show for their depictions.

** One episode had an actor who played a [[Radio/TheLoneRanger Lone Ranger]]-esque character who was upset about a new, grittier movie that went completely against what his show/movies were about. He threatened to kill himself with a suspended air conditioner. In the end, it all worked out because the movie bombed with audiences, so the old guy wins a moral victory. While, as mentioned on the main page, this was based on something that actually happened in 1980, when the owner of The Lone Ranger copyright forced the original Lone Ranger actor from the TV series to stop touring with his costume because the owner wanted to do a DarkerAndEdgier film reboot, on 2013, ''another'' Darker and Edgier [[Film/TheLoneRanger film adaptation]] of ''The Lone Ranger'' was made by Disney, and was also poorly received. This would seem HilariousInHindsight except that Disney's ''Lone Ranger'' is on track to becoming one of the biggest {{Box Office Bomb}}s of all time.

* LGBTFanbase: The show was quite progressive for it's time in handling homosexual issues, never showing it as a negative and showcasing the cast being quite understanding about it. Heck, two of he most memorable episodes involved Dan (one where he gets trapped in an elevator with a gay man and another where he finds out his friend was a [=MTF=] trans), both episodes tackling the subject very tastefully while still keeping he humor present. As such the LGBT community has praised the show for their depictions.

* LGBTFanbase: The show was quite progressive for it's time in handling homosexual issues, never showing it as a negative and showcasing the cast being quite understanding about it. Heck, two of he most memorable episodes involved Dan (one where he gets trapped in an elevator with a gay man and another where he finds out his friend was a [=MTF-] trans), both episodes tackling the subject very tastefully while still keeping he humor present. As such the LGBT community has praised the show for their depictions.

** In "Passion Plundered" (7.11) there is a subplot revolving around a guest star who is a lesbian. At one point she tells Christine that she is "...very open about being gay." In 2017, Marsha Warfield would come out publicly as a gay woman. Though she admitted that she was in a glass closet, and anyone who knew her for "five minutes" knew she was gay, she had avoided coming out publicly at the request of her mother. She would later write and speak extensively about the pain she felt in her mother asking her to deny her true self.

** In "Passion Plundered" (7.11) there is a subplot revolving around a guest star who is a lesbian. At one point she tell Christine that she is "...very open about being gay." In 2017, Marsha Warfield would come out publicly as a gay woman. Though she admitted that she was in a glass closet, and anyone who knew her for "five minutes" knew she was gay, she had avoided coming out publicly at the request of her mother. She would later write and speak extensively about the pain she felt in her mother asking her to deny her true self.

* In "Passion Plundered" (7.11) there is a subplot revolving around a guest star who is a lesbian. At one point she tell Christine that she is "...very open about being gay." In 2017, Marsha Warfield would come out publicly as a gay woman. Though she admitted that she was in a glass closet, and anyone who knew her for "five minutes" knew she was gay, she had avoided coming out publicly at the request of her mother. She would later write and speak extensively about the pain she felt in her mother asking her to deny her true self.

* HarsherInHindsight: Really anytime Selma is shown smoking, given that Selma Diamond passed away from lung cancer, and was a chronic chain smoker in real life. Even worse, when Selma's smoking habit was the basis of a ''joke!''

* ValuesDissonance: Dan's lecherous behavior pushed the limits of acceptability even for the time - even allowing for the exaggerated nature of the show's universe. In modern times, Dan's libido ''might'' have been tolerated (though likely he would've been hit with multiple sexual harassment complaints, along with suspensions and mandatory counselling), but his habit of getting grabby would've gotten him fired with speed (if not arrested).