Tear Jerker / Night Court

Night Court had its share of tears over the years. Some of the moments that inspired them include:

• When Buddy's friend Al (who has been completely voiceless up to this point) finally screams "No!" when he realizes Buddy might not follow him back to the mental ward. He gives a heartbreaking speech which ends with him admitting he'd die if Buddy wasn't in his life.
  • Buddy deciding to voluntarily recommit himself is a pretty noble Heroic Sacrifice, which itself can generate some tears.
• In "Dan's Operation Part 2", Dan tells Harry that he's actually 40 years old. Harry tells Dan earnestly that at the rate he's going, he won't live to see 50. Dan's reply? An equally earnest "Good!" Dan then reveals that despite his Casanova tendencies, he never once heard any of the many women he's been with tell him that they loved him, and that he would rather die early than grow old alone. John Larroquette's performance in the scene is wrenching.
  Dan: You don't get it, do you? Listen to me. No one is ever going to love me. No one is ever going to say "I love you", and do you know why? Because in order to be loved one must be able to - give... and I . can't . give. I can not. I have never been able to give. And I don't... know why.
• Any of the scenes involving street urchin Leon parting from Harry. Special mention goes to the end of “Leon, We Hardly Knew Ye,” with a truly crushed Harry sitting alone in the courtroom as Mel Torme croons “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues.”
• The many, many times poor Bull is treated more like a monster than a person by those who don't know him. In "Author, Author", Bull tearfully recounts a tale to Harry about how at sixteen, he was tricked into shaving his head just in time to humiliate him for prom.
• Harry getting dumped by his girlfriend, reporter Margaret, in Season 8. The worst part was that he thought she was about to propose to him and he bought a ring planning to beat her to the punch. It turned out that the reason she wanted to talk to him in private after talking to her minister was that she was going into the Witness Protection Program, due to her testimony being needed to put a mobster behind bars. Upon seeing the ring, she tells him that under different circumstances, the answer would have been yes.
• The first episode after Selma Diamond's death has an especially poignant one.
  • Probably the biggest scene to hammer it home is Bull's reaction. Early on, he's acting like his old self, but on the day where they're picking a permanent replacement, he gets drunk. He alternates between being a surly jerk and a clueless buffoon. When he sobers up enough, he's just so devastated.
    Bull: [slurring every word out of his mouth] Why did Selma have to die, Harry? I mean, why couldn't it be some sicko scum out there instead of her?
    [Harry can only stare at him sadly]
    Bull: I WANT SOME ANSWERS, AND I WANT THEM NOW!!!!!
    [entire room goes quiet]
  • During the episode's coda, we get this moment:
    Bull: It just seems so unfair, Harry. I mean, I thought I understood things and then Selma died and now... now I don't know what the hell's going on. What's life all about, Harry?
    Harry: I don't know. I don't know why we live, and I don't know why we die, but I do know that as long as we're here, we better hold onto each other real tight.
    [Man Hug]
  • The episode "Flo's Retirement" a year later revisits Selma's death. Florence is at the mandatory retirement age for bailiffs, and Bull, who is still not over Selma's death, almost tearfully exclaims he cannot go through the pain of losing a co-bailiff again, and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her on staff. Unfortunately, the passing of actor Florence Halop before the beginning of Season 4 forced her character's inevitable demise. While Florence's death was briefly mentioned in the Season 4 debut, it was not a major focus, but it can be assumed Bull was devastated when it happened.
• In season 3's "The Night Off," Harry confronts another older judge on his erratic behavior, and learns that the man is on the verge of cracking after a career of seemingly futile decisions. Judge Drayton finally breaks down after this speech:
  Judge Drayton: There was this girl, 17, beautiful girl, dark complexion, dark hair, and a welt under her eye where her husband had hit her. She was pregnant for the third time, I think, and the DA said that they lived in a rat-infested place on the lower east side. She said she wanted her husband to stop hitting her, and as soon as I indicated that I'd send him to jail, zip! She changed her testimony, said she was lying! She didn't want her husband to go to jail! He brought home money so the family could eat! All she wanted, was for him to stop hitting her! Well, Harry, I can't make him stop!!! In 25 years I've never made anybody stop!!!
  Harry: [heartbroken] I'm sorry.
  Judge Drayton: [points out the window] God's in his heaven. But all is not quite right in the world.
  • To make it worse, Judge Drayton does similar comedy bits as Harry, but to such an extreme that it is affecting the court. When Harry finally confronts him, Drayton asks Harry how long he's been on the bench, and then sadly states that Harry is young and by the end could very well end up exactly like him.
  • Harry claimed in court that he'd never met Drayton before... and then, in private, reveals that they did meet. Drayton gave a speech to the bar association that so moved Harry he can recall it, word for word, years later. Harry clearly looked up to Drayton but knows he has to force him to stop.
  • When Drayton comes out of his break. He quietly sits down and in a sad voice asks, "Oh my God, what did I do?" Even worse is that it's clear this wasn't just a temporary break, as he can't even remember the bar speech mentioned above and sadly accepts he was the one who said it but can't remember it.
  • But Harry's compassion shines in their exchange, making clear that though Judge Drayton has to step down and receive medical treatment, Harry can see that what he needs and wants more than anything is rest:
  Judge Drayton: Am I sick, Harry?
  Harry: Maybe a little. But mostly, I'd say you're just really, really tired.
  Judge Drayton: (laughing softly) Ho-ho, tired... oh, I could sleep for a million years. (chuckles) You know, if the bed they strap me down to is comfortable, I probably will.
• In the second episode, "The Former Harry Stone," word of Harry's criminal record gets out. With a sleazy reporter hounding him and questions spreading among the staff, Harry comes clean in court to help mediate the current case. His crime was stealing a car and crashing into a liquor store. He spent two nights in jail and a few weeks in a reformatory, but the incident deeply affected the rest of his life because of his "father's stare" and how his father never saw how Harry turned his life around and went on to law school:
  "Believe me, in 20 minutes, I spent my time in Hell. It was a courtroom like this, and he sat right there. You would've thought he could've blinked or... something. He could've reached out and slapped me, or yelled at me, or beat me, but... dammit, he just sat there and looked at me. And then when it was all over, all he said was, 'You disappointed me, Harold.' When a boy loves his father, you would rather get knocked across the head with a two-by-four than hear that kind of stuff. Anyway, not too long after that, he just... sort of... died. It always kind of bugged me, y'know? That he never found out. That... (tugs on his robe) that I hadn't made a habit out of stealing cars."
• Hell, Harry's entire life was almost unbearably hard it's almost no wonder he acts like a party magician just to make up for it, especially when he talks about growing up without his mother:
  • In Season 3's "The Next Voice You Hear":
  Harry: I am capable of feeling loss. When Selma died, I felt loss. When Florence died, I felt loss. Because I cared very much for them and they cared for me. If I needed comfort and compassion they were there. If I just needed a friend to talk to, they were there. But when I needed a mother, no one was there.
  • In Season 8's "Nobody Says Rat Fink Anymore":
  Harry: And the last time Terry beat me, I turned around, and I heard him yell, "now you run, you baby! Run home to Mommy!" So I did... but no one was there. And I never felt so alone.

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