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Trivia / Night Court

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  • Actor-Shared Background: Harry Stone, the character, and Harry Anderson, the actor, were both magicians and devoted Mel Tormé fans. Unusually, series creator Reinhold Weege came up with the name and characterization before discovering an actor who exactly fit the bill by pure chance.
    • Like his portrayer John Larroquette, Dan Fielding was born and grew up in Louisiana.
  • Adored by the Network: This show was Laff TV's favorite series, as it got the most daily airings on the channel of the six shows currently in rotation on the network. They'd also frequently run marathons of it for various reasons, mostly holidays.
    • As of 2021, this trope could be wearing off as the show's now been in not-so-desirable hours such as late night & early morning, possibly preceding or following infomercials, and doesn't appear in Laff's commercials for now, whereas That '70s Show, Home Improvement, & now How I Met Your Mother get to air during the afternoon and prime time.
    • The aversion of the trope on Laff has gone full circle; by 2023, the show had moved over to Catchy Comedy.
  • The Cast Showoff:
    • Harry Anderson did numerous magic tricks during his time on the show, which, considering that he was a REAL amateur magician isn't that surprising.
    • John Larroquette also showed off in three episodes. Once, his ability as a Motor Mouth of a 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 accordion player 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 No. 3 in A minor,note  and the angle of the shot reveals that Markie Post actually is playing the piano and not miming.
  • The Character Died with Him:
    • When Selma Diamond and then Florence Halop died, their respective characters were written as having passed away too.
    • The 2023 sequel series revealed Harry Stone had passed away sometime prior, as Harry Anderson died in 2018.
  • Colbert Bump: Mel Tormé's guest appearances introduced him to a whole new audience who otherwise would have never heard of him and he developed a following among Generation Xers.
  • Creator Backlash: Richard Moll had a love/hate relationship with the show in his later years. He stated publicly that he would never appear in any reboot or sequel and would, "...run in the other direction," if asked. "I love show business, it's the people in it I can't stand." He did, however, appreciate the fans and was typically very gracious when meeting them. When the 2023 sequel series was announced, Moll stated very early and very clearly that he wouldn't appear on it.
  • The Danza:
    • Selma Hacker/Selma Diamond, and Florence Kleiner/Florence Halop.
      • Selma Hacker was specifically created for Selma Diamond. Weege wanted to cast Diamond and created the character just for her.
    • Could also be invoked for Mac Robinson/Charles Robinson.
    • 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.
      • Weege later said that he did base Harold Stone off of "Harry the Hat" having seen Anderson on Cheers and did specifically request him to audition for the role, but that the role wasn't created specifically for Anderson.
    • Yakov Smirnoff's occasional guest appearances as Yakov Korolenko.
    • William Utay as Will, the Evil Twin of homeless guy Phil.
  • Dawson Casting: Don Cheadle plays a robber in one episode. The character was supposed to be 16, Cheadle was 24 at the time.
  • Directed by Cast Member: Several.
  • Dyeing for Your Art: Richard Moll shaved his head to play Bull, leading the actor to joke that it was a relief to see it grow back during hiatuses. Until his death in October 2023, he still had a full head of hair.
  • Friday Night Death Slot: Ratings and critical response took a big hit in Season 7. NBC expected Season 8 to be the last and shipped the show off to Friday nights. However, this proved to be a very unexpected aversion; ratings proved better than expected and some creative changes led to a better critical reception, so NBC moved the show back to Wednesday. This ultimately resulted in Season 9.
  • Hostility on the Set:
    • Bob Perlow, the show’s warm-up guy, has offered a very different explanation for Karen Austin’s departure than the “official” Bell’s Palsy story. Perlow claims Austin was very difficult to work with during her brief stint on the show, allegedly jealous over Harry Anderson having a larger and funnier role. Ultimately, Austin’s anger caused her to physically attack Anderson, stabbing him with a pencil and throwing hot coffee in his face. Though Perlow did not witness this event, those who did told him security had to drag her out kicking and screaming. Needless to say, she never came back.
    • 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 Breakout Character 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).
    • Also Moll (who was a classically trained actor) had very little patience for the relatively inexperienced actor Anderson, and in general grew increasingly fed up with the ad-libs and goofing around by the other actors on set.
  • In Memoriam: One of the aformentioned Laff TV marathons that was held in April 2018 was called "All Rise For Harry" and was held in memoriam of Harry Anderson, who had died the week before in his sleep due to a stroke.
  • Keep Circulating the Tapes: Warner began issuing DVDs of the show in 2005. It took eight years for them to release the entire series and even then most of the seasons were only available on disc as no-frills, "manufactured-on-demand" releases available only online until 2023, when the show finally got an all-in-one DVD box set possibly to coincide the revival. Shameful considering Night Court was part of NBC's vaunted '80s Thursday Night Line-Up, along with The Cosby Show, A Different World, Family Ties, Cheers, Wings, Hill Street Blues, and L.A. Law.
    • The last time it aired on cable in the United States was on TV Land on 2008, and the show is currently on Catchy Comedy.
    • Unfortunately, the show isn't on any subscription streaming service in the United States. It is available on the ad-supported free streaming service Freevee, and every season is available for purchase from all the major digital film and TV retailers.
  • Money, Dear Boy: The show was to end after Season 8 and the cast was ready to move on. When NBC surprisingly renewed the show for an additional season, the network convinced the entire cast to stay on by presenting them with, in Markie Post's words, "jumbo buckets of money".
  • The Other Darrin: Phil Sanders was played by a different actor (Blackie Dammett, Anthony Kiedis' father) when he first appears and is more snarky than deferential towards Dan.
  • Out of Order: "The 1992 Boat Show" was the final episode aired but was originally planned to air before the "Opportunity Knock Knocks" double episode (the intended finale). This is particularly obvious because "The 1992 Boat Show" could only happen before various plot developments which occur in "Opportunity Knock Knocks".
  • The Pete Best:
    • Karen Austin and Paula Kelly were only present during the first season before leaving, and their characters (Lana Wagner and Liz Williams, respectively) were quickly forgotten about. Austin has stated that she was let go due to being diagnosed with Bell's Palsy, and producers thought this would be an issue for filming. It has never been disclosed why Kelly left the show.
    • In addition to the above two, there was Gail Strickland (who played the public defender in the pilot before being replaced by Kelly) and Ellen Foley (who was only in Season 2 because the producers were waiting for Markie Post to become available).
    • The first two actresses playing the female bailiff were far more memorable but also had short-lived tenures on the show. Selma Diamond portrayed Selma Hacker, who was replaced in Season 3 by Flo Kleiner played by Florence Halop. Both died of cancer during the show's run.
  • Post-Script Season: 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! 30 Rock devoted an episode to the idea that several of the characters on that show were unhappy with the Season 9 ending to Night Court, so they staged a "fake" episode, reuniting three of the actual cast members (Harry Anderson, Markie Post, and Charles Robinson. They would have gotten John Larroquette, but he was busy with Boston Legal), and they had Harry and Christine get married.
  • Real-Life Relative:
    • 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 Psycho and The Fox and the Hound.
    • In Season 3's "Up On the Roof", rock star Eddie Devon was played by Markie Post's real-life husband, Michael A. Ross.
  • Reality Subtext:
    • "Flo's Retirement" was a fitting sendoff for Florence Halop, who was dying of breast cancer. And she still managed to finish out the season.
    • After Selma Diamond and Florence Halop passed away, Marsha Warfield was hired because she was much younger, so this could be prevented from happening a third timenote . She, in fact, went on to outlive most of the rest of the main cast; as of October 2023, only she and John Larroquette are still alive.
  • Recycled Script: The show often reused the plot of someone who claimed to be an alien/Death/a guy from the future, etc. coming into the courtroom only for it to reveal they were a normal person whose mind had snapped due to some tragedy they suffered.
    • A story from the episode "An Old Flame," where a substitute judge turns out to be a clerk posing as a judge, was taken beat-for-beat from a Barney Miller episode about someone pretending to be a cop. The same actor, Phil Leeds, played both characters.
  • Referenced by...:
    • 30 Rock had the episode "The One with the Cast of Night Court", which featured Kenneth trying to get a proper finale for the show filmed.
    • In Homestuck, John is a big fan of Harry Anderson and the show, and he actually played the role of Judge Stone instead of Anderson in the alpha universe (as "Johnny Stone").
    • In the Strong Bad Email "car", Homestar claims that spinning the "buzzer" on his propeller cap plays the theme tune from Night Court, though it's really just Homestar singing it.
  • Screwed by the Network:
    • The showrunners had plans to conclude Harry and Christine's romantic arc with a wedding in Season 8 as it was supposed to be the final season. A surprise renewal caused the writers to try and keep it going, and eventually losing momentum, in Season 9. NBC then told the writers to not write a series finale, leading them to believe that a tenth season was going to happen, but then, on the final day of shooting, gave everyone notes saying that the soundstage had to be completely cleared by the end of the day and brought in extra security to make sure that no one tried to linger once production wrapped.
    • Reinhold Weege, and most of the cast have stated that throughout the 9-year run, NBC execs were never really enthusiastic about the show. They never understood the show's humor, or why it was so popular. They only kept it on because for most of the run it got big ratings, and there was a fear that if it was canceled prematurely, someone would be fired.
      Markie Post: "Their attitude was always, 'Hey! The Cosby Show! Hey, Family Ties! Hey, Cheers! And... oh, yeah... Night Court..."
      • Part of what allowed the show to survive was likely the fact that the Bottle Episode was the standard for most episodes, greatly reducing costs compared to other shows that were always sending their characters out into new environments.
  • Technology Marches On: Averted; Dan makes use of a cell phone several times, Harry owns several laptop computers (though they're different than what most laptops look like now), and Mac eventually trades in his beloved files for a computer as the series goes on.
  • What Could Have Been:
    • Had Brent Spiner not won the role of Data the Android on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Bob and June Wheeler would have become series regulars via their ownership of the newsstand.
    • When Season 8 was planned as the finale, Dan would have joined the priesthood and Harry would have married Christine.
    • Had the show progressed into Season 10, the planned finale was for Harry and Christine to both accept professorships at Columbia, and Dan would have become the new judge of Criminal Court Part 2. One of the first things he would have officially done is officiate the wedding between Harry and Christine.
    • John Laroquette revealed in an interview that he turned down a chance for a spin-off focusing on Dan, feeling that the character worked best in an ensemble and the humor would have been spread too thin.
  • You Look Familiar:
    • 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 Barney Miller before it, the show had a number of actors who appeared on the show in different roles (many of whom also appeared on BM, such as Stanley Brock, John Dullaghan, George Murdock, and Alex Henteloff). 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.
    • Running a close second is Timothy Stack, who played three separate, prominent characters over the course of the series.
      • In "The Modest Proposal", he played Bill - Christine's humorless fiancee. He winds up dumping her at the altar as he suddenly "gets" every single punchline to every joke he was ever told.
      • In the two-parter "Snoop and Nuts", he plays Tim Bond - an incompetent federal agent working with Harry to bring down a crime boss.
      • In the two-parter "Wedding Bell Blues", he plays Mr. Marley - a pencil-pusher who takes over running maintenance for the court house after the staff go on strike.
    • 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 My Two Dads role of Judge Margaret Wilbur, would later work together with Pankin on Dinosaurs.
    • Lana Clarkson, of Barbarian Queen fame, also played two roles on the show.
      • In "Hello, Goodbye", she played a bailiff trainee.
      • In "My Three Dads", she played Dan's stewardess date in a dream sequence.
    • Gregory Itzin (Charles Logan from 24) played a mobster's defense lawyer in one episode, and a mugger in another two-parter.
    • In a lesser example, before their recurring roles on the show as Phil and Buddy, Will Utay and John Astin each appeared as unrelated characters in season two episodes; Utay played a defendant who beat up a mime and stole his change "for kicks" in "Pick a Number" and Astin played a Cloud Cuckoolander hospital patient (albeit similar to his later role) named Kenny in "Inside Harry Stone".
    • The late Phil Leeds, an elderly actor known for his odd appearance, made several appearances on the show, including as a man who believed he was God and one of the aliens that meets with Bull in the Grand Finale.
  • Jeanette Nolan appeared twice on the show, first as Dan's mother Mucette Elmore in Season 2, and then as a retirement-home prostitute who offers to seduce Dan in Season 4.

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