Audiences fell in love with Night Court's wacky portrayal of a Manhattan courtroom.
Whether it’s the history of the jazzy theme song, celebrity guest stars, or the cast of misfits that
make up the ensemble, this is everything you never knew about the beloved sitcom.
A magician and comedian, the late Harry Anderson appeared on Saturday Night Live
and guest-starred on Cheers as con man "Harry the Hat" before landing on the bench at Night Court.
As Judge Harold "Harry" T. Stone, Anderson is the moral center of the show, with a screwball
sense of humor and a love of magic tricks, classic films, and the music of Mel Tormé.
A relatively young jurist in his 30s, Harry lands the gig out of hundreds of
candidates because he happened to be home on a Sunday to answer the mayor's call, as he
explains in the pilot, "All You Need Is Love." In the show's finale, he receives an offer to
tour with Tormé, who by then had made several guest appearances on Night Court. In addition
to Judge Stone, Anderson, who died in 2018, played humorous columnist Dave Barry in the 1990s sitcom
Dave's World and the adult Richie Tozier in the 1990 TV adaptation of Stephen King's It.
Prosecutor Dan Fielding rarely shows compassion, although he occasionally surprises those around
him when he does. Actor John Larroquette's wry demeanor and dry delivery kept Dan from being
a one-note lech, partly because the scripts know when Dan is more pathetic than smooth.
"Your honor, circumstances of a very urgent personal nature have arisen, and regrettably
forced me to ask for a recess." "Sex or money, Dan?"
Larroquette, who made his film debut providing the opening narration of 1974's
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, has popped up on other series since Night Court ended,
most notably the comedy-drama Boston Legal and the fantasy adventure series The Librarians.
Markie Post wasn’t the first public defender on Night Court, but she played the role the
longest as Christine Sullivan from seasons three to nine. A perpetual foil for Dan's advances and
a romantic interest for Harry, Christine is smart, witty, and amusingly flustered,
thanks to Post's comic timing. Much like Harry idolizes Mel Tormé, Christine too has a quirk.
She adores the royal family and Princess Diana, collecting memorabilia such as porcelain thimbles.
Christine is honest to a fault, although she does flash a guy to help Harry win an
arm-wrestling contest. She becomes disillusioned and considers quitting her job soon after arriving
in season three when a man mugs her. But when the same mugger winds up taking hostages at
the courthouse, Christine rediscovers her compassion and helps save the day.
The series' end sees the impassioned and creative defense attorney off to Congress.
B-movie veteran Richard Moll had shaved his head for a role when he auditioned for Night Court.
The producers liked the bald look so much on the 6-foot-7-inch Moll that they asked him to
keep that style for bailiff Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon. Bull is fiercely protective of Harry
and can seem dim-witted at times, although Moll played this with a gentle and childlike nature.
Bull's towering size means that he often wrangles rowdy defendants,
something that makes him consider a wrestling promoter's job offer in season two after he
corrals guest star Lou Ferrigno. Fortunately, Harry and the others convince him to return to
the courthouse instead of pursuing a career in the ring. Improbably, the end of Night Court
sees aliens whisk Bull off to Jupiter so he can help short aliens reach things on high shelves.
Since then, Moll has appeared in But I'm a Cheerleader and Scary Movie 2. He has also
voiced various animated villains, including Two-Face in Batman : The Animated Series,
Scorpion in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and the Abomination in The Incredible Hulk.
Accompanying Bull as the older and wiser bailiff on Night Court are three women,
scattered throughout the show's tenure. The deadpan Selma Diamond played bailiff Selma
Hacker in seasons one and two, earning Golden Globe and Emmy nominations. Sadly, Diamond died
of cancer in 1985. Her replacement, Florence Halop, played Flo Kleiner during season three,
until she too died of cancer in 1986. Enter Marsha Warfield, who had made her comedic
debut as part of Richard Pryor's TV sketch show in 1977. Her Rosalind "Roz" Russell has a no-nonsense
demeanor at first. But Roz also has a caring side. After she becomes involved with Christine's
handsome pen pal in season six, played by a pre-24 Dennis Haysbert, she's floored to learn that the
man is an escaped prisoner. Roz sees him sent back behind bars, although Bull gives her a chance to
say goodbye privately. She scolds her fellow bailiff, before giving him a kiss on the head.
Rounding out the courtroom regulars is clerk Charles Robinson, who played Macintosh "Mac"
Robinson in seasons two through nine. A Vietnam veteran, Mac is married to Quon Le Duc Robinson,
a refugee from Vietnam who becomes an American citizen and
opens a restaurant during the show's run. Typically wearing a plaid shirt, cardigan,
and knit tie, Mac is a loyal friend and more of a straight arrow than Harry, although he
can also get the better of Dan with a punchline. At the end of the series, Mac decides to attend
film school and become a director, in what might be a nod to the real Robinson's directing chops.
Robinson directed three episodes of Night Court, but he's also continued acting,
appearing in The House Bunny and the TV series Key and Peele, Mom, and This Is Us.
We can't mention Night Court without discussing its distinctive instrumental theme song,
a bass-heavy jazz tune that runs over the opening titles and shots of the Brooklyn Bridge,
municipal courthouse, and people mingling around the city at night.
This iconic theme is the work of composer Jack Elliott, who served as music director for The
Andy Williams Show and also co-wrote the themes to Barney Miller and the 2011 Charlie's Angels
series. Beyond his work in television, he's served as the music director for the Grammy
Awards, the Academy Awards, the Primetime Emmy Awards, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the 1984
Summer Olympics ceremony in Los Angeles. Night Court's theme includes a saxophone melody
played by Ernie Watts, a longtime studio musician. Watts notably played sax on Marvin Gaye's "Let's
Get It On," and appears on the soundtrack for The Color Purple. Beyond Night Court,
astute fans might have noticed parts of the theme appear elsewhere in pop culture,
including a Family Guy episode in which former U.S. President Bill Clinton plays saxophone.
Befitting a long-running show with various court cases, Night Court has a lot of guest
stars. One of them was Brent Spiner, who later shot to fame as Lieutenant Commander Data,
a self-aware android curious about human life on Star Trek: The Next Generation. On Night Court,
Spiner played Bob Wheeler, husband to June. They appear to be down-on-their-luck Appalachians
from West Virginia, but are really from Yugoslavia. When asked about why they lied,
Bob has the perfect explanation. "I don't know. It was just the
first exotic place that popped into my head." The pair appear in front of Harry for various
mishaps, including trying egg-farming with a propane-powered incubator, as Christine explains
in their defense. At one point, the Wheelers even run a concession stand in the courthouse.
But the Star Trek ties don't end there. John Larroquette appeared as the Klingon Maltz in
1984's Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. What's more, during one marathon caseload in season six,
Harry hears a case involving two Star Trek fans who cause a disturbance at a seminar
discussing Starfleet Command. One, dressed as Geordi La Forge from The Next Generation,
and the other, dressed as Mr. Spock from the original series, nearly come to blows,
with the latter threatening the former with a Vulcan death grip before Bull intervenes.
Night Court's guest stars range from the well-known, like Mel Tormé, to actors who
had not yet earned wider recognition, like Dennis Haysbert. Some appear in just one episode. During
his run on Family Ties, and just before Back to the Future, Michael J. Fox dropped by Night Court
as a shoplifting runaway, whose encounter with another defendant who thinks he's Santa Claus sets
him on the right path. Other one-episode guest stars include Teri Hatcher, who played Dan's
boss' sexy niece; Robert Englund as a defendant charged with arson who thinks aliens are among us;
Fran Drescher as a schizophrenic woman whose personality changes leave Dan literally bound
and gagged; and comedian Elayne Boosler as Joy, Harry's ironically named abrasive assistant.
Others, like Spiner, had recurring roles. Comedian and actor Gilbert Gottfried played a
temporary prosecuting attorney over three episodes in season nine. Another comedian, Yakov Smirnoff,
appeared in five episodes from 1984 through 1990. Playing Russian defector Yakov Korolenko,
he first appears before Harry in season one, charged for stolen property and threatening
to burn down the courtroom. In spite of this, Harry takes a liking to him,
later helping him search for his brother as well as obtain a visa extension for his father.
Although every episode is set during the night shift, Night Court might be best known for several
"Day in the Life" episodes, in which the regulars work through a hefty docket on a deadline. Reasons
for these time crunches include a burst pipe flooding the holding cells and the staff racing
to beat a federal judge's ruling granting amnesty to anyone not arraigned by midnight. One of these
stories, season five 's "Another Day in the Life," is one of the series' most popular episodes.
Its setup involves a Texas millionaire arrested for jumping in a park fountain, who offers to
pay the mortgage of an impoverished orphanage if the staff hears his case by midnight. Meanwhile,
Dan has a bet with the other prosecutors on who can convict the most defendants by weight.
The rapid-fire banter and colorful case snippets of these unique episodes squeeze
in lots of laughs. In one, two defendants dispute which one is God. Another time,
Harry scolds the "Pope" for standing and waving while driving, something the Pontiff doesn't
actually do. The judge even finds an animated Wile E. Coyote guilty of harassing the Road Runner.
"And may I add: If you're hungry, go to a restaurant for criminy sake, or a grocery
store. But leave that poor bird alone!" Check out one of our newest videos right
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