Night Court Online
Judge Harold T. Stone presides over "Night Court", a court which deals with petty crimes which can be dealt with in a dime-a-dozen manner. Invariably, the cases appearing before the court are bizarre, but that's ok because Judge Stone is not your regular judge. He's assisted by a motley crew of clerks and District Attorneys who often create as much chaos as the criminals they bring in for trial.
| Complete series cast summary: | |||
 | Harry Anderson | - | Judge Harry T. Stone 193 episodes, 1984-1992 |
 | John Larroquette | - | Dan Fielding / - 193 episodes, 1984-1992 |
 | Richard Moll | - | Nostradamus 'Bull' Shannon 193 episodes, 1984-1992 |
 | Charles Robinson | - | Mac Robinson 180 episodes, 1984-1992 |
 | Markie Post | - | Christine Sullivan 159 episodes, 1984-1992 |
 | Marsha Warfield | - | Rosalind 'Roz' Russell 136 episodes, 1986-1992 |
 | Dorothy Andrews | - | Cashier 78 episodes, 1984-1992 |
After John Larroquette won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series four years in a row, he asked that his name be taken out of consideration. He was also offered a spin-off series based around the character of Dan Fielding, but he turned it down.
Show featured over five cast changes within the first year. Six female leads were featured before Markie Post was settled on. Post was the producers original choice in season two, but could not get out of her The Fall Guy (1981) contract. Gail Strickland played the public defender in the pilot episode before being replaced by Paula Kelly, who was then replaced in season two by Ellen Foley before Post joined in season three. Two court clerks were featured, first Karen Austin, then Charles Robinson. Three bailiff changes were Selma Diamond, who died after the show's second season, Florence Halop, who died the following year, then Marsha Warfield, who remained until the show's finish. The only cast members to remain from the pilot until the finale were Harry Anderson, John Larroquette, and Richard Moll.
According to Series Creator Reinhold Weege on the Season 1 DVD commentary, when it is mentioned in the first episode that Harry Stone is a Mel Tormé fan, friends and relatives of the famed jazz and pop singer called Tormé to tell him about the reference. Tormé was so flattered by the reference that when the series later contacted him about appearing on the show, he was more than happy to do so. Tormé has also stated that largely due to the "Night Court" references, he noticed that his audience at concerts started to get younger and younger and that his newfound resurgence was because of the show.
This show became part of NBC's semi-legendary "Must See Thursday", which opened with The Cosby Show (1984), followed by Family Ties (1982) (and later A Different World (1987)) then Cheers (1982), and then this show.
There's a scene where Dan Fielding (John Larroquette) is trapped in a motel room with a psychotic woman who acts out movie roles. While watching television, an announcer says, "We'll return to 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'", to which Larroquette says, "Seen that already." Larroquette was the voice of the Narrator in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and the 2003 remake.
After the taping of the final episode on a Friday, the cast were sent telegrams to have their dressing rooms vacated by the following Monday, or their belongings would be thrown away.
After Selma Diamond passed away following the completion of Seson 2, she was replaced by Florence Halop, due largely to the fact that she had comedy timing and mannerisms similar to Selma. However, when Florence passed away after completing just one season (Season 3), it was decided by the producers to hire a younger actress for the role, and Marsha Warfield was hired as Roz.
"Bull" Shannon's complete character name was Aristotle Nostradamus Shannon.
Bull Shannon has an I.Q. of 181.
Harry was 34 when he was appointed to the bench. He was appointed because he was the only candidate on the list to have answered the phone on the Mayor's last Sunday in office. He was the last name on the list. As he says, he got to be a judge "because I was home."
Neither the music nor the exterior shots in the opening credits ever changed during the entire series run.
Richard Moll had shaved his head for his role in Kosmiczna burza (1983). When he auditioned for the part of Bull Shannon, the producers liked the look so much, they asked him to keep it.
According to series creator Reinhold Weege on the Season 1 DVD commentary, many of the hookers and pimps are named after his friends. He comments that the references are his way of saying "hello" to these people.
Near the beginning of Season 7, Markie Post found that she was pregnant. The writers quickly came up with a story arc that included Christine's romance and marriage to Detective Tony Giuliano (Ray Abruzzo) and her following pregnancy. That way they did not have to try to hide it.
According to Reinhold Weege on the Season 1 DVD commentary, Harry Stone's appointment to the bench is loosely based on a real-life incident in Los Angeles. According to Weege, the Mayor, in an effort to hurt his replacement (a bitter political rival), filled the last remaining judicial posts with under-qualified candidates. Harry Stone was appointed to the bench, despite having barely enough experience practicing law.
Bull had his own puppet. It was introduced in the fourth season premiere "The Next Voice You Hear...". It went on the market and was sold through retail catalogues.
The picture hanging on Harry's office wall is of Jean Harlow.
The cast was offered more money to return for a tenth season, but the show would be put on a syndicated station as opposed to NBC. They declined.
The series was originally set to debut at the start of the 1983-84 season. NBC, concerned about Harry Anderson's lack of acting experience, decided to delay the show. NBC ended up cancelling every new series that premiered that September, and the show was picked up as a mid-season replacement.
Bull was originally written as a towering intimidating hulk with a superior intellect. As the character developed, however, he grew into a dim but cuddly soul, whose intellect was limited to useless trivia.
Before Harry Anderson was ever cast, the character of the judge was written as a guy named Harry, who loved magic, and worshipped Mel Tormé.
The series was notorious for "recycling" actors and actresses in different roles. For example, Jack Riley appeared as Emil Dutton, Warren Wilson, Dr. Flick, Beepo the Clown, Mr. FrouFrou, and Jim Wimberly. Judy Landers appeared as an unnamed girl (Dan's date), Maj. Roberta Savage, and Vickie Guyer.
Robert Klein was offered the role of Harry Stone, but the salary negotiations fell through.
While the majority of the show was taped in front of a live audience, the rapid montage scenes were shot first before tapings.
John Larroquette was approached during Season 6 about starring in Dom wariatów (1990). However, executive producer Reinhold Weege would not allow him the time off to make the film. Because of delays in the film, Larroquette was approached again during Season 7. This time Weege and the film's producers worked out a schedule that would allow Larroquette to work on both projects simultaneously. Mondays to Thursdays Larroquette would rehearse for the series during the day and work on the film all night. On Friday nights the series would tape its episodes. As soon as taping finished, he would go to the film's set and work all weekend.
This show ran for nine seasons, beginning on January 4, 1984, and ending on May 31, 1992, putting out 193 episodes.
In the beginning of Season 1 Harry Stone was 34, but in reality Harry Anderson, who played Stone, was 31, making the character older than the actor.
It is mentioned several times that Dan's real first name is "Reinhold", a name everyone else finds very unappealing. This is a reference to series creator Reinhold Weege. A possible continuity issue arose with the character of Dan's mother, who always referred to her son as "Danny". Whether this meant Dan actually was his name, or that she was simply calling him by his preferred name, was unclear.
Brent Spiner, best known for his role as Lt. Commander Data on "Star Trek: The Next Generation", had a recurring role on the series as Bob Wheeler, the patriarch of a hillbilly family that was routinely being brought before Judge Stone for numerous bizarre reasons. There are other St Trek references sprinkled throughout the show. Most notably, a group of Trekkies are brought before Judge Stone for getting into a fight over which series was better: Star Trek or Star Trek: TNG. (Among the Trekkies is one dressed as Data). Additionally, John Laroquette portrayed a Klingon in "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock". (He's the sole surviving Klingon whom Captain Kirk promises to kill later, but doesn't)
John Larroquette was the only cast member to appear in every episode of the series.
The brief animated appearance of Wile E. Coyote of Looney Tunes (in "Still Another Day in the Life") is a nod to Warner Brothers, which produced the show.
The show cast a considerable number of remarkably tall actors.
Before joining the show, Florence Halop appeared numerous times as different characters on Barney Miller (1975).
The deaths of Selma Diamond and Florence Halop resulted in beliefs and urban legends about a curse on the parts. Some have even believed this was a reason as to why the much younger Marsha Warfield was cast as Roz.
Martin Garner and Selma Diamond previously played husband and wife in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983).
Despite Harry's court being held in the City Courts Building on the eighteenth floor, no such building exists. The closest building to the description would be the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse located at 500 Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan.
Despite being a night court as the title of the show suggests, and the cases being help at late hours there has been many cases involving children being seen before Judge Stone and also school groups.
The subway train seen in the opening credits is an R40 Slant A train.
As of March 5, 2019, which was Marsha Warfield's 65th birthday, she outlived her two predecessors, Selma Diamond who died at the age of 64 and Florence Halop who died at the age of 63.
The World Trade Center is briefly visible during the opening credits.
The first two female bailiffs (Selma Hacker and Florence Kleiner) were both played by actresses who shared their character's first name (Selma Diamond and Florence Halop). Likewise, star Harry Anderson played Judge Harry Stone. Court clerk Mac Robinson was played by an actor with the same last name, Charles Robinson.
John Astin had the recurring role of Buddy Ryan (Harry's father) and William Utay had the recurring role of the bum Phil Sanders. But before that, each of them had guest starred once as a different character.
Season eight was to be the last. Harry and Christine were to marry, Dan becoming a priest, among other big cast shake-ups. At the last minute, NBC renewed the show for one more season, and the Harry and Christine romance never came to fruition, with Dan going after Christine in the series finale instead.
Sadly,on April 16, 2018, Harry Anderson passed away. According to the news, TMZ, and Harry's death certificate, his cause of death was stroke and Cardiac Arrest caused by influenza.
Reinhold Weege worked on his previously sitcom,"Barney Miler" (possibly believed that "Night Court" was actually a spinoff for "Barney Miller").
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