''Night Court'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

that premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on January 4, 1984, and ended on May 31, 1992, after nine seasons consisting of 193 episodes. The show is set in the

night shift The shift plan, rota or roster (esp. British) is the central component of a schedule (workplace), shift schedule in shift work. The schedule includes considerations of shift overlap, shift change times and alignment with the clock, vacation, train ...

of a Manhattan Criminal Court presided over by a young, unorthodox judge, Harold "Harry" T. Stone (portrayed by Harry Anderson), and was created by comedy writer Reinhold Weege, who had previously worked on ''

Barney Miller ''Barney Miller'' is an American sitcom television series set in a New York City Police Department police station on East 6th Street in Greenwich Village (Lower Manhattan). The series was broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Janu ...

'' in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Cast

Main

* Harry Anderson as Judge Harold "Harry" T. Stone * Karen Austin as court clerk Lana Wagner (season 1) *

Gail Strickland Gail Strickland (born May 18, 1945)Maurice, Dick (July 27, 1975)"Celebrities on the Couch – Interview: Gail Strickland" ''The St. Tammany News-Banner''. p. 4. Retrieved February 27, 2025. is a retired American actress who had prominent s ...

as public defender Sheila Gardner (pilot episode only) *

John Larroquette John Bernard Larroquette (; born November 25, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the NBC military drama series '' Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (1976–1978), the NBC sitcom ''Night Court'' (1984–1992; 2023–2025) for ...

as assistant district attorney Reinhold Daniel "Dan" Fielding Elmore * Paula Kelly as public defender Liz Williams (season 1) *

Richard Moll Charles Richard Moll (January 13, 1943 – October 26, 2023) was an American actor known for playing Aristotle Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon, a bailiff on the NBC sitcom ''Night Court'' from 1984 to 1992. Moll also voiced Harvey Dent/Two-Face in t ...

as bailiff Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon * Selma Diamond as bailiff Selma Hacker (seasons 1–2) *

Ellen Foley Ellen Foley (born June 5, 1951) is an American singer and actress who has appeared on Broadway and television, where she co-starred in the hit NBC sitcom '' Night Court'' during its second season. In music, she has released five solo albums, bu ...

as public defender Billie Young (season 2) * Charles Robinson as court clerk Macintosh "Mac" Robinson (seasons 2–9) * Markie Post as public defender Christine Sullivan (guest season 2, full time seasons 3–9) * Florence Halop as bailiff Florence "Flo" Kleiner (née Nightingale) (season 3) *

Marsha Warfield Marsha Francine Warfield (born March 5, 1954) is an American actress and comedian. She grew up on Chicago's South Side, graduating from Calumet High School. She is best known for playing tough, no-nonsense bailiff Roz Russell on the NBC sitcom ...

as bailiff Rosalind "Roz" Russell (seasons 4–9)

Recurring

*Mike Finneran as building superintendent/repairman Art Fensterman * Martin Garner as newsstand owner Bernie (seasons 1–3) *

Terry Kiser Terry Kiser (born August 1, 1939) is an American actor. While he has more than 140 acting credits to his name, with a career spanning more than 50 years, he is best known for portraying the deceased title character Bernie Lomax in the comedy '' ...

as tabloid courtroom reporter Al Craven (seasons 1–2) * Jason Bernard as Judge Willard * Rita Taggart as prostitute/frequent defendant Carla Bouvier (seasons 1–2) *Denice Kumagai as Mac's wife Quon Le Duc Robinson (seasons 2–9) *

John Astin John Allen Astin (born March 30, 1930) is an American actor and director who has appeared in numerous stage, television and film roles, primarily in character roles. He is widely known for his role as patriarch Gomez Addams in ''The Addams Famil ...

as Harry's step (later revealed to be birth) father Buddy Ryan (seasons 3–9) *

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "the Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arrangement, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roa ...

as himself, Harry's music idol * William Utay as vagrant/Dan's errand boy Phil Sanders (seasons 3–7), and Phil's corrupt twin brother Will (seasons 8–9), who takes his place after his death *

Brent Spiner Brent Jay Spiner (; born February 2, 1949) is an American actor best known for his role as the android Data on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (19871994), four subsequent films (19942002), and '' Star Trek: Picard'' ( ...

and Annie O'Donnell as frequent defendants Bob and June Wheeler * Leslie Bevis as Dan's periodic lover Sheila *

Yakov Smirnoff Yakov Naumovich Pokhis (; born 24 January 1951), better known as Yakov Smirnoff (; ), is a Jewish Soviet-American comedian, actor and writer. He began his career as a stand-up comedian in the Soviet Union, then immigrated to the United States in ...

as Russian immigrant Yakov Korolenko * Eugene Roche as Christine's father Jack Sullivan *Daniel Frishman as District Attorney Vincent Daniels, Dan's tyrannical dwarf boss *

Bumper Robinson Larry Clarence "Bumper" Robinson II is an American actor. He is best known for his voice roles as Damas in ''Jak 3'', Bumblebee and Blitzwing on '' Transformers: Animated'' Rook Blonko and various other characters in '' Ben 10: Omniverse'', and Fa ...

as shoeshine boy Leon (season 5) * Ray Abruzzo as NYPD detective/Christine's husband Tony Giuliano (seasons 7–8) * Mary Cadorette as reporter/Harry's girlfriend Margaret Turner (season 8) *S. Marc Jordan as newsstand owner Jack Griffin (seasons 8–9) *Joleen Lutz as court stenographer Lisette Hocheiser (seasons 8–9) *

Gilbert Gottfried Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, best-known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York dialect, his squint, and his edgy, often-controversial, sense of humor. Hi ...

as prosecutor Oscar Brown (season 9) *

Florence Stanley Florence Stanley (born Florence Lenore Schwartz;Room, Adrian (2010). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins, 5th ed.'. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 453. ."United States, Social Security Numerical Identi ...

as Judge Margaret Wilbur

Casting

Selma Diamond died from lung cancer after the second season. Florence Halop was hired to replace Diamond as the new bailiff, but she was also a heavy smoker and similarly developed lung cancer and died after she recorded season three. She was replaced by

, who played bailiff Roz Russell until the series ended in 1992. In 1984,

Shelley Hack Shelley Marie Hack (born July 6, 1947) is an American actress, model, producer, and political activist. She is best known as the face of Revlon's Charlie perfume from the mid-1970s until the early 1980s, and for her role as Tiffany Welles in ...

from ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...

'' was hired to replace Paula Kelly and portray new public defender Christine Sullivan—who was going to be romantically involved with Judge Harry Stone ( Harry Anderson). But during rehearsals, Hack and producer Reinhold Weege realized there was a problem. "What happened was the role was changed, Instead of being a funny lady, as she was in the reading, they had changed her into a straight woman. It wasn't working, The concept just didn't work and that's what I told them...What's the point if it's not working?" Hack and the producer mutually and amicably agreed she would not continue with the series.

was brought in for season two as a new character, public defender Billie Young. For episode 2 of season 2 (as a guest, in what was meant to be the season 2 premiere)–and from season 3 onwards (as a regular cast member)— Markie Post was hired to portray Christine Sullivan.

Theme music

Every episode of ''Night Court'' opens (after a

cold open A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In North ...

) and closes with a Latin jazz-influenced, bass-heavy theme tune composed by Jack Elliott, featuring

Ernie Watts Ernest James Watts (born October 23, 1945) is an American jazz and R&B saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's album '' ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

while featuring video footage of prominent New York City landmarks such as the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It w ...

and the New York County Courthouse. ''Night Court''s theme was used in the season-5 ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' episode " Bill & Peter's Bogus Journey", featuring animations of former US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

playing saxophone along with

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...

musicians playing backup. ''Night Court''s theme was sampled for the remix to

Cam'Ron Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), known Mononym, mononymously as Cam'ron, is an American rapper. Beginning his career in the early 1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed with Lance Rivera, Lance "Un" Rivera's Lance Rivera, Untertainment, a ...

's 1998 single " Horse & Carriage". It was produced by Darrell "Digga" Branch and featured

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx, he came to prominence upon discover ...

Charli Baltimore Tiffany Lane (born August 16, 1974), better known by her stage name Charli Baltimore, is an American rapper, and television personality. Her stage name is taken from Geena Davis's character in the film '' The Long Kiss Goodnight''. Career Ch ...

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...

, and

Silkk the Shocker Vyshonn King Miller (born June 18, 1975), better known by his stage name Silkk the Shocker (formerly Silkk), is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. The brother of Master P, Miller signed with his record label No Limit Records, an im ...

. Following the end credits theme music, a distinctive laugh can be heard dubbed over the vanity logo displaying producer Reinhold Weege's "Starry Night Productions". This same laugh can be heard coming from the studio audience throughout numerous seasons of ''Night Court''. At first it was thought to be the canned laugh of voice actor

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

or even star Harry Anderson; but in fact, it was the laugh of Chuck Weege, Reinhold's father, who attended nearly all of the tapings in person (until Reinhold left the show after the sixth season).

Scheduling

In 1984 the show debuted as part of NBC's powerhouse Thursday-night

Must See TV Must See TV was an American advertising slogan that was used by NBC to brand its primetime blocks during the 1990s, and most often applied to the network's Thursday night lineup, which featured some of its most popular sitcoms and drama series ...

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...

started at 8 pm, followed by

Family Ties ''Family Ties'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the social shift in the United Stat ...

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...

, Night Court, all anchored by

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the Metropolitan Police Department staff ...

Episodes

Awards and honors

''Night Court'' received a number of awards and nominations. Both Selma Diamond (in 1985) and John Larroquette (in 1988) earned

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

nominations, but lost to

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, ...

and

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. H ...

, respectively. Paula Kelly was nominated for an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

after the first season. Larroquette won four consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series from 1985 to 1988, before he withdrew his name from the ballot in 1989. Selma Diamond was nominated in 1985, and Anderson received three nominations in 1985, 1986, and 1987. The series received three nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1985, 1987, and 1988. The series also received many awards and nominations in the areas of lighting, editing, sound mixing, and technical direction. The show was nominated for 31 Emmys, winning seven.

Syndication

United States

After its primary run in broadcast syndication, the series aired on

A&E Network A&E (an initialism of its original name, the Arts & Entertainment Network) is an American cable and satellite television network and the flagship property of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Walt Disney Company ...

for many years. It then aired on

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division's MTV Entertainment Group. It was originally launched as Nick at Nite’s TV Land as a spinoff of Nick at Nite programing block consisting e ...

from 2005 to 2008, then began airing on Encore Classic on December 2, 2013. From 2016 to 2022, the show aired on Laff. As of March 2023, the series airs on the

Weigel Broadcasting Weigel Broadcasting Co. is an American television broadcasting company based in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, alongside its flagship station WCIU-TV (Channel 26), at 26 North Halsted Street in the Greektown, Chicago, Greektown neighborhood. It cur ...

owned

Catchy Comedy Catchy Comedy, formerly known as Decades, is an Americans, American Digital terrestrial television, digital broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. The network, which is mainly carried on the digital subchannels of television ...

network weeknights. The series was also the subject of Catchy Comedy's inaugural weekend "Catchy Binge" on April 1–2, 2023. Since June 2024, it is now also broadcast on IFC, usually airing in marathons on Mondays and Tuesdays, and sometimes an episode or two is shown in the early mornings on weekends.

Australia

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

first broadcast the series in the 1980s and 1990s. 7TWO began showing reruns in June 2011. Reruns are currently being shown on

Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...

Comedy Channel.

Canada

Aired weekdays on both Comedy Gold and JoyTV.

Germany

Sat.1 aired the series as '' Harry's wundersames Strafgericht'' (''Harry's Miraculous Criminal Court'') in 1988.

Italy

Italia 1 Italia 1 (Italian pronunciation ) is an Italian free-to-air television channel on the Mediaset network, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It is aimed at both a young adult and adult audience. Italia 1 was launched on 3 January 1982 and, was or ...

aired the show as '' Giudice di notte'' (''Night Judge'') from 1986 until 1988.

Spain

TVE aired the show as ''Juzgado de Guardia'' (''Court on Duty/Call'').

New Zealand

The show screened weekly on

TVNZ 1 TVNZ 1 () is the first national television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It is the oldest television broadcaster in New Zealand, starting out from 1960 as independent channels in the ...

in the 1980s and 1990s, and was rerun in the late 1990s.

Home media

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

released the first three seasons on DVD in Region 1. Seasons 4–9 were released as Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) DVDs as part of the

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

. On June 13, 2023, Warner Bros. (through Studio Distribution Services) released ''Night Court: The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1. Special releases The ''Television Favorites'' compilation DVD included the pilot episode, "All You Need Is Love"; both parts of the fourth-season finale, "Her Honor"; the fifth-season episodes "Death of a Bailiff" and "Who Was That Mashed Man?"; and the sixth-season episode "Fire", which marked the beginning of Harry's relationship with Christine. Harry Anderson, Markie Post, and Charles Robinson appeared in the ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...

'' episode, " The One with the Cast of Night Court". John Larroquette is also mentioned; Harry says he had just spoken to John, which annoys Markie (who has not had recent contact with her absent former co-star) and begins an argument between them that lasts for most of the story.

Sequel series

In December 2020, NBC announced it was working on a sequel series to ''Night Court''. The show is executive produced by

Melissa Rauch Melissa Ivy Rauch (; born June 23, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' from 2009 to 2019, for which she was nominated for the Critics Choice ...

and Winston Rauch, with Dan Rubin writing. Larroquette returned as Fielding, while the show's central character—played by Melissa Rauch—is Abby Stone, a judge and the daughter of Harry Stone. The show is produced by Warner Bros. Television Studios for NBC. In April 2021, it was reported that Rauch would also star in the series as Abby Stone. In May 2021, it was announced that NBC had given a pilot order to a sequel series. In June 2021, Ana Villafañe joined the cast for the pilot, portraying an Assistant

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

and

Lacretta ''Night Court'' is an American sitcom, a revival of the series of the same name that originally aired from 1984 to 1992. It premiered on NBC on January 17, 2023. In February 2023, the series was renewed for a second season which then premiered ...

plays a bailiff Donna "Gurgs" Gurganous. In July 2021, Kapil Talwalkar joined the cast for the pilot, playing a court's clerk Neil. In September 2021, it was announced that NBC had given the production a series order. In February 2023, it was announced that following the strong reception of the first four episodes, NBC had ordered a full second season of the show. A third season of the revival series would then premiere on November 19, 2024. On May 9, 2025, the series has been canceled after three seasons.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Ellen Foley Night Court 1980s American legal television series 1980s American multi-camera sitcoms 1980s American workplace comedy television series 1984 American television series debuts 1990s American legal television series 1990s American multi-camera sitcoms 1990s American workplace comedy television series 1992 American television series endings American English-language television shows Legal comedies Primetime Emmy Award–winning television series Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in Manhattan NBC sitcoms Works set in courtrooms