Night Court

1984 - 1992

A courthouse in New York City is turned upside down when it's taken over by Judge Harold T. Stone, a loveable goofball with a penchant for magic tricks and an unconventional approach to meting out justice.

Stars: Harry Anderson, John Larroquette, Richard Moll, Charles Robinson, Markie Post, Marsha Warfield
Created by: Reinhold Weege

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Episode Tropes

Season 1

Secret Criminal Past: Episode 3, "The Former Harry Stone" (1984). Dan starts taking bets on how old Harry is, and to find out the answer, Lana orders his personnel record, but to everyone's surprise, she gets his sealed criminal record instead.
The Old Snakes in a Can Gag: Episode 6, "Death Threat" (1984). Harry is a little shaken up after receiving a death threat that turned out to be from an eight-year-old boy, so to cheer him up, Bull buys him a snakes in a can gag, but when Harry opens the can, it's empty. Bull explains that he didn't think Harry "could take it all at once," so he took the snakes out. He then hands Harry the snakes one at a time.
Election: Episode 7, "Once in Love with Harry" (1984). Dan runs for city council and loses to a man who died two weeks before the election.
Handcuffed Together: Episode 10, "Some Like It Hot" (1984). A Russian immigrant named Yakov, who doesn't speak English, holds the courtroom hostage with a can of gas and a lighter, and when Liz tries to handcuff herself to him, Yakov makes Dan handcuff himself to Liz and takes the key.
Take Good Care of My Baby: Episode 12, "Bull's Baby" (1984). Bull's neighbor asks him to babysit her baby and doesn't come back, and Bull is so exhausted from taking care of the baby that he's falling asleep on the job.

Season 2

Going Your Way: Episode 1, "The Nun" (1984). A nun takes a liking to Harry and decides to leave the convent for him.
Big Brothers Big Sisters: Episode 6, "Bull Gets a Kid" (1984). Bull finally gets accepted into the "volunteer fathers" and gets a "son" named Andy, who turns out to be a girl named Stella.
To Kill a Turkey: Episode 8, "Harry and the Madam" (1984). For Thanksgiving, Mac's family has a tradition of killing their own turkey. For some reason, he decides to store the turkey in Harry's office for the night, and when Bull finds out, he makes it his mission to save the turkey.
Under the Knife: Episode 9, "Inside Harry Stone" (1984). Harry has been having excrutiating stomach pains, but he refuses to go to the hospital. After he doubles over in court, he finally goes to the hospital, but he refuses to even get tests done to find out what's wrong with him because his father went into the hospital for tests and never came back.
Dead Wrong: Episode 9, "Inside Harry Stone" (1984). After eating some questionable food in a Greek restaurant, Harry starts having terrible stomach pains and ends up in the hospital. After he has surgery, the owner of the restaurant goes to the hospital to visit him, and Mac tells him Harry's "gone," making him think Harry died.
Between Floors: Episode 10, "The Blizzard" (1984). During a blizzard, the power goes out, trapping raginig homophobe Dan in the elevator with a gay man who had hit on him earlier that night.
Green Card: Episode 11, "Take My Wife, Please" (1984). Mac is trying to help his friend from Vietnam, Quon Le, stay in the country, but he can't get the paperwork together in time, so he asks her to marry him, and they have a rushed wedding at the courthouse. Unfortunately, Quon Le is in love with Mac, and she thinks their marriage is real.
We Were Robbed: Episode 12, "The Birthday Visitor" (1985). On Harry's birthday, Billie invites him back to her apartment, and they walk in a an armed burglar in the process of robbing her.
Tax Audit: Episode 16, "The Gypsy" (1985). Dan is being audited by the IRS, but he's confident his crooked accountant will fool them. Unfortunately, his accountant drops dead in the middle of the audit.
Cursed: Episode 16, "The Gypsy" (1985). A self-proclaimed "gypsy" woman claims to put a curse on the courtroom when Harry doesn't rule her way, and Bull thinks it paralyzed him, so Harry devises a plan to convince Bull that he can take the curse off.

Season 3

Hostage Situation: Episode 2, "The Hostage" (1985). A burglary suspect who thinks he's an alien from Saturn holds the courtroom hostage demanding materials he needs to contact his planet and get home.
The Last Costume Left: Episode 5, "Halloween Too" (1985). Dan wasn't planning to wear a costume to Harry's Halloween party, but Harry orders him to, so he calls around to every costume store in the city, and he can only find one left (that isn't a Smurf): Humpty Dumpty.
Glen or Glenda: Episode 6, "Best of Friends" (1985). Dan's best friend from college, Chip, comes to visit, and Dan is shocked to see that Chip has transitioned and is now living as a woman.
Unhappy Rock Star: Episode 8, "Up on the Roof" (1985). A famous rock star is desperate for some time alone because he's constantly surrounded by crazed fans.
Surprise Prostitute: Episode 11, "Walk Away, Renee" (1985). Bull is so head over heals in love with his new girlfriend, Renee, that he's spending all his money on her, including cashing in his IRA, but the rest of the gang finds out she's a prostitute, and Dan has the misfortune of telling him.
American Gigolo: Episode 12, "Dan's Escort" (1986). Dan is broke, so to make some extra money, he becomes an escort for a service called, "Boys Are Us," going to social functions with a glamorous, rich older woman, but when she tells him she wants to sleep with him, Dan starts to regret his new gig.
The Old Pie in the Face Gag: Episode 14, "Harry and Leon" (1986). A man who runs a company that throws pies at people appears in court, inspiring Flo, Harry, Christine, and Mac to hire the company to throw a pie at Dan, but Dan found out and got a cut of the money and only one pie in his face instead of four. Meanwhile, Bull hired the company to throw a pie at Harry intead.
Erotic Bakery: Episode 15, "The Apartment" (1986). For Dan's birthday, Bull buys him a cake from an erotic bakery. When Dan's night is ruined because his date ran off, Bull shows him the cake, and it cheers him up.
Adopt-me-not: Episode 16, "Leon, We Hardly Knew Ye" (1986). Harry has been fostering Leon, the orphaned shoeshine boy, for only three weeks when social services says they found a family for him. Harry wants to adopt Leon permanently, but he knows he'd be better off with a real family.
Hostage Situation: Episode 17, "The Mugger" (1986). A man tries to mug the owner of an army surplus store, and Flo tackles him to the ground, but the mugger grabs a grenade from the store owner's pocket and holds everyone in the cafeteria hostage.
How the Mighty Have Fallen: Episode 18, "Could This Be Magic?" (1986). Harry's hero from childhood, "The Fabulous Falcone," appears in court after ripping off some tourists with a three card monty game. Harry offers to help him get back on top, but Falcone robs his apartment.
Amnesia: Episode 19, "Monkey Business" (1986). A woman with amnesia appears in court because she couldn't pay cab fare, and Dan falls for her right away, and she starts to fall for him, then she remembers who she is and that she hates his guts.
Monkeying Around: Episode 19, "Monkey Business" (1986). A woman is arrested for freeing an organgutan from a science lab, and the orangutan is brought into the courtroom as evidence. When Bull finds out what the scientist was doing to the orangutan he refuses to give him back.
Unwanted Suprise Party: Episode 20, "The Retirement" (1986). The gang throws a surprise party for Flo's birthday, and as they're all hiding in Harry's office, she refuses to come in unless they swear they won't jump out and shout "happy birthday" to her, then she grabs the presents and leaves.
Surprise Delivery: Episode 22, "Hurricane: Part 2" (1986). When a hurricane strands everyone in the courthouse, four pregnant women and their partners are brought in due to a confused rookie cop, and all of them go into labor at the same time, forcing the staff and the Wheelers to help deliver the babies.

Season 4

What a Dummy: Episode 1, "The Next Voice You Hear..." (1986). The courtroom is full of ventriloquists with dummies when three of them are arrested for rioting at a kids' show audition. One of them hasn’t found the right dummy yet, but when he meets Bull, he finally comes up with the perfect look.
Jumper: Episode 2, "Giving Thanks" (1986). After Dan saves Christine's life by stopping her from choking, she's so grateful that she reluctantly agrees to sleep with him. They meet in a hotel room and are interrupted by a man standing on the ledge outside the window, who tells them he's going to jump to his death. In frustration, Dan grabs the man off the ledge, saving his life too.
Author, Author: Episode 3, "Author, Author" (1986). Bull writes a children's book to enter a contest, and he's told that his book frightened the children.
Learn While You Sleep: Episode 6, "Dan's Operation: Part 2" (1986). While Dan is in a coma, Bull plays Spanish learning tapes for him, thinking he's taking advantage of Dan's condition to help him learn a language.
This Blood's for You: Episode 6, "Dan's Operation: Part 2" (1986). After he aggravates his ulcer surgery by going back to work too early, then having sex with Sheila in his hospital bed, Dan needs a blood transfusion, and Phil happens to be the perfect match.
Mini Me: Episode 9, "Earthquake" (1986). Three kids win a contest and get to spend the night in the courtroom, and their clothes and personalities are eerily similar to those of Harry, Dan, and Christine.
Between Floors: Episode 9, "Earthquake" (1986). Dan, Roz, and two sumo wrestlers get stuck in a stalled elevator together after a rare earthquake in Manhattan, and Dan suddenly has claustrophobia (despite having been trapped in an elevator in season 2 and showing no signs of it).
My Boys Can't Swim: Episode 12, "Murder" (1987). Dan wants to donate his sperm for money, but the sperm bank tells him his sperm are "slow and immature," and to fix the problem, he has to abstain from sex for two weeks.
Ashes to Ashes: Episode 13, "Baby Talk" (1987). Two sisters get into a fight over the ashes of their father, Herb, and Harry has to settle it in court, but he finds the urn empty, and Art explains tha the used the "herb tea" to test the coffee maker, and Dan apparently drank the result.
Rabid Dog: Episode 16, "Rabid" (1987). Harry's apartment building catches fire, and a stray dog wakes him up in time to get out, so Dan offers to let Harry and his dog stay with him until his apartment is fixed up. While Harry is out, the dog bites Dan and runs away, so the gang rushes to find the dog within 24 hours so Dan doesn't have to get a series of painful injections.
You are Not the Father: Episode 19, "Paternity" (1987). A woman files a paternity suit against Dan for her 10-year-old son, but it turns out her lawyer got the wrong guy, and the boy's father is "Stan Fielding."
Election: Episode 19, "Paternity" (1987). Bull runs for bailiff shop steward against the terrifying incumbent, who retaliates by "murdering" his ventriloquist dummy.
Sad Singing Telegram: Episode 21, "Her Honor: Part 1" (1987). When Dan gets turned down for a judgeship of favor of Christine, Roz and Bull hire a singing telegram to "congratulate" him on getting the job just to pour salt in the wound.

Season 5

Act of God: Episode 3, "Death of a Bailiff" (1987). While helping Art install some cables on the roof, Bull gets struck by lightning and his heart stops momentarily. When he comes to, he tells the gang that God spoke to him and told him to give away all his posessions, so he starts handing out money to random people in the courtroom, until he finds out the voice was just Art telling him they needed more cable.
Some Days You Just Can't Get Rid of a Body: Episode 6, "Mac's Dilemma" (1987). A Japanese businessman who's a close friend of the governor is brought into court for fraternizing with prostitutes. Immediately after Harry sentences him to community service, he drops dead. Bull is tasked with taking his body to the morgue, so Bull covers it in a sheet and puts it in a wheelchair, which he accidentally loses.
Limp Willy: Episode 8, "No Hard Feelings" (1987). Dan, the notorious womanizer, is "having a little trouble launching the old love boat," as Harry put it. His doctor tells him it's because he's stressed out over a big interview.
Get Out: Episode 13, "Hit the Road, Jack" (1988). Christine's dad stays with her while he's having some work done on his RV so he can head off to Florida for his retirement, but after two weeks, Christine can't stand his buying her tacky clothes, making her "head cheese" sandwiches, and inviting Dan over every night to belch and watch roller derby, but she can't bring herself to throw him out. It's not until he sells her car and replaces it with a 1957 Buick that she finally blows up at him.
Hostage Situation: Episode 19, "Jung and the Restless" (1988). Roz is sentence to attend a sensitivity "encounter" therapy group after roughing up a guy in the holding cell, and the rest of the gang comes along to support her. To everyone's surprise, a young man with a gun, who just robbed a convenience store, runs in and holds them all hostage while he hides from the police.
The Old Snakes in a Can Gag: Episode 20, "Top Judge" (1988). To impress a new, young judge, Harry tries to show him his old snakes in a can gag, but the snakes just kind of droop instead of jumping out.
The Old Pie in the Face Gag: Episode 20, "Top Judge" (1988). To impress a new, young judge, Harry tries to show him his old snakes in a can gag, but the snakes just kind of droop instead of jumping out.
Rags to Riches: Episode 21, "Mac's Millions" (1988). Mac inherits $2 million from his grandfather and immediately quits his job and starts spending extravagantly, then he finds out he's being sued for $4.5 million because the stove in his restaurant exploded and started a fire that collapsed three stories of a building.
Sad Singing Telegram: Episode 22, "Danny's Got His Gun: Part 1" (1988). After Dan is sent to the arctic circle by the Army Reserves, a man arrives with a telegram, and Harry pays him to sing it, not knowing that it says Dan's plane was shot down and he's presumed dead.

Season 6

On Fire: Episode 3, "Fire" (1988). When the building catches fire, the gang flees to the morgue in the basement for safety while they wait for the fire department, who might not arrive for "a few hours."
Sticky Situation: Episode 4, "Harry and the Tramp" (1988). While attempting to glue Roz's favorite mug back together after he broke it, Bull accidentally glues his hands to his own head.
Surprise Porn Star: Episode 4, "Harry and the Tramp" (1988). Harry needs a date to a swanky banquet, and meets a woman who is happy to attend, but Harry soon discovers that she's a popular adult film actress called "Amber Waves."
Psycho: Episode 5, "Educating Rhoda" (1988). A delusional woman who thinks she's characters from random old movies escapes from the courthouse, and an unsuspecting Dan takes her to a hotel, where she asks him to take a shower and comes at him with a knife.
Grave Mistake: Episode 8, "Night Court of the Living Dead" (1988). A court system computer error declares Christine dead, so the administration sends a replacement public defender, who refuses to leave when he sees that Christine is very much alive.
IQ Controversy: Episode 10, "Mental Giant" (1989). The gang takes part in a research study about people in legal professions, and as part of the study, they all take IQ tests, and they decide to bet on who has the highest; to everyone's surprise, Bull wins with a score of 181, and the scientists invite him to join their think tank.
Clip Show: Episodes 12-13, "Clip Show" (1989). When the city sends an accountant to audit the court's expenses, it leads to reminiscing about clips from previous episodes.
Hostage Situation: Episodes 12-13, "Clip Show" (1989). A clown with a gun holds everyone hostage as part of a bizarre wraparound story for a two-part clip show.
Hostage Situation: Episode 14, "The Trouble is Not in Your Set" (1989). A woman holds the courtroom hostage with a hand grenade to force them to help her "husband," who turhs out to be a character on a TV show.
Game Show: Episode 15, "The Game Show" (1989). Bull appears on a game show called "What Am I?" in an attempt to win enough money to build a gymnasium for the boys' club where he volunteers.
Prison Break Pen Pal: Episode 20, "Pen Pal" (1989). Christine tells the gang that her prisoner pen pal, James, is being released and coming to visit her at the courthouse, and when Roz sees him, she's instantly smitten. Unfortunately, Christine soon discovers that James escpaed from prison, and the police are after him.

Season 7

The Odd Couple: Episode 1, "Life with Buddy" (1989). Harry lets Buddy move in with him, but he quickly starts to drive Harry crazy, and Harry blows up at him. When Harry finds a note from Buddy saying he moved out, he feels guilty, but Buddy explains he left because he can't stand living with Harry's "quirks."
Pyramid Scheme: Episode 2, "If I Were a Rich Man" (1989). Quon Le starts selling "Bonnie Fay" cosmetics and ends up with 15 cases of products that she has to sell or pay $6,000 for. She plans to hold a "makeup party" in the cafeteria in the courthouse, but gets violently ill just before the party, so Mac has to host it.
Séance: Episode 4, "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Stephen King, Stephen King" (1989). The gang believes that the ghost of a man who died in the courthouse 50 years ago is now haunting it, so a so-called psychic helps them hold a séance.
Home Sweet Office: Episode 6, "For Love or Money" (1989). After missing out in a rent controlled apartment he thought was a lock, Dan is reduced to sleeping in his office until he can find a new one.
Pretend We're a Couple: Episode 7, "Auntie Maim" (1989). Roz's aunt visits the courthouse and ingterrogates her about not having a boyfriend, so Roze tells Mac to pretend to be her boyfriend, and when Roz's aunt is disappointed that they have no wedding plans, Roz makes Mac pretend to propose to her.
Business Goes Bust: Episode 8, "Attack of the Mac Snacks" (1989). Mac starts selling crackers Quon Le made from an old family recipe, and they're a hit, until a mini mart mogul eats five bags and drops dead.
Hiccups: Episode 14, "Futureman" (1990). Bull has the hiccups, and he keeps trying weird ways to cure them, like wearing a bag on his head, standing on his head, and holding his breath for an extended period of time.
On Strike: Episodes 15-16, "Wedding Bell Blues" (1990). Art and the other city maintenance workers go on strike, so rest of the staff has to pitch in to take up the slack.
Dance Lessons: Episode 19, "The Glasnost Menagerie" (1990). Dan has to learn how to waltz to impress a woman at the lieutenant governor's ball, so he pays Roz to teach him how, and they have so much fun that they both start to fall for each other.
Lamaze Class: Episode 21, "My Three Dads" (1990). Since Tony is away, Mac volunteers to be her partner in Lamaze class, but he passes out when he sees the brochure, so Christine decides to go alone. To her surprise, Harry, Dan, and Bull all show up to the class to help her.
Between Floors: Episode 24, "The Blues of the Birth" (1990). While Christine is in labor, she gets stuck in a stalled elevator with Buddy and a standoffish stranger.
Surprise Delivery: Episode 24, "The Blues of the Birth" (1990). Christine has to give birth in a stalled elevator with Buddy as her coach and the rest of the gang coaching her from outside.

Season 8

Not with My Sister You Don't: Episode 1, "A Fmaily Affair: Part 1" (1990). Dan's younger sister, Donna, shows up out of the blue, and Dan has a hot date, so he asks Bull to show her around town. Later that night, he bumps into Donna, where she's sharing a room with Bull.
Back to School: Episodes 1-2, "A Fmaily Affair" (1990). The Board Education reviewed their records and discovered that Harry is missing a few high school credits, so he has to pass a high school history test or lose his job. The city sends a tutor to the courthouse to help him study, and she's a stern taskmaster, who rules the courthouse with an iron chalk.
Hot for Student: Episode 2, "A Fmaily Affair: Part 2" (1990). A tutor helping Harry study to pass a high school history test tells him he doesn't have to take the test if he sleeps with her.
Tax Audit: Episode 3, "When Harry Met Margaret" (1990). When Quon Le has a nightmare that she thinks is a premonition of doom for Mac, she insists he wear a fish to help ward off evil, but he refuses and throws the fish away. Seconds later, he receives a certified letter from the IRS saying he's getting audited.
Bachelor Auction: Episode 4, "Can't Buy Me Love" (1990). Dan and Bull participate in a charity bachelor auction. Dan appoints Roz as his shill, but she gets distracted after she wins the local weather man, and an elderly woman wins Dan instead.
Happy Death Day: Episode 5, "Death Takes a Halloween" (1990). Mac produces a copy of tomorrow's newspaper with an obituary for Dan saying he died that night, and Dan is terrified, but it turns out to be Mac's Halloween prank.
Quarantine: Episodes 6-7, "Crossroads" (1990). When a defendant accidentally drops a vial of what he says might be a deadly virus, the courtroom is quarantined with everyone inside.
Barenakedlady: Episode 11, "Jail Bait" (1990). A young artist arrested for defacing public property becomes infatuated with Christine and paints a giant mural of her naked (using his imagination).
Vanity Press: Episode 12, "It's Just a Joke" (1990). Bull wrote his autobiography, but no publisher would take it except "Random Author," a vanity publishing company that charged him for enough copies "to make the best seller list."
It's a Wonderful Life: Episode 18, "Hey Harry, F'Crying Out Loud--It Is a Wonderful Life... Sorta" (1991). Harry is depressed because his girlfriend, Margaret, went into the Witness Protection Program, and he starts to regret ever becoming a judge, so his guardian angel, Herb, appears in the form of Mel Tormé and shows him what his friends' lives would be like if he was never there.
Toupée or Not Toupée: Episode 19, "To Sleep, No More" (1991). Bull wins a free toupee in a contest, and his new look attracts throngs of women.
Insomnia: Episode 19, "To Sleep, No More" (1991). Dan hasn't been able to sleep since he became the executor of the Phil Foundation because he's been mishandling its funds, and when he has to make a speech for the foundation, he sees Phil's ghost and comes to grips with his guilt.
Because He's My Butler: Episode 20, "Mac Takes a Vacation" (1991). To replace the late Phil, Dan hires an English "valet" to do his dirty work.
Affirmative Action: Episode 20, "Mac Takes a Vacation" (1991). When Mac graduates from college, he's offered a job working for a supreme court judge, and it turns out the judge only hired him to ingratiate himself to his Black constituants.
15 Minutes of Fame: Episode 22, "Harry's Fifteen Minutes" (1991). When a magazine names Harry one of "the most interesting people in New York," his sudden fame goes to his head, and he blows off plans to go to the Ice Capades with Christine to go to a snooty art gallery opening, but his fame doesn't last, and soon he has to beg his friends to hang out with him again.

Character Tropes

Mild Mannered Man-child: Bull Shannon - Played by Richard Moll.
Idiot Savant: Bull Shannon - Played by Richard Moll.
Loveable Lech: Dan Fielding - Played by John Larroquette.
Bitch on Wheels: Joy Buscaglia - Played by Elayne Boosler.
Whiz Kid: Jeremy Simon - Played by Christian Brackett-Zika in season 2, episode 5, "The Computer Kid" (1984).
Bitch on Wheels: Ralph Foley - Played by Al Ruscio in season 4, episode 2, "Her Honor: Part 2" (1987).
Fallen Childhood Hero: Red Ranger - Played by Robert V. Barron in season 5, episode 7, "Who Was That Mashed Man?" (1987).
Perennial Prankster: Judge Jimmy Cleaver - Played Gary Kroeger in season 5, episode 20, "Top Judge" (1988).
Extreme Cheapskate: Uncle Floyd - Played by Richard Stahl in season 7, episode 8, "Attack of the Mac Snacks" (1989).
Shock Jock: Monte Potter - Played by Luis Mustillo in season 8, episode 12, "It's Just a Joke" (1990).
Morality Police: Rev. Lester Sinclair - Played by Clifton James in season 8, episode 12, "It's Just a Joke" (1990).