Night Court: 10 Things You Never Knew About This Classic Sitcom

Every working person knows that the people you work with often become some of your closet friends and they’re almost family, even if they drive you crazy. We spend 40 hours a week or more with the people we work with, which means they probably know more about us than our real friends do. Sitcoms such as The Office prove this. But workplace comedies were around long before The Office came on the scene.

Night Court was The Office of the 1980s as it focused on the eclectic employees of a New York City night courtroom. Between Judge Harry’s magic tricks and the antics of lawyers Dan and Christine, there is never a dull moment in the night court. Here are the 10 things fans never knew about this classic sitcom:

10 Inspired by Real New York City Judges

New York City is one of the most creative cities as inspiration is all around whether it’s on the street, at a coffee shop, or sitting on a bench. Night Court creator Reinhold Weege was sitting on a bench in New York with night court judges when inspiration hit him.

Weege stated in his interview in the 2002 documentary TV Tales: Night Court that he was moved by the craziness of Manhattan’s night court. At the time of the series, New York was having a difficult time getting judges with emotional problems out of the courtroom. Weege was inspired and saw this as a perfect opportunity to create a series about a zany judge and quirky courtroom employees.

9 Marsha Warfield was Cast Due to Two Illnesses

Every night court needs a good bailiff such as Roz Russell played by Marsha Warfield. She was tough as she “could kick butt in bunny slippers,” but she was also kind and fair. Fans can all agree that Marsha Warfield was the best actor to play the Night Court bailiff.

But there were two bailiffs in the courtroom before Roz entered the scene. Selma Diamond was the first bailiff, and she lasted for two seasons before she was sadly diagnosed with lung cancer. The second bailiff was Florence Halop, but Halop also had to leave after only one season due to health concerns. This lead creators to go in a different direction, and they discovered Warfield.

8 John Larroquette Took Himself out of the Running for the Emmy’s

District attorney Dan managed to fight for his cases while also making the audience burst into laughter. Fans adored John Larroquette, the actor who portrayed Dan, so much so that he earned the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Show four years in a row.

His winning streak might have continued, but Larroquette actually asked for his name to be taken out of the running. Many actors would never think to take themselves out of consideration for an Emmy award, but Larroquette had his reasons. One of which was he did not want to be pigeon-holed into only playing a certain type of character.

7 Christine’s Storyline Changed Due to Markie Post’s Pregnancy

Sitcom writers have to get creative sometimes when an actress gets pregnant in real life. Will they hide the pregnancy behind props and baggy clothes? Or will they come up with an elaborate story such as getting inseminated to have your brother’s triplets?

When the writers for Night Court found out Markie Post, the actress who played defense attorney Christine, found out she was pregnant, they decided to take the simpler route. This is why in season 7, Christine ends up marrying Detective Tony Giuliano and starting a family with him even though the marriage didn’t last.

6 The Hookers and Pimps Were Named After Real People

When most people get their 15 seconds of fame on camera, they want to say hi to their loved ones, such as their close friends. Creators of hit sitcoms are no different. Reinhold Weege, the creator of Night Court, wanted to be able to say hello to his friends through his popular sitcom.

What is a better way to shout out your friends on television than by naming hookers and pimps after them? Many of the hookers and pimps who graced the night courtroom were named after real people as Weege’s way of saying hello to his friends on television.

5 The Series was Supposed To End After Season 8

Sitcoms are lucky to make it to their seventh season as many get canceled after only a couple. Very few sitcoms make it to eight seasons, let alone nine. There is a lot of creative work that goes into writing a series for a ninth season, especially when you had planned on ending it after the eighth.

The team behind Night Court all felt confident that the show would end after season 8, so they wrapped up the character stories best as they could. But when NBC unexpectedly renewed the sitcom for a ninth season, they had to ditch most of their storylines and spent the first few episodes of season 9 undoing all the endings they wrote in season 8.

4 Harry Anderson was a Real Magician

No one was more equipped to play wacky Judge Harry T. Stone, than comedian and magician Harry Anderson. Judge Harry Stone was not your average judge as he was often causing more shenanigans than the ones on trial with his magic tricks.

Harry Anderson was perfect for the part as he was a true magician long before he was ever an actor. He owned his own magic shop in Ashland, OR, for a while, and his magician name was “Harry the Hat.” His magic tricks got him cast for a few episodes on Cheers, which lead him to get noticed by Reinhold Weege, who cast him as the lead role of Judge Harry T. Stone.

3 Gomez Addams Made an Appearance

Most fans wouldn’t expect Night Court and The Addams Family to have anything in common, but there was an actor who appeared on both sitcoms. John Astin, who starred as Gomez Addams the father on The Addams Family series, also played a father on Night Court.

John Astin played Buddy Ryan, Judge Harry’s stepdad, who turned out to be his biological father from seasons 4 to 9. But John Astin was not only Buddy Ryan as made his first appearance on Night Court back in season 2, episode 9 “Inside Harry Stone” as a hospital patient named Kenny.

2 Intentionally Never Tackled Heavy Issues

Night Court never discussed serious topics or tried to make a political statement as its only goal was to make people laugh.  They achieved that goal for nine seasons.

Night Court was an unbelievably politically incorrect sitcom, and that’s how they liked it. Stuart Kreisman, the executive producer, told the LA Times in 1992, “We were so politically incorrect we would have had a cigarette sponsor if we came back next year.” To even further reiterate that Night Court didn’t mind being the silly sitcom with no respect from critics, John Larroquette stated, “You don’t do sitcoms for respect. You do them for laughs.“

1 Never got a Proper Ending

Everyone including the fans, the actors, and the producers, get at least a little emotional when a long-standing beloved sitcom comes to an end. But unfortunately, not every sitcom is granted their bow to the audience after their final episode.

Sadly Night Court never got a proper ending. NBC was thinking about renewing the series after its ninth season, and Warner Bros was trying to sell it elsewhere, so they didn’t want the long-running sitcom to have a definite ending in season 9. But 16 years later, Night Court finally got an ending as 30 Rock created its own Night Court finale in 2008 on the episode entitled “The One with the Cast of Night Court.”

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