The Drifter
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2019
- Messages
- 1,156
- Real Name
- Jim
Hi everyone. I just searched, and couldn't find a discussion thread devoted to the entire Night Court series on DVD (just individual seasons), so decided to create one. Mods, I hope this is OK.
Though I missed Night Court when it first aired (primarily in the 1980's), I've been catching up with this on DVD, and last year saw the first three seasons.
Hilarious series! I laughed out loud numerous times while watching the show. The characters & situations on NC are very quirky & unusual, which makes the show somewhat unique - among what I would consider many of the more "mainstream" comedies at the time.
One of the running "jokes" throughout the whole series was that this was a court that took place at night, which was ludicrous in and of itself - i.e., I've never heard of a night shift for a courtroom - LOL.
Also like the opening theme; thought the show was obviously filmed on sets, these seem to be actual late night NYC street scenes, which kind of sets up the night-time vibe/tone for the series.
Very funny that most of the "audience" in the night court were obviously winos/bums/street-walkers, who looked like they just came off the street for a place to sit down and get out of the elements, and didn't really give a crap what went on in the courtroom one way or another - ha ha.
The late Harry Anderson as the casual, laid-back judge Harry Stone was hilarious; but, the show is really an ensemble series, and the other characters like Bull, Dan Fielding, Liz Williams, Selma Hacker (the chain smoking female bailiff in the first couple of seasons), were great as well - and, the show wouldn't have been the same without them. Fantastic casting here.
Note: Anderson was also very funny on the first two seasons of "Cheers", as Harry "The Hat" Gittes, the good-natured con-artist - LOL.
I thought it was funny how some of the characters on NC kept the first names of the actors portraying the characters, i.e. Harry Anderson as Harry Stone, Selma Diamond as Selma Hacker, etc.
I was quite disappointed that Lana Wagner (actress Karen Austin) was only in the first 10 episodes of S01, and then left for good. She was great - gorgeous, sexy (without trying to be) & very funny - especially the episode where she had a bad reaction to medication - LOL. Since she & Judge Stone had an obvious attraction it would have been nice to see the relationship progress in future seasons. But, I guess she had to leave the show early on - for some reason.
The show definitely had a lot of humor, but also had a large amount of poignant life lessons as well - without being preachy. Refreshing to see this on a sitcom.
Also liked the great guest stars on the show:
Terry Kiser as "Al Craven", an obnoxious reporter. Kiser later played the ill-fated Bernie Lomax in the hilarious & iconic comedy "Weekend at Bernie's" (1989) - LOL.
I also recognized the late Barney Martin as a wino/bum in the court's audience. Martin was one of the actors who played Jerry Seinfeld's father on that iconic '90's series.
Though I missed Night Court when it first aired (primarily in the 1980's), I've been catching up with this on DVD, and last year saw the first three seasons.
Hilarious series! I laughed out loud numerous times while watching the show. The characters & situations on NC are very quirky & unusual, which makes the show somewhat unique - among what I would consider many of the more "mainstream" comedies at the time.
One of the running "jokes" throughout the whole series was that this was a court that took place at night, which was ludicrous in and of itself - i.e., I've never heard of a night shift for a courtroom - LOL.
Also like the opening theme; thought the show was obviously filmed on sets, these seem to be actual late night NYC street scenes, which kind of sets up the night-time vibe/tone for the series.
Very funny that most of the "audience" in the night court were obviously winos/bums/street-walkers, who looked like they just came off the street for a place to sit down and get out of the elements, and didn't really give a crap what went on in the courtroom one way or another - ha ha.
The late Harry Anderson as the casual, laid-back judge Harry Stone was hilarious; but, the show is really an ensemble series, and the other characters like Bull, Dan Fielding, Liz Williams, Selma Hacker (the chain smoking female bailiff in the first couple of seasons), were great as well - and, the show wouldn't have been the same without them. Fantastic casting here.
Note: Anderson was also very funny on the first two seasons of "Cheers", as Harry "The Hat" Gittes, the good-natured con-artist - LOL.
I thought it was funny how some of the characters on NC kept the first names of the actors portraying the characters, i.e. Harry Anderson as Harry Stone, Selma Diamond as Selma Hacker, etc.
I was quite disappointed that Lana Wagner (actress Karen Austin) was only in the first 10 episodes of S01, and then left for good. She was great - gorgeous, sexy (without trying to be) & very funny - especially the episode where she had a bad reaction to medication - LOL. Since she & Judge Stone had an obvious attraction it would have been nice to see the relationship progress in future seasons. But, I guess she had to leave the show early on - for some reason.
The show definitely had a lot of humor, but also had a large amount of poignant life lessons as well - without being preachy. Refreshing to see this on a sitcom.
Also liked the great guest stars on the show:
Terry Kiser as "Al Craven", an obnoxious reporter. Kiser later played the ill-fated Bernie Lomax in the hilarious & iconic comedy "Weekend at Bernie's" (1989) - LOL.
I also recognized the late Barney Martin as a wino/bum in the court's audience. Martin was one of the actors who played Jerry Seinfeld's father on that iconic '90's series.
Last edited: