Night Court

[Gaddabout]

This used to be the funniest thing I'd ever seen on TV. It's back when NBC actually knew comedy. Then the showrunners went and ruined it -- as all NBC sitcoms have been ruined -- by killing the tension between Harry and Christine and letting them hook up.

John Larroquette was probably the most underrated actor on TV in that era, and the casting was possibly the best in the industry. It even helped launch the otherwise sad careers of Yakov Smirnoff and Gilbert Gottfried. Mel Torme's recurring cameos were anxiously anticipated.

The familiar theme song with the slap bass lick was basically stolen from the Barney Miller playbook. That should be no surprise, because the show was created by Reinhold Weege, who was a Barney Miller writer before creating Night Court. Barney Miller also had a hooky bass lick to open the show.

 

[Chaplin]

This used to be the funniest thing I'd ever seen on TV. It's back when NBC actually knew comedy. Then the showrunners went and ruined it -- as all NBC sitcoms have been ruined -- by killing the tension between Harry and Christine and letting them hook up.

John Larroquette was probably the most underrated actor on TV in that era, and the casting was possibly the best in the industry. It even helped launch the otherwise sad careers of Yakov Smirnoff and Gilbert Gottfried. Mel Torme's recurring cameos were anxiously anticipated.

I would agree with that. The only show I could say was absolutely better casting-wise was probably the show that Night Court spun-off from, Cheers.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I would agree with that. The only show I could say was absolutely better casting-wise was probably the show that Night Court spun-off from, Cheers.

It's hard to separate casting from the quality of the show overall but for me I think I'd go with The Bob Newhart Show followed by Cheers, Taxi, Barney Miller and then Night Court. I'd have included WKRP in that list but I always thought the guy who played Andy (Gary Sandy) was a bit weak, the rest of the cast was excellent.

Steve

 

[Chaplin]

It's hard to separate casting from the quality of the show overall but for me I think I'd go with The Bob Newhart Show followed by Cheers, Taxi, Barney Miller and then Night Court. I'd have included WKRP in that list but I always thought the guy who played Andy (Gary Sandy) was a bit weak, the rest of the cast was excellent.

Steve

Taxi and Barney Miller are great choices. Heck, Gilligan's Island had great casting.

 

[Mulli]

I seem to recall this show died because it ran out of story lines. Just like most television shows. Even the Sopranos ran out of material.

 

[Gaddabout]

It's hard to separate casting from the quality of the show overall but for me I think I'd go with The Bob Newhart Show followed by Cheers, Taxi, Barney Miller and then Night Court. I'd have included WKRP in that list but I always thought the guy who played Andy (Gary Sandy) was a bit weak, the rest of the cast was excellent.

Regarding casting, I was thinking more of the week-to-week throwaway characters. They reached deeply into a bag of tricks for those castings, and often came away with actors were bound for bigger things.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Regarding casting, I was thinking more of the week-to-week throwaway characters. They reached deeply into a bag of tricks for those castings, and often came away with actors were bound for bigger things.

Ahh, then I'd take out most of the ones I mentioned although Barney Miller probably plays in the same league. They used a lot of familiar character actors but they also put out some fairly fresh faces that dotted the TV and movie landscape for years afterward such as Christopher Lloyd, Todd Bridges, Ray Sharkey, Charles Haid, Marla Gibbs, Charles Fleischer, Linda Lavin, Joe Regalbuto and so many more. They probably both pale in comparison to MASH in this regard though.

Steve

 

[NJCardFan]

I would agree with that. The only show I could say was absolutely better casting-wise was probably the show that Night Court spun-off from, Cheers.

Night court did not spin-off from Cheers.

 

[Chaplin]

Night court did not spin-off from Cheers.

Yes it did. Harry Anderson's character in Night Court is the same as it was in Cheers--same personality, and, heck, both characters were named Harry. It may not be a true spinoff like Frasier, but it certainly spawned from Cheers.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yes it did. Harry Anderson's character in Night Court is the same as it was in Cheers--same personality, and, heck, both characters were named Harry. It may not be a true spinoff like Frasier, but it certainly spawned from Cheers.

wha? one guy was a con-man who's sole goal in life was to screw people over and the other was a compassionate wacky judge... they were complete opposite characters. And his name was the same in both because his name is Harry. Just because he was a guest star on the show doesn't make it a spin-off.

 

[Stout]

wha? one guy was a con-man who's sole goal in life was to screw people over and the other was a compassionate wacky judge... they were complete opposite characters. And his name was the same in both because his name is Harry. Just because he was a guest star on the show doesn't make it a spin-off.

Bingo. The only reason both characters did sleight-of-hand is because the actor was actually a magician. Night Court was certainly not a spinoff of Cheers.

 

[Chaplin]

wha? one guy was a con-man who's sole goal in life was to screw people over and the other was a compassionate wacky judge... they were complete opposite characters. And his name was the same in both because his name is Harry. Just because he was a guest star on the show doesn't make it a spin-off.

Please. They weren't opposite at all. They were both jokesters! But you have a point. I just think there's more in common than you do. This will be my last contribution to this thread.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

'Night Court' creator Reinhold Weege dies at 63

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=778928

Reinhold Weege, creator of the daffy 1980s sitcom "Night Court," which ran for nine seasons on NBC and earned seven Emmy Awards and 31 nominations but never the big comedy prize, has died. He was 63.

Weege, who before "Night Court" wrote and produced for ABC's "Barney Miller" -- another lovable Manhattan-set sitcom set in the world of the law -- died Dec. 1 of natural causes in La Jolla, Calif., a family spokeswoman told The Hollywood Reporter.

"Night Court," which starred the youthful Harry Anderson as night-shift judge and Mel Torme fan Harry Stone and John Larroquette as lecherous assistant district attorney Dan Fielding, began as a midseason replacement and ran from 1984-92. It was a top 10 show in 1986-87 and 1987-88.

"Night Court" anchored an early "Must See TV Thursday comedy lineup for NBC, which opened with "The Cosby Show," followed by "Family Ties" and "Cheers."

With Weege receiving a writing credit on 105 of the comedy's 193 episodes, "Night Court" received best comedy series Emmy nominations in 1985, 1987 and 1988 -- losing out to "Cosby," "The Golden Girls" and "The Wonder Years," respectively. Weege captured his first Emmy nom in 1979 when "Barney Miller" was up for best comedy series but lost to Taxi.

Larroquette collected a then-unprecedented four consecutive Emmys for best supporting comedy actor for playing Fielding before withdrawing his name from consideration in 1989. (In an inside joke during the third season, it was revealed that his character's real first name was Reinhold, but he changed it to Dan out of embarrassment.)

 

[Dr. Jones]

"Night Court" anchored an early "Must See TV Thursday comedy lineup for NBC, which opened with "The Cosby Show," followed by "Family Ties" and "Cheers."

What an amazing series of shows. Whatalineup!