Night Court was the black sheep of NBC’s sitcom dynasty

[TMC]

http://www.avclub.com/article/night-...dynasty-255957

Night Court took the long road to primetime. Created by Barney Miller veteran Reinhold Weege, the series’ eccentric courthouse denizens were part of a development slate at NBC that included a movie star’s ghost, a politically inclined orangutan, and a trio of roommates whose living situation was a blatant inverse of Three’s Company. Yet it was Night Court that was delayed until midseason, based largely on the network’s concerns about star Harry Anderson, a comedian and magician starring in his first television series. By the time Anderson took the bench as Judge Harry T. Stone—a green magistrate assigned to the wee, small hours of criminal court on a technicality—the Peacock’s other freshman comedies had flamed out. Forecasts weren’t positive. TV legend James Burrows, who directed Night Court’s pilot, predicted:

Burrows was right. Night Court’s legal hijinks took time to catch on, but the show’s fortunes were vastly improved when it joined a Thursday-night lineup that had a touch of the familiar, and just a little bit of high-concept. All four comedies in the self-proclaimed “best night of television on television” were good—and sometimes great. Leading the way was a vehicle for a familiar comedian starring in his first primetime series since 1972. The Cosby Show’s legacy is now tainted by the widespread allegations of sexual assault against Bill Cosby, but when it debuted in the fall of 1984, it saved both a network and a genre.

At the time, NBC was still recovering from a disastrous 1970s, a decade marked by sagging ratings, diminished ad revenues, dissatisfied local affiliates, and the $12 million punchline of Supertrain. The sitcom format was having a similarly rough go of it in the ’80s, as the sophistication and social conscious of the previous decade’s live-before-a-studio-audience fare either wore thin on viewers, mutated into hapless very-special-episode dreck, or flew under the radar. Night Court premiered in January 1984; at the end of that 1983-84 TV season, the Nielsen top 10 contained only one sitcom (CBS’ Kate & Allie at No. 8) and only one show on NBC (No. 4, The A-Team). “Situation comedy is not dead,” NBC President of Entertainment Brandon Tartikoff told the press ahead of the 1984-85 broadcast season. “It just has to be done better.”

Fortunately for the network, The Cosby Show was not the type of sitcom that needed time to get started. It raced to top of the Nielsen rankings in its very first broadcast, and pulled the rest of the Thursday-night comedies with it. All four—Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers, and Night Court—ended the 1984-85 broadcast season in the top 20. The following year, they came in (respectively) 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 11th. At the end of the 1986-87 season, NBC comedies made up four of Nielsen’s five top shows and ran the table at the Primetime Emmys, winning the prizes in every major category and comprising the entire roster of nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series. Night Court fell short of the ratings top 5—its series high 23.2 rating was good enough for a 7th-place finish that year—but it got one of those Outstanding Comedy Series nods, and John Larroquette took home the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series, the third of a then-record four consecutive wins for his performance as caddish prosecutor Dan Fielding. NBC, as Tartikoff hoped, was doing the sitcom better.

[MA]

Interesting read.

[EccentricGenius]

Wonderful article! Thanks for sharing, TMC!

[Phil125]

I never watched it when it was on. It was shown in sydication at 5:30pm on a local channel right before the news in the late 80's and early 90's. I'd watch it everyday before dinner.

[icecream]

The first 7 seasons of Night Court are excellent. For NBC's must see 80s comedy lineup I would go
1. Family Ties
2. Night Court
3. Cheers
4. The Cosby Show

Seasons 8 and 9 were a lot weaker. Lisette was possibly the most irritating character in sitcom history. And they should never have Christine get a rushed marriage just for it to fall apart right away.

[TMC]

An answer that I received when I posted this question/thread on Quora:

It is, however, a very dated series which wouldn’t air well in a modern syndication package.

Why?

• Sexual harassment is played for laughs a little too frequently - Both Judge Harry Stone and Dan Fielding would be quietly asked to resign due to their propensity to either hit on co-workers or to date subordinates.
  
  Harry Anderson was funnier then, than he would be viewed as being now - While he’s an excellent stage magician and he had a great run in the 1970s and 1980s, his humor is dated and his personality on the series wouldn’t appeal to 21st century viewers.
  
  Its writing is pretty lazy - You can watch any episode of Night Court and tell how it’s going to end roughly 5–7 minutes in at the LATEST. It followed a simple formula far too often and its writing became trite and predictable as a result.
  
  Markie Post was really weak in the series - While she’s a good actress and she was giving 100% in the role, she just doesn’t “work.” Either one of her predecessors could have done well; however, they didn’t make the cut and viewers were “stuck” with Ms. Post.
  
  They didn’t give the funniest performers the best lines - The bailiffs were the funniest characters in the series (the women, as Richard Moll’s “Bull” quickly becomes tiring) the series didn’t do much with them While that may have been due to the premature deaths of Florence Halop and Selma Diamond (the two original bailiffs) Marsha Warfield stayed with the program for its entire and she was an experienced standup comedian. The show was written as a showcase for Harry Anderson, but later devolved into the John Laroquette/Richard Moll Show.

While Night Court an extended run of Nick at Nite and later TVLand, it’s so dated, so unfunny and so offensive (the sexual harassment part) that it really wouldn’t make it if was aired in today’s primetime market.

[Latka Gravas]

Thanks for the link - I had read this article a while back. Night Court was definitely unusual when compared to the other sitcoms that were out in the '80's. It was somewhat twisted, quite risque, and definitely had bizarre, weird/surrealistic elements that were definitely not seen in other sitcoms of the era. It was almost the type of show you would have seen on early original cable programming in the mid/late '90's, so in a way it was somewhat before it's time.

Though some may have felt the finale of NC (in S09) to have been over the top, I felt it just went along with the overall twisted & surreal nature of the series - i.e., Bull getting "kidnapped" by aliens, Mac wanting to become a "arty" film-maker, and Dan Fielding quitting the job & devoting his time to going after Christine - was just par for the course with the show - ha ha.

[Heenan Fan]

Originally Posted by TMC

An answer that I received when I posted this question/thread on Quora:

• Sexual harassment is played for laughs a little too frequently - Both Judge Harry Stone and Dan Fielding would be quietly asked to resign due to their propensity to either hit on co-workers or to date subordinates.
  
  Harry Anderson was funnier then, than he would be viewed as being now - While he’s an excellent stage magician and he had a great run in the 1970s and 1980s, his humor is dated and his personality on the series wouldn’t appeal to 21st century viewers.
  
  Its writing is pretty lazy - You can watch any episode of Night Court and tell how it’s going to end roughly 5–7 minutes in at the LATEST. It followed a simple formula far too often and its writing became trite and predictable as a result.
  
  Markie Post was really weak in the series - While she’s a good actress and she was giving 100% in the role, she just doesn’t “work.” Either one of her predecessors could have done well; however, they didn’t make the cut and viewers were “stuck” with Ms. Post.
  
  They didn’t give the funniest performers the best lines - The bailiffs were the funniest characters in the series (the women, as Richard Moll’s “Bull” quickly becomes tiring) the series didn’t do much with them While that may have been due to the premature deaths of Florence Halop and Selma Diamond (the two original bailiffs) Marsha Warfield stayed with the program for its entire and she was an experienced standup comedian. The show was written as a showcase for Harry Anderson, but later devolved into the John Laroquette/Richard Moll Show.

I disagree with all those examples. I think the show still holds up to most people who are long-term fans.

[Latka Gravas]

I also disagree that NC wasn't funny. It was a hilarious, twisted series.