Did You Know?
Season 8 was to be the last. Harry and Christine were to marry, Dan becoming a priest, among other big cast shake-ups. At the last minute NBC renewed the show one more season, and the Harry/Christine romance never came to fruition, the Dan character going after Christine in the series finale instead.
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The cast was offered more money to return for a 10th season, but the show would be put on a syndicated station as opposed to NBC. The cast declined.
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After the taping of the final episode on a Friday, the cast were sent telegrams to have their dressing rooms vacated by the following Monday or their belongings would be thrown away.
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'Night Court (1984)' ran for nine seasons, beginning on January 4th, 1984, ending on May 31st, 1992. 193 episodes.
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Richard Moll had shaved for a film that he was working on a film called Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn. When he auditioned for the part of Bull Shannon, the producers liked the look so much, they requested he keep the look.
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Harry was 34 when he was appointed to the bench. He was appointed because he was the only candidate on the list to have answered their phone on the Mayor's last Sunday in office. He was the last name on the list. As he says, he got to be a judge, "because I was home."
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'Night Court (1984)' became part of NBC's semi-legendary "Must See Thursday" which opened with 'The Cosby Show (1983)', followed by 'Family Ties (1984)' (and later 'A Different World (1988)') then 'Cheers (1984)' and then "Night Court".
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Neither the music nor the exterior shots in the opening credits ever changed during the entire series run.
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Bull was originally written as a towering intimidating hulk with a superior intellect. But as the character developed he grew into a dim but cuddly soul whose intellect was limited to useless trivia.
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Bull had his own puppet. It was introduced in the fourth season premiere "The Next Voice You Hear...". It went on the market and was sold through retail catalogs.
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Show featured over five cast changes within the first year. Six female leads were featured before Markie Post was settled on. Post was the producers original choice in season 2 but could not get out of her The Fall Guy contract. Two court clerks were featured, first Karen Austin, then Charles Robinson. Three bailiff changes were Selma Diamond, who died after the show's second season, Florence Halop, who died the following year, then Marsha Warfield who remained until the show's finish. The only cast members to remain from the pilot until the finale were Harry Anderson, John Larroquette, and Richard Moll.
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There's a scene where John Larroquette's character, Dan Fielding, is trapped in a motel room with a psychotic woman who acts out movie roles. While watching TV an announcer says, "We'll return to 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'..." to which Larroquette says, "Seen that already." Larroquette was the voice of the Narrator in both The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
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Before Harry Anderson was ever cast, the character of the judge was written as a guy named Harry, who loved magic, and worshipped Mel Tormé.
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It is mentioned several times that Dan's real first name is Reinhold - a name which everyone else finds very unappealing. This is a reference to the show's creator, Reinhold Weege. A possible continuity issue arose with the character of Dan's mother, who always referred to her son as "Danny". Whether this meant Dan actually WAS his name, or that she was simply calling him by his preferred name, was unclear.
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Robert Klein was offered the role of Harry Stone but the salary negotiations fell through.
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According to series creator Reinhold Weege on the Season 1 DVD Commentary, Harry Stone's appointment to the bench is based loosely on a true incident in Los Angeles. According to Weege, The mayor, in an effort to hurt his replacement (a bitter political rival), filled up the last remaining judicial posts with under-qualified candidates. Harry Stone is appointed to the bench despite having barely enough experience in practicing law.
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According to series creator Reinhold Weege on the Season 1 DVD Commentary, when it is mentioned in the first episode that Harry Stone is a Mel Tormé fan, friends and relatives of the famed jazz/pop singer called him to tell Torme about the reference. Mel Torme was so flattered by the reference that when the series later contacted him about appearing on the show, he was more that happy to participate. Torme has also stated that largely due to the Night Court references, he noticed that his audience at concerts started to get younger and younger and that his newfound resurgence was because of the show.
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According to series creator Reinhold Weege on the Season 1 DVD Commentary, many of the hookers and pimps are named after his friends. He comments that the references are his way of saying "hello" to these people.
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After the elderly Selma Diamond passed away following the completion of the second season, she was replaced by the equally elderly Florence Halop due largely to the fact that she had comedy timing and mannerisms similar to Selma. However, when Florence passed away after completing just one season (Season Three), it was decided by the producers to hire a younger actress for the role and Marsha Warfield was hired as Roz.
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After John Larroquette won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series four years in a row, he asked that his name be taken out of consideration. He was also offered a spin-off series based around the character of Dan Fielding, but he turned it down.
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