Night Court was one of a series of great sitcoms that aired during NBC's dominance in the late 80's. The ongoing careers and lives of a judge, his lawyers, and other officials was probably the best sitcom in the line-up along with The Golden Girls.
Unlike today's sitcoms where everyone portrays Woody Allen and has "sex on the brain", only one man, ONE MAN, in the cast was thinking non-stop about sexing. John Laroquette, as Dan Fielding; Assistant DA of New York, was brilliant in portraying the sleazy, sexually-addicted hunk. He won 4 Emmys for his portrayal (more then anyone else currently in T.V. comedy will ever hope to win). There were episodes where he alone made the show a gas. But you also have Harry Anderson's Judge Harold T. Stone; who's flair for magic and Mel Torme made him a much-loved star and 6'9 bailiff Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon helped make a name for Richard Moll as he played the simple-minded Forrest Gump-type lug that people would want to know. The other cast members were superb as well, especially as soon as they brought in Markie Post as the permanent Public Defender and deadpan comic Marsha Warfield as Bailiff Roz Russell in 1986. The cast stayed together until 1992 and it gelled beautifully.
With great stories and lots of hilarity, the show ruled, and although it was adult in nature because of Larroquette's character, it did it in a classy way. You couldn't hate Dan, he just had charm and flair, and wasn't something from "Friends". I believe this show is still running on A&E so if you've never seen this classic sit-com, give it a try and see what a sit-com is supposed to be like.
