SYNOPSIS

This courtroom sitcom revolved around Harry Stone, a boyish, blue-jean wearing judge who had been appointed by accident. His unconventional style dismayed his staff, but often produced positive results with the crazies who paraded through his nighttime courtroom.

Cast members included: Lana, the perky clerk, who was secretly in love with Harry; Selma, the toxic, chain-smoking matron; Bull, the bald, towering baliff; Dan Fielding, the sex-starved, nattily dressed Assistant D.A. who represented the state and Liz Williams, the legal-aid defense lawyer.

Night Court had a fair amount of cast turnovers with Lana being replaced by sensible Mac; Selma by Florence and then Roz; and Liz by Billie and then Christine. A number of recurring characters were seen occasionally in the carnival-like courtroom. Among them were: obnoxious newspaper reporter Al Craven, who snooped around for stories during the first season; runaway orphan Leon; maintenance man Art; Buddy Ryan, an eccentric former mental patient who turned out to be Harry's father; Margaret, an attractive reporter who Harry dated a few times; Jack, a cynical, blind newsstand operator and Lisette, a ditsy court reporter; Quon Lee, who was seen a few times each season as Mac's Asian wife and Mel Torme, a recurring guest star who was Harry's musical idol.

In 1990, sexy Christine married undercover cop Tony Guiliano and had his child while he was off on a case, but they were divorced the following year. Shaken, she fell into Harry's arms - but they decided they made better friends than lovers. Another continuing story in 1991 involved Dan's stoolie, Phil the derelict. When he died - crushed by a piano - it was revealed that he was an eccentric Wall Street millionaire who left self-centered Dan in charge of his charitable "Phil Foundation," worth 10 million dollars! It proved to be nothing but trouble - Phil's swindling twin brother Will showed up, stole everything and almost landed Dan in prison.

The final episode found everyone going their separate ways. Christine was elected to Congress in a very close election; Dan saw the error of his sleazy ways and resigned to pursue his one true love - Christine; Mac dropped out of law school and became a filmmaker and Bull departed with midget aliens from the planet Jupiter. As for Harry, he received a string of offers - superiour court judge, univeristy professor, talk-show host, a top law firm, Nike spokesman, road manager on a Mel Torme tour! In the end, he elected to remain on the bench at Night Court.