Night Court: We're wild about Harry

The world lost some of its magic with the passing of Harry Anderson. He looms large in the lives of the Sestras. When it comes to the original incarnation of "Must-See TV," the well both of us go back to time and again isn't The Cosby Show or Family Ties or Cheers. It's Night Court. And Harry Anderson is smack dab in the middle of that universe as the magical, big-hearted, Mel Tormé-loving magistrate Harry T. Stone. We're both Sestra Pros when it comes to that show, and we'd like to pay tribute to Anderson by scatting our way through our 20 favorite Harry-centric episodes.

All You Need is Love (Season 1, Episode 1): Harry Anderson’s appearances on Cheers made enough of an impression that NBC trusted him (and Night Court creator Reinhold Weege) with a spot in that coveted "Must-See TV" lineup. (Thank you, Brandon Tartikoff!) I’ll be the first to admit the first few episodes felt a little awkward. The blue jeans-and-denim-jacket look never worked on Harry and I definitely preferred the vintage suits and hats and neckties that became Harry Stone staples. Harry’s love for Mel Tormé was introduced in the premiere episode, much meaty material was generated from that connection and it never felt forced. On Harry T. Stone’s first night on the bench, he really came across as an immature, unprofessional, unstable judge. After all, he was deciding the fates of defendants before him with the flip of a coin! What we didn't know until the end of the episode was that he wasn’t relying on luck, he made each verdict utilizing a double-headed coin. Charming and disarming, that was Harry Stone. (~Leah)

Harry on Trial (Season 2, Episode 7): There were a few senior judges who never liked Harry’s unorthodox way of handling his courtroom. Judge Willard (Jason Bernard) was a particular thorn in Judge Stone’s side who refused to see Harry’s point of view that “a little levity never hurt.” (Wise words: I’ve used that line numerous times in my own career.) Judge Willard complained to the Judicial Review Board and Harry had to defend himself against accusations of unprofessional behavior. We got to see his court officers rally around him to try and protect his judgeship, although despite their good intentions, they almost sealed his fate. We also learned Harry goes above and beyond for defendants who need his help. Lucky for him judicial review board Judge Martin Landis – played with unlimited whimsy by Ray Walston – was on the same page as Harry and a happy ending was had by all … except Judge Willard and his dickie. (~L)

Nuts About Harry (Season 2, Episode 14): Harry Stone was the kind of guy who ordered sea monkeys out of comic books. He was described in this episode as an '80s kind of guy. That came in handy when four lovable psychiatric patients (James Cromwell and his talking hand, taller-than-Bull Kevin Peter Hall, silent Kate Zentall and the other one, Charles Bouvier) appeared before him in court. In a nutshell, the judge served as the straight man for rib ticklers like John Larroquette's "Can you say Dan?" exchange with Hall, but Harry really hit his stride when making an impassioned speech about P.T. Barnum's great egress to the gun-toting mute Ann. Anderson delivered his first jokes of the episode in a storage closet, but what really made it special was how he got through to her by picking up on her non-verbal cues. He got justice for all the loonies before we all got a reminder that we no longer hear "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" enough anymore. (~Paige)

Halloween, Too (Season 3, Episode 5): I suppose we were meant to consider Lana Wagner (Karen Austin), Billie Young (Ellen Foley) and Christine Sullivan (Markie Post) to be Harry's main love interests until Season 8, so the women guest stars spending time with the magistrate never posed much of a threat. Free-spirited Kimberley Daniels (Mary-Margaret Humes) was a horse of a different color, though. From the minute she ran into Harry sorting plastic snakes for a party in his office, Kimberley seemed like she possibly could be his soulmate, matching him quip for quip with the same wacky sense of humor that usually made his bailiffs roll their eyes. Well, at least she was until she was brought in front of him with Edna Sneer (Anne Ramsey in her trademark sandpaper style) for lewd behavior in Central Park. That might have garnered Kimberley a pass if she hadn't been crafting spells as a witch at the time. Harry wound up with a trick instead of the treat. (~P)

Wheels of Justice (Season 3, Episodes 9-10): It was only a matter of time before Harry would get a case that made him rethink his career in the first place. And we couldn't really blame the judge for getting upset when he had to rule in favor of a nasty landlord over a down-on-their-luck mother and son (Susan Ruttan and Harold P. Pruett). Having a teenage boy rail at him in court and call him "Pig" can really bring a guy down. Bumpkins Bob and June Wheeler (Brent Spiner and Annie O'Donnell with perfect delivery in their first appearance on the show) and their little pig-tailed daughter (Keri Houlihan) made things worse. But what made it all better was Dan Fielding's unexpected and strident speech to the former judge ... and Harry's hands-off payback when he rebounded enough to take the assistant DA's advice and get back to work and the public who needed him. (~P)

Leon, We Hardly Knew Ye (Season 3, Episode 16): Since the writers wouldn’t give Harry a steady girlfriend -- and don’t read into that too much, they didn’t give him a steady boyfriend either -- Stone decided to become a parent instead. He became a foster father to Leon, the shoe-shining orphan played by Bumper Robinson. Harry got to play Daddy for three episodes until a social worker arranged for Leon to be adopted by a professional but not-so-cool couple (“A bat and a puck??”) Leon went on to do what any self-suspecting at-risk youth probably would do in that type of situation: He put himself first and bolted, breaking Harry’s heart in the process. We really saw that Anderson could deliver the goods in a more dramatic way between quips. (~L)

Could This Be Magic? (Season 3, Episode 18): Harry always got excited when he saw a familiar face or famous person in his courtroom. Beyond running across his beloved Mel, remember his reaction to old friend Hacksaw (Andrew Bloch) in the pilot or the the international beauty contestants in the first season? So when his childhood hero, magician Philip Falcone (Carl Ballantine) wound up a defendant, Harry just had to help. He invited Philip to stay with him in his apartment. Falcone took advantage and utterly cleaned out Harry. I don’t know if the writers intended to use residual anger because this episode aired soon after Leon abandoned Harry. But you could count on one hand the times when Stone truly got pissed at someone. His ire was very apparent after Falcone gets arrested and hauled back into court, adding insult to injury by wearing one of Harry’s trademark suits (“It’s my fault ... for believing in you.”) I would curl up in the fetal position if he said that to me with so much contempt. Of course, Falcone saw the error of his ways and tried to make amends because Harry had that kind of positive effect on the people around him. (~L)

Hurricane (Season 3, Episodes 21-22): When Hurricane Mel threatened the New York metropolitan area, Stone was pretty excited. After all, he considered the storm to be named after his idol. But when Mel caused four women from a Lamaze class to go into labor, things got pretty hairy for Harry. It was all hands on deck as Dan dickered with an angry single mom (Pam Grier), Bull and Flo (Richard Moll and Florence Halop) tried to deal with an unnerved father (Dick Butkus) and Christine and the returned Wheelers kept pace with a human vending machine popping out triplets (Marcia Del Mar). Harry and Mac (Charles Robinson) got the worst of it, yuppies Babs and Chad (Rebecca York and James Widdoes). But after uniting the Ulins in matrimony by delivering their child while simultaneously signing the marriage certificate with a pen in his mouth as "Howie Stallone," Anderson wrapped up the two-parter in style, talking to God about the amazing miracles that happened on his watch. (~P)

The Next Voice You Hear (Season 4, Episode 1): Night Court suffered some horrible losses off screen that became integral parts of character development. Selma Diamond passed away after two years on the show and her replacement Halop died following her season. They were addressed perfectly by show creator Weege and Anderson in the first episode of the fourth season. After receiving a long-lost letter from his absent mother and finding out she too had passed away, Stone explained his non-reaction with poignant words about how he had lost the two bailiffs -- women who had been there for him and were more like family than just co-workers. How could he miss a mother he never knew the way he knew them? He learned to when stepfather Buddy Ryan (affable John Astin) told Harry about his mom, but what really got to me was the seamless way in which the show addressed losses of characters we loved almost as much as Stone did. (~P)

Dan's Operation (Season 4, Episodes 5-6): Let's not kid ourselves, the greatest love story on Night Court was between Harry and Dan (Come on, Leah already said not that way!) The characters were so diametrically opposed that they never got boring over the nine-season run and Anderson and Larroquette were so perfectly acclimated to their roles and in sync with one another that their reactions to each another livened up even the most mundane scenes. Credit the show for not turning the womanizing Fielding into a saint overnight, just bit by bit and season by season, he became a tad less offensive. When Dan needed an operation for his ulcer, it took Harry the bulk of a couple episodes to discover why he was so scared of the procedure. The duo followed the first parter's verbal tussle with the second parter's wordless reconciliation. Stone knew under all Fielding's crap was a decent human, and since he believed it, the rest of us could too. (~P)

Her Honor (Season 4, Episodes 21-22/Season 5, Episodes 1-2): The real gem of this four-parter (?!?) was the fifth-season opener. Stone lost his judgeship at the same time Christine was appointed to the bench. It's a plot twist you probably would expect. The way Harry reacted is what made Night Court one of a kind. After Anderson masterfully rode jet-powered skates through the cafeteria to so much audience applause Spiner's Bob Wheeler had to restart his next line -- "Don't worry, he's all right, the Girl Scouts broke his fall" -- Harry planned a big stunt. Sky rockets, a radar tracking system, rendered suet, AstroTurf, yak hair and three cases of ladies' dress shields get delivered to his apartment. Eventually Stone emerged in some kind of silver spandex superhero suit carrying a sack bigger than Santa's. The conclusion found Harry talking an inventor (Kenneth Tigar) out of suicide only to have the guy steal his stunt and hang glide to the Statue of Liberty, but what I still want to know was what the suet and dress shields were meant to be used for. (~P) 

Safe (Season 5, Episode 5): Five-plus seasons of Harry’s death-defying stunts and he almost got done in by Harry Houdini’s safe on his favorite holiday, Halloween. I'm not sure what the impetus was for series writer Tom Reeder deciding to shove Harry Anderson in a box for almost an entire episode and have the oxygen-deprived judge engage in a conversation with Jiminy Cricket "Let your conscience be your guide" Harry, but it worked. “Harry up and get me out of here!” he quipped early on in his stay. The kicker was that none of the show's regulars realized he was in danger -- except Art (Mike Finneran), who didn't count -- they just thought it was another one of Stone's pranks, obviously shades of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." But it did curb Harry’s practical jokes, at least for a few weeks. ~L

Constitution (Season 5, Episodes 9-10): This was definitely an ensemble episode. In fact, the strongest scene didn't even involve Harry. But by this point in the series, Stone had perfected his role as leader of the chaos. There were more chaos than usual when diabetic Roz Russel (Marsha Warfield) quit her job, suffered from an insulin overdose and disappeared in the courthouse while the “founding fathers” served as defendants in a court case and an expensive special celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Constitution spiraled out of control. In the latter case, a TV director employed idiot dancers ("I get to carry the Constipitution!" ) and enabled a man who stole an original draft of the historic document threaten to burn it. Harry literally ran all over the courthouse – with the elevators out of service, of course, and "Skinny Butt" out of shape --  but still kept his wits enough to address everyone’s concerns and give Dan decent fashion advice. ~L

Heart of Stone (Season 5, Episode 17): Harry started the episode by forcing Dan, Christine, Mac, Bull and Roz to become members of "The Bowling Stones" and showing off a ball that looked like a bloodshot eyeball on crack. But when Leslie (Jude Mussetter) showed up, he dumped his teammates in favor of getting it on with his college girlfriend back in his chambers. Harry covered Jean Harlow's eyes with a Post-It and gave a thumbs-up to his favorite picture of Mel Tormé before revealing what he wore ... or didn't wear ... under his robe. Problem was that Dan had a similar idea for nookie. To make a long story short, Stone and Fielding wound up standing on the ledge outside his office. It's another of those dynamic and hysterical episodes in which Anderson and Larroquette played off each other to perfection. And rest assured, even in just a codpiece Harry could make the peace between a wife (she was married??) and her husband. ~P

Top Judge (Season 5, Episode 20): Harry started the episode by accidentally killing a senior judge, a double whammy because this judge understood Harry’s sense of humor, so he lost an ally too. To make matters worse, young judge Jimmy Cleaver (Gary Kroeger) -- even his name was annoying -- tried to steal Harry’s unofficial prankster title while he was in mourning. We learned Stone became a judge in the first episode because he was the only one home on a Sunday to take the call on the mayor's last day in office. But what mayor intentionally made the even-younger Cleaver a judge? I’ll admit I was suckered when Jimmy got the better of Stone in court -- how did he manage to make the whole bench disintegrate? – and Harry’s concession speech to Christine had me thinking he was OK with losing gracefully. But I should have had more faith in series writer Dennis Koenig. The Harry we know and love came through and easily put Judge Cleaver back in his place. And we never had to see Jimmy Cleaver again. ~L

Strange Bedfellows (Season 6, Episode 17): This one's primarily Dan Fielding's story, but it also featured the biggest and best of Mel Tormé's annual appearances. While Dan partook in a two-person "debate" in a hotel room with his opponent for political office, Harry tried to make amends to Mel after infecting him with a particularly nasty strain of the flu -- "the germs mated inside of me," Tormé moaned. Stone tried everything to make his hero comfortable, but the "Velvet Fog" wasn't having any of it. Nevertheless, we knew by now how persuasive Harry could be. He ended up posing for an accidental paparazzi photo with Tormé that every diehard fan could only dream of taking with his/her idol, although Harry probably wasn't quite as happy about the fact that the jazz singer threatened to hurt the judge with his own armadillo. I always think about what great fun this one must have been to film. ~P

From Snoop to Nuts (Season 6, Episodes 18-19): The sixth season was my favorite. The characters worked so well together and the writers truly hit the right notes for every one of them. To paraphrase Goldilocks and the Three Bears, this season felt “just right.” I’ve definitely quoted more episodes from this season than any other. Anderson double-dipped on this arc, he wrote and starred in the eps in which poor Stone suffered personal and professional crises of faith. I’ve always been curious to know whether the twist that Buddy was Harry’s real father was his idea or if the producers told him to incorporate it into the script. It took a bit of tap dancing to explain how that was possible, but I suspended my disbelief since Astin was so darn entertaining. When Buddy got serious, you couldn't help but listen to him. And drunk/hungover Christine was quite amusing, even if she almost got Harry killed (“Oh, I’ll bet Eddie gave her a Long Island iced tea.”) ~L

A Closer Look (Season 7, Episode 23): Anderson successfully completed the show trifecta -- acting, writing, directing -- when he took the reins for a whimsical look at the proceedings of the night court through the lens of a tabloid news program. Viewing the same sets we've been watching for seven years from different angles alone makes the episode feel completely fresh. M*A*S*H featured several episodes of journalist interviews with members of the cast as their characters to great effect and eventually our X-Files rewatch will get us to a successful Cops integration, but it truly takes a deft touch from all involved. This one does a great job of melding the idiosyncrasies of the characters with a unique look at the process of conducting their court after dark. As the television reporter Ed Druthers (Bob Sarlatte) perfectly summed up, Stone handled 134 arraignments, 15 trials, four jail sentences and sawed two defendants in half within the confines of this show. ~P

Alone Again, Naturally (Season 8, Episode 17): It only took eight seasons, but the writers finally gave Harry a girlfriend who lasted more than one episode. Unfortunately, Margaret Turner was played by Mary Cadorette, best known for starring with John Ritter in the extremely disappointing Three’s Company spinoff, Three’s a Crowd. Although she was introduced in a His Girl Friday-like manner that surely would have appealed to retro-loving Harry, Margaret didn't seem particularly likable and the writers really didn’t give her much of a chance to win over audiences with only four episodes. But, like in real life, when your friends are with someone they love you just want them to be happy. So I couldn't help but feel badly for Harry when he was about to propose marriage to Margaret and ended up losing her forever to the Witness Protection Program. I’ll never listen to Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston’s "It Takes Two" the same way again. ~L

Opportunity Knock Knocks (Season 9: Episodes 20-21): Even though "The 1992 Boat Show" aired out of order after this one, this was the series finale. Christine was elected to office and Dan decided to follow her to Washington, D.C. Even Harry was looking at potential career choices, one of which involved touring with Mel! But during his last case with Christine and Dan, Harry met two elderly musicians whose songs provided him with rare, touching memories of his mother and childhood. The young and inexperienced Judge Stone who once yelled “Hacksaw?!” across a crowded courtroom had been replaced with the older and wiser Judge Stone who presided with respectful awe over the feuding defendants before him. For this last case, Harry worked his magic and the partnership was saved. And in turn, Stone realized the magic in his own life was in night court. ~L

We kind of wish we could have stayed in Night Court too, but thankfully we have the nine seasons to look back at and laugh and cry over. Watching Harry Stone talk about death right now hits a little too close to home, but listening to the words he was saying with all the emotion he put into them with does help. Thanks for the chuckles, Harry, this way to the "great egress."