Night Court 1984-1992 ...

I always enjoyed this series, particularly from the second or third season on. The first season I found less enjoyable (mostly because I found the court clerk so annoying--thank goodness for Mac), but I chalk that up to the show not yet having hit its stride. Obviously, I liked it well enough--partly due to Selma Diamond's hilarious delivery--to continue watching it.

Of course, I've been thinking about NC a lot since Harry Anderson went to that Great Courthouse in the Sky. Anyway, as others have said, I loved John Laroquette's depiction of Dan Fielding; however--great as he was--he wasn't my absolute favorite character. It's hard to choose a favorite, but Mac, Bull, and Roz are certainly contenders. And Christine, despite that ridiculous mullet, was so...so... adorable (this is coming from another straight woman)! But without Judge Stone, there would have been no show. I'm not sure enough people appreciate(d) that.

As for favorite episodes, I particularly enjoyed those featuring the real-life Mel Tormé. Please note my use of the correct accent; this recalls one of my favorite scenes. Harry's office has been thoroughly trashed, and among the treasures destroyed was his framed, autographed photo of his idol, Mel. Trying to make it up to Harry, some of the gang get together and find a duplicate of the photo, on which they then attempt to forge the singer's signature. However, not recalling the exact spelling, they omit the accent, which Harry immediately spots (I'm doing it from memory, so please pardon any inexact quoting): "His last name is accented with an 'aigu' ["acute" = é]. The way it is here would make it 'Mel Tor-MUH." Whereupon Roz turns to Mack (?) and says (typically deadpan): "I told you 'aigu'!" Maybe that doesn't come across as funny here, but up until this very day, just thinking about it cracks me up. Of course, it helps that, within my family, whenever some question of French orthography comes up (which is more frequently than you might think), one of us will quote (in Roz's accent), "I told you 'aigu'!" Oh well, I guess you had to be there...

Two other favorite episodes--both set in the rickety and persnickety elevator--are the one involving Dan, Roz, and two sumo wrestlers, and the one in which Christine goes into labor. And how could I not mention the one in which poor Bull nearly gets electrocuted, and believes he hears the voice of G*d commanding him? I have plenty of others that I remember fondly, but they would take more time to list than I'm willing to spend typing...and probably more than you guys would be willing to spend reading.