In light of the passing of this show's creator, Reinhold Weege, yesterday:

Reinhold Weege, Creator of ‘Night Court,’ Dies at Age 63

by Reuters | December 7, 2012 at 9:51 PM | Celebrity Deaths

"Night Court"

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Reinhold Weege, the creator of the hit NBC sitcom “Night Court,” has died, a spokeswoman for the family told TheWrap. He was 63 years old.

He also wrote for other notable television shows, including “Barney Miller” and “M*A*S*H.”

However, it was “Night Court,” a show that poked gentle fun at bureaucratic absurdity, that would become his signature work. The series centered on a young judge (Harry Anderson) saddled with handling the bottom of the barrel cases that come into Manhattan’s night court and featured a breakout performance by John Larroquette as a skirt-chasing lawyer.

The show started out tackling serious legal issues, but over the course of its nine seasons, slowly expunged commentary in favor of broad humor.

Weege might never have entered show business had he not been fired from a job in journalism. In a 1994 piece in the Chicago Tribune, he wrote that he was working as a reporter and editor of a tiny suburban paper when he reported on a secret meeting, between the town and the Pritzker hotel chain about a proposal to build a monorail, hotels and a 60-story office building.

After his paper was less than thrilled with the piece he copyrighted it and had it picked up by a larger paper — the result was he got canned.

“Shortly after that, I sold our couch, the only asset my wife and I had, got in the car and headed toward Hollywood,” Weege wrote.

The rest is history.

Weege is survived by his ex-wife Shelley, two daughters and a granddaughter.

as well as my not seeing a thread on this show on here, I figured that I'd create one. Not only was it one of my favorite shows to watch as a kid, it had one of the best theme songs of all time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjiWblC_iG8

Anyone else a fan of this show?

Edited December 8, 201212 yr by VirginiaHamilton

You taking me back VH! I used to stay up and watch this and my god my brother and I loved Bull and loved to sing his name during the theme... sad to hear about the creator passing... R.I.P.

Edited December 8, 201212 yr by London

I really don't remember "Night Court" tackling "serious legal issues." I do remember, though, the humor being way more droll with Reinhold Weege as showrunner. Once he left, the show did become broader and sillier to the point where, at the end, it was just painful to watch.

RIP Mr. Weege.

One of the best comedies ever made. Sorry to hear of his passing.

https://www.youtube....h?v=jrLvtoKZfxY

Edited December 8, 201212 yr by reallyhateskateonlost

I was/am a huge Night Court fan.

I've always loved to hate Dan Feilding.

BTW: Reinhold Weege had the pleasure of having one of the coolest names ever.

Edited December 9, 201212 yr by weareclouds

I had such a crush on John Laroquette back in the day. Dan is my fav NC character

BTW: Reinhold Weege had the pleasure of having one of the coolest names ever.

Reinhold didn't feel the same way.

I loved Night Court. I thought it was the funniest show with wacky court cases. My favorite was Bull, the bailiff.

BTW: Reinhold Weege had the pleasure of having one of the coolest names ever.

My father loved Reinhold's name too. He used to get a big kick out of seeing it and then saying it at the end of the episodes.

I too was/am a very big Night Court fan. Sorry to hear about him and that the show isn't in reruns when other shows that shouldn't be are running like nine times a day. The only season i didn't like was the "Billie" second season. I liked the first and then the later ones with Christine.

I also agree that the eariler episodes did deal with more realistic things and later it on it became more of a slapstick type show. If you rewatch the first season, you can tell it had more serious cases. but it's all great television.

I remember being at my brother's high school football games and the marching band playing the Night Court theme. This is a show I watched every week but I've lost most of the specific memories beyond the great cast.

I remember Bull's Bull puppet and him always saying, "Okey dokey!"

The three female bailiffs and the passings of the first two.

Mel Torme!

The three female bailiffs and the passings of the first two.

Yea i think they called it the Night Court curse because first Selma died (my favorite), and then Florence died at the end of her only season on the show. But i liked Roz too.

It was a great show because it started on Thursday Nights on NBC. with 500 channels and DVR's, younger people don't realize that people actually stayed home and planed their night around NBC's Thursdays for many years. from Hill Street Blues and Cosby Show to Friends and Will & Grace. "Must See TV"

Although i also watched it when it moved to Wednesdays