Night Court was one of the top sitcoms of the 1980s and early 90s, running for nine seasons on NBC. It focused on the courtroom of Judge Harry T. Stone and the lunatics that were brought into it as well as the ones who worked in it.
But after nine years on the air, a lot of characters and plots popped up, some of which were never resolved before the untimely cancellation of the series after season nine.
10 The Wheelers
A down on their luck family, the Wheelers would come into Judge Stone’s courtroom with pathetic stories of their horrific lives. These stories delighted Dan while depressing everyone else in the court. Bob and June were mainstays of the show for a couple of seasons but faded away when Brent Spiner, who played Bob, moved on to Star Trek: The Next Generation. There was never any real resolution to their arc, which would have been a nice touch in season ten.
9 District Attorney Vincent Daniels
One of Dan’s few goals not related to sex was to become District Attorney. Unfortunately, he lost the position to Vincent Daniels, someone with far superior education, experience, and skills.
The two men butted head on a few occasions in seasons three and five but Daniels disappeared after that. He was a key side character that played a big role in Dan’s life but pretty much evaporated.
8 Mac Leaves To Become A Filmmaker
The end of the series featured the usual moments of characters moving on to do other things. Except the final episodes of season nine were not initially planned to be series finales. They left some things up in the air, like Mac’s burgeoning filmmaking career. Whether or not it worked out has been left entirely to fan speculation, as well as what would have happened to Mac if season ten went down.
7 The Phil Foundation
Phil Sanders was Dan’s homeless lackey, a guy who did all the dirty work Dan was not willing to do, and that is saying a lot. Phil passed away, which devastated Dan until he found out that Phil was actually loaded. Unfortunately for Dan, all the money was left to be used in a foundation to help people.
The last time fans saw the Phil Foundation was when Phil’s evil twin brother Will repented and returned to help Dan. Still, the ultimate fate of the foundation Dan was supposed to be involved in was never revealed.
6 Sheila
Speaking of things Dan was involved in, he was continuously tormented by one of the few people in New York more sexually aggressive than him. Sheila tempted Dan for years as the pinnacle of women he sought for his personal conquests. But like many side characters she disappeared with no substantial resolution to her character. Again, this was another character who hopefully would have given fans one last look in season ten.
5 Dan Gets Married…Maybe
The last season of Night Court featured Dan engaged, which came as a shock to his friends and co-workers as well as anyone watching the show at home. Dan never seemed like the marrying type. But he didn’t follow through in the end, in part due to his feelings for Christine Sullivan.
Watching the remains of that engagement play out in season ten could have been an interesting angle. Perhaps he went through with it in the end.
4 Leon
One of the most prominent figures in Harry’s life in the early seasons was Leon, an orphan who worked in the courthouse as a shoeshine boy. He and Harry became very close, even to the point that Leon was Harry’s temporary foster son. Leon was eventually adopted but ran away and then disappeared entirely. When he finally returned, Harry convinced him to rejoin the foster program. Fans never saw Leon again, leaving a huge part of Harry’s life wide open.
3 Christine Becomes A Congresswoman
By the end of season nine, Christine had successfully become a member of Congress. This presumably would have taken her away from her role as a public defender as well as all her friends and co-workers.
If season ten had happened, there’s no way to know how that would have played out. The series would have had to follow her journey into politics or drop the character from the show entirely.
2 Buddy Ryan
Buddy was an eccentric former mental patient that Harry met in his courtroom. He initially introduced himself to Harry as his stepfather but eventually revealed himself to be Harry’s biological father. It’s quite an emotional journey for the young judge. The last time fans saw Buddy was the final episode of season seven when he was trapped in an elevator with Christine as she went into labor. He was an important recurring character on a number of levels so it was unfortunate that there was no closure to his arc.
1 Harry, Dan, And Christine
The introduction of Christine Sullivan as the public defender was the first time the role had any stability. It had been a revolving door over the first couple of seasons, but Christine became a love interest for both Harry and Dan, even when those stories made their way to the backburners. But by the time the end of season nine rolled around, all three characters were single setting up a love triangle for season ten that never got the chance to play itself out.
