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NBC sitcom Night Court gave new life to crooner Mel Torme’

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11 Jan 2022
5 min read
Question: on night court, judge harry had a photo of this crooner in his chambers...

NBC’s Night Court was guilty of being counted among the best sitcoms of its era.  Capitalizing on the network’s comedy resurgence, the show, which was set in a Manhattan municipal court, ran for nine seasons; on three occasions (1984, ’86 and ’88), the program received Emmy nominations for “Outstanding Comedy Series.”

Starring actor/comedian/magician Harry Anderson as youthful, iconoclastic Judge Harry Stone (who previously enjoyed a fine run as recurring hustler “Harry the Hat” on NBC’s Cheers), the show’s success was buoyed by a strong supporting cast including John Larroquette, Markie Post, Marsha Warfield and Charles Robinson.  

The unique charm of Night Court oft-borrowed from the antiquated, old-fashioned tastes of its main character, whose real life talents were well-blended with his avocations; per the real life Harry, so popular was Anderson’s blend of magic and humor in the era that he’d appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson a dozen times.

Such popularity crossed-over to Judge Stone, whose tastes – mimicking his judicial choices – ran toward opposites of popular choices and modern fads.

To wit: along with a fondness for 1930’s sex symbol Jean Harlow, Harry had further affection (obsession?) for legendary crooner, Mel Torme’, a leading jazz man of the 1940’s and 1950’s; in his chambers, Harry had hung in his office a photo of Torme’, known by his nickname, “The Velvet Fog.”

No doubt enjoying the renewed fame-via-fiction, Torme’ would go on to make eight appearances on Night Court; in one appearance of particular note, Torme’ played Harry’s guardian angel in a parody episode of It’s a Wonderful Life.  

Such TV time proved a boon for the singer, as Torme’ would say that the cameos helped him reach audiences anew in the 1980’s and ‘90’s.

And so lasting and real was the rapport between Harry (real and character) and Torme’, that Anderson delivered a eulogy at the singer’s funeral in 1999.  In 2018, at the mere age of 65, Anderson too would pass, following a bout with influenza.

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