57: Night Court Has a Night With a Gay

“The Blizzard” (December 6, 1984)

Night Court aired on the same Thursday night block that included The Cosby Show, Family Ties and Cheers. And while Night Court never received as much prestige as the other three did, it ran for nine seasons, it landed joke after joke and it demonstrated a better understanding of its characters than most sitcoms do. In its second season, it pit its prissy, debatably gay-seeming character, played by John Larroquette, against an actual homosexual in a way that’s funny but also shows that the show could go deeper than zany. We approve.

This episode’s outro track is “In the Night” by Daydream.