Harold T. Stone (Harry Anderson) becomes a night court judge in New York City. Working with him are court clerk Lana Wagner (Karen Austin), prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), public defender Sheila Gardner (Gail Strickland), and bailiffs Bull Shannon (Richard Moll) and Selma Hacker (Selma Diamond). In his first case, he has to settle a dispute involving a woman threatening her husband with gunfire while at the same time trying to earn the trust of his staff, who are skeptical about his unorthodox judicial methods.

The season is merry as Harry deals with a man in a red suit charged with trespassing (Jeff Corey) and tries to restore the faith of a pair of cynical teenage runaways (Michael J. Fox and Olivia Barash).

Lana learns Harry has a criminal record when she tries to find out his age to settle a bet.

Things are thrown into an uproar when Harry receives a threat via a rock thrown through the window and a bomb is discovered in the courtroom.

A hooker develops a crush on Harry and Dan loses a city council position to a dead man.

Dan, Harry, and Bull all compete for the same pretty attorney (Caroline McWilliams); Harry tries to get tickets to see Mel Tormé.

Lana disrupts the proceedings after taking a powerful cold medicine.

Russian Yakov Korolenko (Yakov Smirnoff), who is charged with selling stolen property, would rather burn down the courtroom and everyone in it than go to jail.

Fans and reporters disrupt court proceedings when Harry dates a rock star (Kristine DeBell), and tries to cope with a new court clerk.

The courtroom crew try to help Bull when a neighbor leaves her baby with him.

Harry has to settle the legal status of a woman (Marcia Rodd) who remarried after her first husband Mitch Bowers (Charles Napier) was mistakenly declared dead, and who wants her back even though she is now seeing another man (Basil Hoffman).

An impressionable young nun (Dinah Manoff) decides to leave her order after meeting Harry; Dan tries to hit on a temporary public defender.

A new public defender has a rough first day in court, thanks to Harry and her over-protective father (Eugene Roche); Selma returns to work delirious after surgery.

Harry sends the new public defender, Billie Young (Ellen Foley), to jail for refusing to reveal the whereabouts of a cat her client is accused of kidnapping.

Harry is called before a disciplinary board for his unorthodox courtroom behavior at the instigation of another judge (Jason Bernard).

Harry is reluctant to undergo tests for his ulcer symptoms, until Billie confesses her true feelings for him.

Mac marries Quon Le Duc (Denice Kumagai), a girl he knew in Vietnam, for her to stay in the country; Harry conducts court despite temporary blindness.

Patients from a mental institution stage a strike to convince the court they're being mistreated at the hospital.

Bull quits his job in frustration and becomes a professional wrestler.

His friends believe the worst when Dan starts dating an awkward and plain young woman (Mimi Kennedy) who happens to be the daughter of a multimillionaire.

Quon Le appears before the court for prostitution, and Harry has to choose between Billie and Dan for the mayoral commission.

Harry searches for Yakov's brother, a Russian circus defector. Meanwhile, Soviet and American agents (Leonard Stone and Gordon Jump) negotiate an arms agreement.

A disabled law student takes Harry's refusal of her prom invitation as a slap against her handicap.

Everyone tries to adjust to Selma's death as Harry interviews possible replacements, but Bull goes on a drinking binge instead; public defender Christine Sullivan is permanently assigned to the court, to the delight of both Harry and Dan.

Dan's life becomes a living hell when he cracks short jokes to a little person who turns out to be his boss.

Harry tries to free a rock star literally imprisoned by his overly solicitous entourage.

The four pregnant defendants give birth as the hurricane continues. Dick Butkus, Brent Spiner, Alix Elias, and Pam Grier appear.

Harry's distracted from a courtroom full of ventriloquists and their dummies by the delivery of a letter from his mother, mailed fifteen years earlier.

Bull tries his hand at writing a children's story for a contest, but when one of the judges personally appears to criticize how disturbing and violent it is, Bull becomes upset. Meanwhile, Dan is at the sexual mercy of a woman diagnosed with multiple personality disorder.

Harry looks forward to seeing Leon the orphan boy again while Dan does whatever he can to get invited to his boss' Halloween party.

Dan makes a friend out of a substituting judge until he realizes the man is trying to bribe him, and his friends talk him into wearing a wire to entrap the man.

Harry deals sympathetically with an escaped felon whose only wish is to spend New Year's Eve in Times Square to celebrate his 42nd wedding anniversary.

Quon Le plans to become a US citizen before her baby is born, but she and Mac are both rushed to the hospital with pains just as Harry begins the swearing-in ceremony.

On Halloween, Harry traps himself inside a safe while practicing a magic trick and laments over his obsession with magic and pranks. Meanwhile, a man in a devil costume gives Dan $100 in exchange for his soul.

Harry and the gang refuse to take Christine and her new beau seriously because of his age. Meanwhile, Dan dates a middle-aged woman after hearing that she's wealthy enough to help his campaign.

Buddy proposes to a wealthy, fun-loving widow who doesn't know he's a mental patient while Dan tries to hide the fact that he's been reduced to living in his office following his botched real estate plan.

Christine makes an impulsive decision at her farewell dinner with beau Tony, one that has severe repercussions when he leaves on an assignment he may not return from.

The court staff worries that Dan's insomnia over spending all his time preparing for the Phil Foundation banquet may be affecting his sanity. Meanwhile, Bull wins a high-end toupee in a cereal contest, and his new hair attracts all the women who once thought he was weird and repulsive.

Dan tries to break up with the daughter of a crime boss, who insists Dan reconsider over dinner — and that he bring along Christine.

Roz steals the show and Dan's spot with the in-crowd when a gossip columnist discovers her and Lisette tries to deal with her erotic dreams about Harry.