The staff of a Manhattan arraignment court is surprised by the arrival of a maverick young judge named Harry Stone; his first ruling, that a feuding couple should go to dinner with the attorneys, results in a fight breaking out that injures Dan.

Harry must deal with a pair of volatile teenage runaways and an old man who believes he's the real Santa Claus.

An office bet over what Harry's true age is leads to the discovery that he has a criminal record.

Harry's "missing" Mother and a beauty pageant operator appear in court.

Bull feels misunderstood and quits in anger; a blind shoplifter awaiting trial keeps trying to give his police handler the slip.

A rock is thrown through the courtroom window, with a death threat in Harry's name.

A smitten prostitute waits for Harry in his chambers.

Dan and Bull are at odds over the same woman; Harry throws his cap into the ring when he realizes the woman has a spare ticket for a Mel Torme concert.

Lana starts acting crazy after overdosing on some medications.

A Russian immigrant threatens to set himself, and the courtroom, on fire.

Harry's relationship with a rock star leads to the courtroom being overrun by her fans.

Bull is a walking zombie at work, and the court staff finds that he has been taking care of a baby for a neighbor who has apparently abandoned him.

A woman must choose between her two husbands, one of whom was thought killed in Vietnam.

A young novice nun decides to leave her convent after becoming smitten with Harry.

Bright young public defender Christine Sullivan finds out she still has a lot to learn after her first day in Harry's court, while Harry ends up throwing her overprotective father in jail for insulting him.

On her first day, Public Defender Billie Young takes an aggressive stand in defense of her client against a powerful corporation, a stand that leads to her being jailed for contempt.

A humble man with a $3 million lottery ticket wants Harry to give it away to the most worthy person.

A school-aged computer whiz hacks into the school district's database and takes their permanent records hostage.

When Bull becomes a Volunteer Father to a 13-year-old boy, he is in for a real surprise. He discovers the boy is a girl.

Harry's nemesis, Judge Willard, has him tried before the Judicial Review Board on charges of unprofessional behavior.

When an exclusive house of prostitution gets busted, Judge Harry Stone must decide whether to admit the madam's private diary as evidence in the case against her.

Harry is struck down in the middle of session by crippling stomach pains, but stubbornly refuses medical treatment.

A blizzard traps the gang inside the courthouse without supplies, and an electrical failure traps Dan in an elevator with a gay man who finds him very attractive.

Mac marries a woman he met in Viet Nam and Harry refuses to ignore his duties despite the loss of his sight.

Feeling sorry for Harry on his birthday, Billie takes him to her apartment for a nightcap. They are held up by a burglar, and spend the night tied together.

Dan's extremely rustic parents come to visit him in Manhattan, embarrassing him all night until he disowns them.

A group of mental patients fleeing their hospital run loose in the courtroom, with one, a mute, shutting herself in a closet with a revolver.

Selma's old boyfriend, Marty, comes after her again. While Harry is shut in his office for an annual file review, his super-efficient replacement, Judge Kopelson, charms the entire staff, but a background check reveals him to be a fraud.

A spiritual medium responds to Harry's contempt of court sentence by placing a curse on the courtroom. Harry thinks she's a phony, but Bull collapses, paralyzed, while Dan's accountant drops dead during an audit.

Feeling dissatisfied with his job, Bull becomes interested in a wrestling promoter's offer.

Billie breaks down when her boyfriend David is brought into court on a pickpocketing charge.

Dan becomes engaged to an ugly duckling heiress, but everyone is surprised to hear him swear his feelings are genuine.

When Mac's wife, Quon Le, is accidentally arrested, both realize how much they love each other and decide to live together. Meanwhile, Billie and Dan find themselves competing for a commission appointment.

Yakov's brother wants to defect to the United States; in short order Harry's courtroom is overrun by a Russian circus troupe, agents of the KGB and CIA, and a pair of hot-tempered arms negotiators.

When a wheelchair-bound protégée of Harry's expresses romantic interest in him, he becomes aware of some uncomfortable feelings about her disability.

Christine Sullivan is permanently assigned as the court's public defender; grieving Selma's death, Bull goes on an all-night bender with a group of circus performers and arrives the next day drunk-and-disorderly.

A man claiming to be from Saturn holds the court hostage with a stolen handgun. Dan's hot date with Sheila goes awry when he inadvertently eats drugged food meant for the man.

Christine is excited when her father, Jack, makes a date with an attractive young woman, but less so when Jack shows up in court on a charge of soliciting a prostitute.

Mac's grandfather disinherits him after finding that he has married Quon Le, an Asian woman.

Harry falls for Kim, a beautiful and free-spirited young woman. But then she appears in court, claiming to be a witch, with a tabloid reporter hovering in the background.

Dan looks forward to a reunion with his old college buddy, but is shocked to find that he has undergone a transgender operation.

The new district attorney shows up to observe Dan, who falls short of making a good first impression, and Flo receives attention from a potential suitor.

A rock star wanders around the courtroom, trying to escape his crazed fans, his solicitous entourage, and his greedy psychiatrist.

A budget crisis in the state legislature freezes the paychecks of all city employees, including the court staff. Harry faces his own crisis when the law forces him to side with a sleazy landlord against a poor cleaning lady and her unstable son. When the son is shot during an attempted armed robbery, Harry quits.

After quitting, Harry is hanging out at a pool hall across the street from the courthouse. The gang have to talk him into coming back, even as his replacement creates a stir by dying during session.

Bull is deeply in love with his new girlfriend, Renee. No one wants to be the one to tell him that she is actually a prostitute.

Dan makes some extra money by hiring himself out as an escort to wealthy ladies, but is shocked when one of his clients wants him to go all the way and sleep with her. Yakov eagerly awaits the arrival of his wife and children from Russia, but panics when she doesn't show up.

Some crazy substitute judge puts Dan and Mac in jail and appoints a wino and Florence as the court attorneys.

The staff are surprised to discover that Leon, the shoe shine boy, is actually an orphan living in the courthouse. Rather than let him be sent to juvenile hall, Harry asks for custody of him.

Hijinks ensue when Harry throws a birthday party for Dan at his apartment, including Christine getting trapped in a magician's box, Quon Le's Vietnamese family threatening mass suicide, and Mrs. Lund from Juvenile Services arriving to check on Leon at the same time as a stripper.

Leon threatens to run away again when Juvenile Services attempts to take him from Harry and place him with a pair of geeky foster parents. Harry is so preoccupied that he misses a visit by Mel Torme, his idol.

After being mugged, Christine becomes belligerent and mistrustful, and unable to do her job as a public defender. She has to rediscover her compassion when her mugger is trapped in the cafeteria and threatens hostages with a grenade. Meanwhile, Phil gets a hot stock tip from an old Wall Street buddy, and Dan nearly bankrupts himself trying to wheedle it out of him.

Harry meets an elderly magician that he idolized as a child, and invites him to his apartment for a private performance. The gang arrive at Harry's apartment to find it stripped bare.

Bull tries to hide a test monkey from a scientist; Dan romances an amnesiac woman.

Florence is devastated to learn that she has reached mandatory retirement age.

Hurricane Mel hits New York, trapping the staff inside the courthouse with four women in labor.

Hurricane Mel hits New York, trapping the staff inside the courthouse with four women in labor.

In this pivotal episode in the series, a long lost letter is delivered to Harry from his mother who abandoned him. After learning she's passed away, he receives a visit from his stepfather, Buddy, who was married to her for twenty-three years. This is the first of many episodes to feature Buddy, played by the wonderful John Astin, known for his role as Gomez on the original Addams Family. More importantly, this is the episode that introduces Roz, the third female bailiff (following Selma Diamond and Florence Halop), who completes the final character lineup that will remain through the series finale.

Dan saves Christine from choking in the cafeteria. Convinced that she owes him her life, Christine asks how she can repay him. His answer is simple: sleep with him.

Bull is horrified to be told that his entry in a children's book contest was unintentionally violent, horrifying, and obscene. He breaks both hands punching holes in the wall, then goes to hide at the Natural History Museum. Dan is enticed by a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder whose personality switches without warning from a prude to a sexpot, and back again.

Leon returns to Manhattan, but threatens to run away again if Harry reports him to the authorities. Dan plans to crash District Attorney Daniels's Halloween party.

Dan is hospitalized for surgery on a minor ulcer, but refuses to stay in the hospital. Insisting on returning to work, he eventually collapses and must return to the hospital in an even more serious condition. After foolishly attempting relations with Sheila while in his hospital bed, he falls into a coma.

Dan awakens from his coma, and Harry confronts him about his selfish and self-destructive behavior.

Harry's temporary replacement carries a huge revolver with him everywhere he goes. When the new judge offers Dan a bribe, Dan becomes the reluctant pawn in a sting operation.

While Harry's away a female judge fills in for him. And Christine talks back to her in court which leads to her being thrown in jail. Harry returns just as Christine's being taken away. Harry goes to see her and suggests that she apologize to the judge but she refuses. Harry offers to talk to the judge. And in the end, Harry spends the night with her. And when Christine learns about it she feels betrayed.

Dan quickly goes to pieces when an earthquake traps him in an elevator with Roz and a pair of sumo wrestlers.

A woman arrested for swimming naked in Central Park claims to be a princess from a tropical island; Harry is convinced to help her escape her arrogant brother, the Prince, and her arranged marriage with the trollish Ogg. Meanwhile, the prince becomes smitten with Christine.

On New Year's Eve, a sweet old man brought into court on a minor charge turns out to be a convicted felon who has escaped prison to visit Times Square in memory of his wife; another man runs around the courthouse in a diaper, claiming to be the spirit of the new year.

A sweet old lady comes into the courtroom and cheerfully confesses to murdering her husband. Harry is not sure he believes her.

Mac goes over the edge when Quon Le spends all their money and then announces that they are having a baby.

Christine is engaged to Bill, the world's most boring human being. When she gives signs of cold feet (including throwing up in Dan's briefcase) the others try to gently (or not-so-gently) talk her out of it.

In the first of several "day in the life" episodes, the court has to process an unusually large docket (200 cases) before midnight - in this episode, to head off a federal judge's general amnesty setting free all defendants not arraigned by then.

A stray dog that Harry picked up bites Dan, putting him in fear of contracting rabies.

Dan and Harry compete for the attentions of Christine's attractive friend Heather.

Christine accuses her boss of sexual harassment; Harry and Bull participate in an elaborate scheme to get proof.

Dan is slapped with a paternity suit, and his supposed son shows up at the courthouse to claim his father.

While swearing in a group of immigrants as U.S. citizens, the gang is interrupted when Quon Le goes into labor at the same time Mac is struck down by appendicitis, and both are rushed to the hospital.

Dan confidently expects to be nominated as a judge, but takes a blow when the committee picks Christine instead. Everyone else is happy for her, until they are told that Harry has been turned down for re-appointment.

Christine tries to convince Harry to fight for his job, but Harry rejects her advice, planning instead to play the ultimate prank, a stunt so outrageous and crazy that it will get the attention of the entire city.

Christine's about to start her first day as a judge but she's preoccupied with finding Harry to tell him that she convinced the Mayor to reappoint him. But he left before she could tell him and is planning some childish prank. And her first session doesn't turn out so well and she freaks out. And they try to keep anyone from finding out Harry's not around but when the Mayor calls Mac has Dan pretend to be Harry. And when someone comes to begin Harry's reappointment and when he sees Dan talking to the Mayor, he assumes Dan is Harry and he wants him to sign something but he can't. Mac says he can do Harry's signature problem is the guy needs to see him sign it.

As part of his grand prank, Harry prepares to hang-glide from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Statue of Liberty. He gets side-tracked when he meets Gus Melman, who's about to commit suicide by jumping. Back at the courthouse, Dan has to masquerade as Harry for his swearing-in ceremony.

Bull is struck by lightning, and is clinically dead for a few minutes. After recovering, he says God has told him to give away everything he owns to the poor.

After Roz dumps her boyfriend, Christine tries to make friends in order to comfort her. The two end up sharing a wild night at a male strip club.

While practicing an escape act for his Halloween party, Harry accidentally locks himself inside a safe and nearly suffocates to death; Dan thinks it's a joke when a man in a devil costume gives him $100 in exchange for his soul, but becomes afraid when the man seems to know everything about his past life.

Mac faces a dilemma when an old Army buddy who saved his life in Vietnam asks him to delete his prior record to avoid sending him back to prison. A Japanese businessman drops dead in court, and Bull installs the body in a motorized wheelchair to take it to the morgue, leading to it wandering all around the courthouse.

An aged actor famous for his Lone Ranger-type character refuses to take off his mask, even after his studio obtains a court order barring him from appearing as the character in public. He threatens to commit suicide by dropping a two-ton air conditioner on himself. Dan is tortured by the closeness of District Attorney Daniels's very sexy, very willing, and very off-limits niece, Kitty.

Dan is crushed when he is afflicted by impotence. Harry hires Joy, a blind woman, as his personal assistant, whose abrasive manner drives nearly everyone to thoughts of homicide.

Roz is diagnosed with diabetes, and the new limitations on her lifestyle lead her to quit in frustration. When she accidentally takes an overdose of insulin, she wanders around the courthouse in a delirious stage, in danger of falling into a coma or dying. Meanwhile, a crazy man holds an original draft of the Constitution hostage with a cigarette lighter.

A delirious Roz is frolicking around on the edge of the courthouse roof, and Dan, Christine, and Roz's doctor have to talk her down to medicate her. Down in the courtroom, Harry has to stand between the crazy hostage taker and a squad of trigger-happy federal agents.

A blizzard outside and a broken boiler inside puts the court staff and all the defendants in danger of freezing to death.

A man with a grudge handcuffs a dynamite-filled briefcase to Dan's arm; Bull walks around the courtroom in a blindfold, trying to empathize with Joy's blindness.

Christine's father, Jack, retires his taxicab and trades his apartment for a motor home, but stays with Christine while his R.V. is being outfitted. He soon drives her crazy, especially by making best friends with Dan.

Buddy's patronizing younger brother, Phil, convinces him to commit himself to a mental hospital for the rest of his life. Harry angrily objects. Meanwhile, Dan has accidentally destroyed Harry's entire collection of Mel Torme records, but tries to make up for it by shackling the man himself in Harry's office until Harry returns from Buddy's hearing.

Christine is throwing a party to celebrate the anniversary of Prince Charles and Lady Diana and invites the gang. But they don't really want to go so Harry tells them they have to. She learns what Harry did and freaks out. She runs into a guy who's an Anglophile and invites him to the party. When the gang arrives and meets him, they discover he's wearing a handcuff. That's when a detective arrives and informs them, he's a witness and there's a contract on him. So they are told to just sit tight. But when the hit man takes a shot, they try to get word to the police.

In another "day in the life" episode, the court staff has to finish 207 cases by midnight. If they do, the 207th defendant, a Texas millionaire with a gambling compulsion, will pay the money to save an orphanage from foreclosure.

An old girlfriend from college visits Harry at the courthouse. They end up in a passionate clinch in his chambers, with Harry in a half-dressed condition, when she lets slip that she's married.

Yakov needs a visa to re-visit the Soviet Union and see his sick mother. When he is denied, Harry takes up his cause, but is stunned by the arrival of a beautiful Russian consul. Christine is crippled by embarrassment when Harry makes an offhand remark about a near-invisible birthmark over her eye.

Roz is ordered to enroll in an anger management group. At the first session, the group is taken hostage by a scared teenager fleeing a failed armed robbery.

Harry starts feeling his age when a young turk breaks his record as the youngest judge ever appointed, and vies for his title as the courtroom's greatest prankster.

Mac inherits 2 million from his grandfather and then quits. And the gang has to deal with an incompetent replacement, who turns the court room upside down. Mac comes for a visit and showers the gang with expensive gifts. He is then sued by the owner of the building where Mac and Quon Le had their restaurant, which got damaged because of them. And they are being sued for more than what they have. And he goes out on Quon Le because it was her fault. And he wishes he can come back but because he gave his resignation he has to apply and wait for an opening.

It is revealed in this episode that Dan is a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves. When ordered to report for duty, he is terrified that he is being sent to a war zone, and goes to absurd lengths to get out of it. When he finds out his assignment is on a Caribbean island with a buxom female officer, he changes his mind, but all his tricks catch up with him and as punishment he is reassigned to the Arctic Circle. A few days later, the court receives a message that his plane has crashed in Alaska, and he is presumed dead.

Dan has been rescued by an Eskimo family, but is cut off from the outside world. Back in New York, the court staff reads his will and tries to cope with his death. When Dan accidentally shoots down a small plane trying to signal it with a flare gun, the doctor inside breaks both hands, leaving Dan as the only one who can operate on a young Eskimo woman who has come down with appendicitis.

Dan operates on Kista, and after a tense night of waiting, finds that she has survived. At the same time, radio contact is made, and Dan is on his way home. He arrives, disguised by his beard, winter clothes, and scruffy appearance, in time to attend his own funeral.

On election night, Dan is running as a candidate for the state assembly. Christine is furious to learn that Harry has voted for him, touching off a fierce argument between them about what she sees as sexism. Then a fire consumes an upper floor of the courthouse, driving the staff to the basement morgue.

Harry needs a date to attend a banquet where he will accept a humanitarian award. He is pleasantly surprised by a chance meeting at the newsstand with a woman who shares some interests with him, and she accepts his invitation. But Harry gets cold feet when he finds out that Diane is an adult film actress.

While handling a group of trainee bailiffs, Bull becomes smitten with one, Rhoda, smitten enough to overlook her spectacular incompetence. One thing he can't ignore is when she accidentally loses custody of a psychotic woman who acts out roles in movies. The woman is next reported entering a cheap hotel with Dan.

An attractive classmate of Mac's goes after him and Christine does too much preparing Thanksgiving dinner for the courthouse.

Dan is elated to be offered membership in New York's most exclusive lawyer's club, but he wrestles with his conscience when the leading member romances Christine as part of a club competition.

Two eccentric defendants pass through the courtroom: a man who has awakened from a 20-year coma, and an obsessed inventor attached to his self-aware computer.

While collecting for Toys For Toddlers, Bull accidentally takes a truckload of toys belonging to a Scrooge-like factory owner, who demands that they be returned. Since Roz has already passed them out, she refuses to take them back, and Harry has no choice but to jail her.

After the court staff participate in a research study for a think tank, Bull is diagnosed with a super-genius intelligence, and is offered a post at the think tank.

Christine gladly agrees to take care of a friend's baby for the weekend, but the experience turns out to be the opposite of what she expected. Harry enthusiastically pulls the staff into an office bet on his old college LaCrosse team.

A city accountant audits the court's expenses, leading to a series of flashbacks. Near the end of the audit, the staff and the accountant are taken hostage in Harry's office by a circus clown with a gun.

Even under Beepo's gun, the audit continues, as do the flashbacks.

While a cable show is filming the proceedings in the courtroom, a sweet old lady appears in court with a hand grenade, asking for the staff's help in freeing her husband from prison. When they realize that her "husband" is a character on a soap opera, they are not sure how to deal with her.

Bull is encouraged to appear on a game show to win enough money to save his boys' club's gymnasium. To help him get over his jitters, Dan hypnotizes him, but inadvertently plants an obscene trigger phrase in his mind.

Everyone pokes fun at Christine's relationship with Ted, a senior citizen.

On election night for the state assembly race, Dan, to his own surprise, has a passionate affair with his opponent, Joan Hobson.

Harry plays up the role of an embittered judge hurting for cash, as part of a sting to nail gangster Marty Cologne. Christine, following Harry around, is taken in by the act, and tells Buddy, who reveals to Harry that he is his biological father. When Buddy lets slip the truth about the sting to Cologne, the gangster sends a pair of hit men to the courthouse.

Harry must deal with his inept government handler, evading Marty Cologne's hit men, and confronting Buddy about his revelation.

Christine has a prison pen pal who escapes and Roz falls for him.

Mac loses his story in the justice computer and Christine accepts then rejects a date from the janitor.

Dan hopes to catch the last plane out of town on a day when the courtroom is flooded with cases, and with water.

Buddy is released from the mental hospital, and Harry invites him to live with him, unintentionally letting himself in for a world of aggravation. Dan hovers over a rent-controlled Park Avenue apartment, waiting eagerly for its elderly owner to pass on.

Bull saves the life of billionaire Jordan King, earning a spare-time job with him. Overhearing the details of a real estate deal King has going, Dan swoops in and buys the land, expecting to make a killing. Meanwhile, Quon Le's devotion to her new job selling cosmetics on commission forces Mac to help her, or face bankruptcy.

Dan receives a death threat and demands police protection. Sparks fly between Christine and the undercover detective sent to the courthouse. Bull carries a video camera everywhere around with him, filming his average night for his mother.

On Halloween, Mac finds a decades-old file stuck behind his desk drawer, on a case that was never finished because the defendant dropped dead in the middle of his trial. Soon, a series of poltergeist-style events convinces Harry that the man's ghost is haunting the courtroom. With the help of a medium, Harry and the staff hold a trial for a spirit.

Dan gets more than he bargained for when he foolishly agrees to take Bull to a private singles club.

Buddy, Harry's dad, meets a wealthy widow who was in Harry's court. At the time he's wearing a captain's outfit, which he does not explain is his work uniform. They start dating and soon Buddy tells Harry he proposed to her and wants him to marry them. Concerned that she doesn't know enough about Buddy, Harry talks to her, but she says she knows everything. But just before the wedding Christine realizes that she does not. Meanwhile, Dan has been living in his office after going broke because of a failed business deal. but the office manager finds out and gives him until the end of the day to find somewhere else or he'll be moved to a much less desirable location.

Roz's pushy Aunt Ruth comes to visit her, trying for the umpteenth time to set her up with a man. Knowing that Ruth once took care of her whole family while her father was sick, Roz can't be her normally forceful self, and instead conscripts Mac to masquerade as her fiancé. A Zsa Zsa-like widow is detained at the courthouse when her diamond necklace is swallowed by another defendant's dog.

Harry and Mac decide to market one of Quon Le's snack inventions. Christine has a unexpected visitor.

Dan receives a job offer from the most prestigious law firm in New York, and, as a favor to the hiring partner, arranges an early hearing for the senior partner's son, who is appearing on a shoplifting charge. Dan later finds out that the boy is a repeat offender, and the job offer was a scam. Dan brings a bribery charge against the hiring partner's son, but ends up facing disbarment for blackmail.

Dan is suspended from work while preparing for his disbarment hearing. Broke, he is forced to take a job waiting tables in a French restaurant under an assumed name. He has lost the will to defend himself, but his friends go to the hearing to stick up for him. Meanwhile, Roz and Christine's co-dieting is causing some weird behavior in both of them.

An attractive reporter comes to the courthouse to interview Harry; a jealous Dan listens to one of her tape recordings, and is shocked to find a steamy message on it. Unknown to either Harry or Dan, Christine finds out that the reporter is a lesbian, who publishes romance novels under a pseudonym.

Christine's relationship with Tony goes through a rocky phase when his devotion to his job as a cop cuts down on their time together.

An old vaudeville theater that Harry and Bull both remember fondly is targeted for demolition; Bull takes the extreme route and shackles himself to the front doors, while Harry tries to organize a benefit concert with the theater's old performers. In doing so, it is revealed that Mac used to be one of the Starlites.

A man claiming to be from the future (and armed with a working laser gun) takes the courtroom hostage, while two street punks are holding Dan. Bull tries the whole range of remedies for getting rid of his hiccups.

Tony announces that he is taking a job with the DEA and leaving for South America; on the spur of the moment, he proposes to Christine over dinner, and they are married in the restaurant. Meanwhile, Art is forced to leave his job during a dispute between the union and the city. In the hands of his pencil-pushing replacement, the courthouse quickly goes to pieces.

Trying to deal with Tony's absence, Christine discovers she is pregnant.

Dan's girlfriend convinces him to appear as a shock-host of a talk show. Mac and Quon Le's planned vacation to Graceland encounters problems.

Mel Torme can't appear at Harry's birthday party because Harry sent him to jail.

Harry works on a visa extension for Yakov, and Mac buys a defective washing machine.

Roz could be sued with the help of Bull's cousin after Bull shoots himself with her gun.

With Tony absent, Harry, Bull, and Dan all volunteer as Christine's Lamaze coach. At their first class, Christine is tormented by visions of her child as a younger version of each of them.

A man asks Harry to help stop the marriage of his girlfriend to another man.

A TV reporter is watching everyone in the court and they have to be on their toes.

Christine is stuck in an elevator as she goes into labor.

When Christine returns after her baby's birth, she must deal with her replacement's legacy, and Dan wants Bull to date his visiting sister.

When Christine returns after her baby's birth, she must deal with her replacement's legacy, and Dan wants Bull to date his visiting sister.

For Harry, it's love at first sight when he lays eyes on Margaret Turner, a bossy news reporter assigned to the courthouse. When she appears not to know he exists, he is so desperate to make an impression that he turns to Dan for advice.

Dan is won at a bachelor auction by a lecherous old woman and Christine has doubts about her marriage.

A defendant pulled in on a minor charge claims to be the Angel of Death, and says that Harry has to release him. Harry jails him for contempt of court, but begins to feel uncertain as reports come in of people miraculously surviving fatal accidents all over the city. Even more worried is Dan, whose own obituary has appeared in the paper.

A possibly-toxic chemical is spilled in the courtroom, forcing the gang to spend the night there in quarantine. Each of them tells a story about the turning point in their life that led them to the courtroom. Harry gave up his career as a magician after the only agent interested in him dropped dead; Christine lost the "Miss Buffalo" beauty pageant; Roz started out as a stewardess, but discovered her real calling after knocking out a hijacker.

The turning-point stories continue. Mac tells how he almost lost his life in Vietnam; Bull tells two stories, confusing himself with the protagonists of "Superman" and "Jack & The Beanstalk"; Dan tells how he lost his virginity to a client's young wife in Louisiana.

When the staff shifts to day hours Roz become unbearably perky. Christine also feels a personality change is in order.

Dan has a date at the opera and some weirdos think that Bull is their god.

Christine searches for a nanny, and Harry's childhood bully appears in his court.

Art is the topic as Christine meets a street artist and Mac and Dan bond with their passions for photography.

The First Admendment gets tested with the offensive material of a stand up comic.

Roz goes after the mother of a TV brat that is shooting a TV pilot in the building.

Phil the wino saves someone left penniless from the S&L scandals.

Bull's mother, Henrietta "Hank" Shannon, pulls into port to meet the gang. Dan, after being told that he's the only person named in Phil's will and spending money freely, in a cruelly ironic twist it seems that he's been named as a trustee of the Phil Foundation, in charge of, and required to give away, $8.1 million.

Christine is worried about her divorce and Bull is looking for a matchmaker.

Is Harry about to be proposed to?

Harry loses all interest in life after Margaret leaves him. An angel (in the shape of Mel Torme) shows him what life would be like in the court without him: Dan is a rich and corrupt judge, Bull is his stooge candidate for mayor, Mac and Christine are the beaten-down court attorneys, and Roz goes to prison for resisting one of Dan's business enterprises. When Harry sees Dan seduce Christine, he chooses to live again, and the angel sends him on his way with a rousing performance of "Start All Over Again."

Dan suffers major guilt pains over how he is using the money in the Phil Foundation.

When Christine has Roz join her happy therapy group, the group has a major backslide.

A Supreme Court Judge steals Mac as court clerk for appearances.

After being placed on a list of interesting New York City men, conceited Harry lies to get out of a date with Christine.

Tony tries to win Christine back while Dan goes though a transformation while running the Phil Foundation.

Tony tries to win Christine back while Dan goes though a transformation while running the Phil Foundation.

While Harry and Christine try to sort out their feelings, Dan kidnaps her.

While Harry and Christine try to sort out their feelings, Dan kidnaps her.

Harry risks an international incident when he jails an arrogant diplomat from a tiny, obscure European nation. And Dan returns to duty but is forced to start out at the bottom, in dog law court.

Roz's husband shows up looking for a divorce.

Bull feels that he must perform a miracle before he marries Wanda.

Dan wants to break up with the daughter of an underworld kingpin.

Bull's bachelor party includes no money, no transportation and no Bull.

Christine's image of her law professor is shattered and Bull tries to regain his virginity.

Harry teaches a law class and Dan hires an artist to draw Christine.

At Bull and Wanda's wedding, Wanda refuses to wear Bull's mother's wedding dress, there's a fight over best man, and Christine over-organizes everything.

Mr. Billachi, an elderly former department store Santa, is brought into court for attacking the robot that replaced him. Disheartened by the commercialism of Christmas, he announces his intention to commit suicide, and Dan is the unlikely person who has to convince him that Christmas is still a time of giving and goodwill. His task is made harder by the fact that his normally cheerful co-workers are all complaining loudly about the mess-ups in their holiday plans.

Harry finally becomes buddies with Mel Torme by convincing him to appear as "Man of the Year" at an annual dinner. When he learns that the "Man of the Year" is actually meant to be the victim of a hazing at a public rally, he desperately tries to talk Mel out of it. Dan is employing Will as a bounty hunter and raking in reward money, but bites off more than he can chew when he sends Will after "Eddie the Machete." Bull gets a Walkman and listens to books on tape around court.

A defendant shows up owning several NYC landmarks and Dan gets to be a beauty contest judge.

Mac has been asked to do an underwear commercial.

Roz has a poker and makeup party, and Dan goes after a new courtroom employee.

Christine is asked to run for a political office.

Christine is asked to run for a political office.

Dan starts to brown-nose Harry to get a judgeship when Harry decides to teach full-time. Meanwhile, Art has asked Bull's mother to marry him.

Roz dreads meeting her pen pal when she was not entirely truthful with him.

Harry considers his future - Columbia Law School or touring with his idol, Mel Torme. Christine faces Election Day. Bull is being followed.

Christine is elected to Congress; Bull sets a trap for the aliens following him; Harry turns down the education job offer.

Dan tries to get into a newspaper society column, but the columnist is enchanted by Roz instead. Bull substitutes for Mac as court clerk. Lisette tells Christine about her erotic dreams featuring Harry.

In this pivotal episode in the series, a long lost letter is delivered to Harry from his mother who abandoned him. After learning she's passed away, he receives a visit from his stepfather, Buddy, who was married to her for twenty-three years. This is the first of many episodes to feature Buddy, played by the wonderful John Astin, known for his role as Gomez on the original Addams Family. More importantly, this is the episode that introduces Roz, the third female bailiff (following Selma Diamond and Florence Halop), who completes the final character lineup that will remain through the series finale.

An office bet over what Harry's true age is leads to the discovery that he has a criminal record.

The staff are surprised to discover that Leon, the shoe shine boy, is actually an orphan living in the courthouse. Rather than let him be sent to juvenile hall, Harry asks for custody of him.

A group of mental patients fleeing their hospital run loose in the courtroom, with one, a mute, shutting herself in a closet with a revolver.

Harry must deal with his inept government handler, evading Marty Cologne's hit men, and confronting Buddy about his revelation.

Harry's nemesis, Judge Willard, has him tried before the Judicial Review Board on charges of unprofessional behavior.

Harry falls for Kim, a beautiful and free-spirited young woman. But then she appears in court, claiming to be a witch, with a tabloid reporter hovering in the background.

Harry's "missing" Mother and a beauty pageant operator appear in court.

A woman must choose between her two husbands, one of whom was thought killed in Vietnam.

A budget crisis in the state legislature freezes the paychecks of all city employees, including the court staff. Harry faces his own crisis when the law forces him to side with a sleazy landlord against a poor cleaning lady and her unstable son. When the son is shot during an attempted armed robbery, Harry quits.