"Night Court" was the black sheep of NBC’s sitcom dynasty

http://www.avclub.com/article/night-court-was-black-sheep-nbcs-sitcom-dynasty-255957

Night Court took the long road to primetime. Created by Barney Miller veteran Reinhold Weege, the series’ eccentric courthouse denizens were part of a development slate at NBC that included a movie star’s ghost, a politically inclined orangutan, and a trio of roommates whose living situation was a blatant inverse of Three’s Company. Yet it was Night Court that was delayed until midseason, based largely on the network’s concerns about star Harry Anderson, a comedian and magician starring in his first television series. By the time Anderson took the bench as Judge Harry T. Stone—a green magistrate assigned to the wee, small hours of criminal court on a technicality—the Peacock’s other freshman comedies had flamed out. Forecasts weren’t positive. TV legend James Burrows, who directed Night Court’s pilot, predicted:

It’s a good show… but it will take a long time to get started. There’s no reason for people to watch it. Just because it’s good, that’s no reason. People will only watch high concept initially. They want familiarity from TV.

https://www.quora.com/Why-has-Night-Court-been-considered-the-black-sheep-among-NBCs-sitcom-dynasty-of-the-80s