It’s come to my attention Harry Anderson passed two years ago at his home in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2018. His passing didn’t get enough attention, which is damn near a criminal offense in my book.
So today we’re going to celebrate the life of a goddamn comedy genius.
Harry Anderson began his career as a street hustler, con man, stand up comic, and magician. He invented the “needle through the arm” gag. During his early stage performance days he did a version of the “finger chopper” gag using a female assistant with part of her little finger missing that guaranteed at least one wet seat in the house nightly.
Anderson got noticed by the higher ups at Saturday Night Live, and his multiple appearances on the show earned him a spot on “Cheers” as Harry “The Hat” Gittes, a con man who took the beloved watering hole and its patrons for all they could lose in six episodes.
Someone in TV saw Anderson’s charisma and screen personality and decided he would make a great judge.
That’s how Anderson became “Judge Harry Stone” of Manhattan Criminal Court Part Two in Reinhold Weege’s iconic comedy “Night Court.”
If you’ve never seen Night Court pull your head out of your ass and pony up $10 to see the first season on Amazon Prime. It’s truly brilliant humor for its time. Hell, the humor still holds up today. It’s actually wholesome comedy that everyone can appreciate.
Not only do you get Harry Anderson’s quirky judge, you get John Laroquette as the lecherous ADA Dan Fielding, Markie Post as the empathic public defender, and Marsha Warfield’s “Roz” as the take no shit Baliff beside Richard Moll’s “Bull” Shannon.
Over nine seasons Anderson delighted audiences with streams of bad puns, groan inducing Dad level jokes, and loads of sight gags using props one would locate in a novelty shop.
Harry Anderson was a decent author as well. He wrote a book with longtime friend Turk Pipkin called “Games You Can’t Lose,” which collected several of Anderson’s favorite bar bets and hustles. It also goes into detail about how street games from back alleys to carnival midways are rigged against the average Joe. Unfortunately the book is now out of print, but a search of a local used bookshop should land you a copy if you’re interested.
Anderson would land several other roles in film and television, including the adult Richie Tozier in Stephen King’s “It,” but nothing would top his work on “Night Court.”
Why am I singing Harry Anderson’s praises today? I found out Melissa Rausch, formerly “Bernadette” on the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” has a “Night Court” reboot in the works. With Laroquette returning as Dan Fielding, Rausch will play “Abby Stone,” the daughter of the late Harry Stone, who takes over her father’s post.
Rausch was apparently inspired to join the project after seeing how close the pilot was to the original vision of the series. Here’s hoping the Stone legacy lives on and more sex workers charged with soliciting get a fifty dollar fine and time served.
So today at Scotch o Clock, have a toast to a truly lovable scoundrel who made a fedora actually look good. Listen to a little Mel Torme. Raise one for Harry the Hat.
And Melissa Rausch, if some odd twist of fate has you reading this, I have one message for you: don’t fuck this up.
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