Question: In one of the episodes after Phil's death, it was revealed that Phil was actually a rich man. If Phil was very rich, why did he choose to live his life as a vagrant?
Question: In one of the episodes, it's discovered that Dan's name isn't really Dan Fielding. What is his real name?
Answer: Reinhold. As soon as this name is revealed (during the episode with all the pregnant women giving birth) all of the cast repeat the name incredulously. This is a tribute to Reinhold Weege, the creator of Night Court.
It should be noted that Dan's real name isn't revealed to the others until s05e12, "Dan, the Walking Time Bomb." In the episode with the pregnant women (s03e22), only the audience knows that Benet named her baby after Dan's real name. When Ernie reveals Dan's real name, the group reacts in the same way, saying "Reinhold" in unison.
Question: Why did Karen and Paula leave the show?
Answer: Karen: She had good chemistry with Harry Anderson, but not with the rest of the cast. If so, then perhaps that's why her character was written out so soon. Paula was released for similar reasons.
Question: One of the episodes had a ventriloquist with his dummy and I believe it was Dan that threw the dummy out the window. I can't seem to find the season and episode number. Any help?
Answer: S04e01, "The Next Voice You Hear", has a courtroom full of ventriloquist and dummies, which may be what you're thinking about. In it, one of the ventriloquist's dummy "commits suicide" by falling out the window of Harry's office. The ventriloquist is crushed by the dummy's "death" and Dan offers to "help." So the ventriloquist leaves the dummy, which was covered in a sheet, and Dan looks and the dummy talks to Dan. It takes a few seconds for Dan to realise what just happened and he jumps up, screams, and runs off.
Question: I barely remember an episode where a personal video in question was to be viewed in the judge's chambers. Of course Dan wanted to be in on the viewing. Before Harry left the bench his court clerk or the defense made a comment (do not know which clerk or defense) regarding the viewing of the tape. Harry answered something to the effect that they were going to review the tape for the four (or five) points of interest of a woman's anatomy. She stands there while the men all follow Harry out of the court room. The person (clerk or defense) silently and slowly counted on her fingers and then looks up and says, "Oh my God." Does anyone know which episode this was?
Answer: Season 1 episode 3 "The Former Harry Stone".
Question: I seem to recall seeing an episode of this show when I was a little kid that featured Bull being involved in an elevator crash, and when he emerges from the elevator afterwards, he is drastically shorter. Did this actually happen, and if so, what episode was it?
Chosen answer: I just saw the episode again; it's "Blues of the Birth" (original airdate May 2, 1990), which was the same episode in which Christine gave birth to her baby boy. Bull rushed into the broken elevator in which Christine was forced to give birth to retrieve her shoes; the elevator then plunged from the 18th floor to the ground floor, which then resulted in Bull apparently losing at least two feet of height.
Answer: The scene did in fact happen, as I distinctly remember it; I don't, however, recall the specific episode.
Question: In nearly every episode there are two bailiffs standing in the back of the courtroom, a blonde white guy and a black man with glasses. They also appear hanging out in the cafeteria, walking in the halls, etc. However, I don't think they ever had a single line during the entire series run, even in episodes that prominently featured the building's entire bailiff staff. Any reason they made an effort to keep these two extras for the entire run, but never had them say anything?
Answer: Most likely, they were stand-ins for members of the main cast. When lighting sets, rather than have the main actors stand around while they adjust the lights, they will get someone with similar physical characteristics to fill in. Since they are already on the set and have nothing to do during the actual shooting, it is more convenient, and probably cheaper, to also use them as extras.
Answer: Most likely it was about money. Actors who have speaking parts, even if it's only one word, are paid more than "extras", who do not have any dialogue. As the two characters played no part in any of the plots, there was no reason to have them speak lines. Therefore, they were paid less money.
So why hire an extra to play a messenger or bailiff from another courtroom when that pair was already on the set and could have easily said the lines?
What lines? Your question specified that they never spoke any lines and you wanted to know why.
Lines that other extras playing bailiffs said.
If an actor speaks any dialogue, they are billed as "co-stars" and paid at a higher rate than "extras" (also known as Background Actors), who are uncredited. The two you mentioned were regulars who were merely silent background characters used to "dress the set", making the courthouse look more realistically populated. Extras often have no acting ability and are unsuitable for speaking lines. Some people work exclusively as extras in various TV shows and movies and do not actually act or have dialogue.
Answer: He was a chronic miser who obessively hoarded money, stashing whatever he could in various offshore bank accounts. Some people, no matter how much money they have, are terrified of losing it, therefore, never spend anything. Some suffer from severe neurosis or other mental issues. Others grew up in extreme poverty and fear being poor again. A family friend was just like this. She lived in a small, run-down house, never bought anything, was always terrified she would lose everything, and so on. When she died, her estate was worth over $2,000,000.
raywest ★