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.
Dan makes a friend out of the judge substituting until he realizes the man is trying to bribe him, and his friends talk him into wearing a wire to entrap the man.
Harry returns and finds a lovely woman substituting on the bench for him, who likes him a lot and jails Christine for mouthing off about perceived mistreatment of a client.
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.
Harry has to deal with a woman who confesses to him that she killed her husband that morning, a detective who can't get used to working without his partner and a morose Dan who was rejected as a sperm bank donor.
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.
Dan thinks he will become a new judge, but Christine is awarded the position. However, Harry discovers that his name is not on the judge reappointment list. Meanwhile the Wheelers, the hick couple from West Virginia, become the proprietors of the concession stand.
Upon learning that he will not be reappointed as a judge, Harry disappears to perform an outrageous stunt. But he doesn't realize that Christine, who has taken over the night court, has gotten his job back.
