Scriptwriter Reinhold Weege, best known for creating NBC’s Night Court, passed away last Saturday (December 1st) at the age of 62. Weege is credited alongside Burt Prelutsky as providing the story for Season Five’s “Souvenirs” (originally broadcast March 1st, 1977) while Prelutsky alone is credited for writing the episode. In the late 1970s Weege wrote several dozen episodes of Barney Miller and also wrote a pair of episodes for Fish (a spin-off of Barney Miller). He also created the short-lived Park Place, which aired on CBS in 1981 for just four weeks. Obituaries can be found at Variety and The Los Angeles Times.
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The main reason I remember his name – is that during one of the episodes of Night Court, it was revealed that Dan’s real name is Reinhold. They all made a big deal about “Reinhold”???? “Reinhold”??? – all through the show, and the I noticed Reinhold Weege’s name at the end. Since then, I realized he also did some of the MASH shows. He must have been a very funny fellow, as both of these shows had great scripts, as did Barney Miller (one of my all time favorite shows) – 62 isn’t very old, RIP Mr. Reinhold Weege.