Remembering Markie Post of Night Court, Hearts Afire & More; Bounce Comedy Johnson Scores in Ratings

Monday, August 09, 2021

Remembering Markie Post of Night Court, Hearts Afire & More; Bounce Comedy Johnson Scores in Ratings

Actress Markie Post, who starred as Christine Sullivan on Night Court and as Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman on Hearts Afire, has died. She died of cancer in Los Angeles on August 7. She had been diagnosed almost four years earlier. Ms. Post was 70.

Post made her television series debut on a 1979 episode of CHiPs. Some of her early television guest apperances included Barnaby Jones, The Incredible Hulk, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (2 episodes), Hart to Hart, B.J. and the Bear, Eight Is Enough, The Greatest American Hero, Simon & Simon, McClain's Law and Code Red. She played Chris Brennan on the 1981 crime drama television miniseries The Gangster Chronicles.

Her first sitcom starring role was as Barbara Jane Bookman on the short-lived 1980 ABC series Semi-Tough. The slapstick comedy was based on the 1977 film Semi-Tough, which starred Burt Reynolds. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Dan Jenkins. The series starred Bruce McGill, David Hasselhoff, Hugh Gillin, Mary Jo Catlett, Jim McKrell, Ed Peck, Bubba Smith and Freeman King.

Night Court

Post joined the cast of the NBC sitcom Night Court as Christine Sullivan for the third season in the fall of 1985. She made her first appearance as Christine Sullivan on the second season episode "Daddy for the Defense" in 1984. Christine Sullivan was the public defender at New York's Manhattan Night Court. Post appeared in 159 episodes from 1984 to 1992. The cast from seasons 3-9 included Harry Anderson, John Larroquette, Richard Moll, Charlie Robinson (seasons 2-9) Florence Halop (1985-1986) and Marsha Warfield (1986-1992). Post, Anderson and Robinson reprised their roles on the 2008 30 Rock episode, "The One with the Cast of Night Court".

Hearts Afire

She starred as Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman on the 1992-1995 CBS sitcom Hearts Afire. The show was set in Washington, D.C., and centered on a conservative senator's aide (John Ritter) and a liberal political reporter (Post) whose professional disagreements masked a growing attraction for one another. The cast included Billy Bob Thornton, Clark Duke, Wendie Jo Sperber (1992-1993), Doren Fein, Beth Broderick (1992-1993), George Gaynes (1992-1993), Edward Asner (1992-1993), Beah Richards (1992), Adam Carl (1992-1993), Conchata Ferrell (1993-1995), Leslie Jordan (1993-1995), Debbie Gregory (1993-1994), Justin Burnette (1992-1994) and J. Skylar Testa (1994-1995).

Odd Man Out

Post starred as Julia Whitney on the 1999-2000 ABC sitcom Odd Man Out. Julia Whitney was the mother of fifteen-year-old Andrew Whitney (Erik von Detten), the only male in a house full of females. The series also starred Natalia Cigliuti, Agnes Bruckner, Marina Malota, Jessica Capshaw and Trevor Fehrman.

She had a recurring role as Lily Reid, the mother of Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke), on three episodes of Scrubs from 2002 to 2006. She played Betsy on the 2014 web series Rack and Ruin. Some of her other sitcom guest appearances included House Calls, The Love Boat (2 episodes), Cheers, Dave's World (2 episodes), Man Up!, Back in the Game, Santa Clarita Diet and The Kids Are Alright (4 episodes as Helen Portollo).

She starred as bail bondswoman Terri Michaels on the ABC action/adventure series The Fall Guy from 1982 to 1985. She had a recurring role as Barbara "Bunny" Fletcher on 18 episodes of Chicago P.D. from 2014 to 2017. Some of her other drama guest appearances included Matt Houston, Fantasy Island (2 episodes), Glitter, Scene of the Crime, The A-Team (2 episodes), Hotel (3 episodes), VR.5, The District (2 episodes), Ghost Whisperer and Soundtrack. She was the voice of June Darby on the computer animated robot superhero TV series Transformers: Prime.

Post was a card dealer on Card Sharks. She was an associate producer of CBS's Double Dare from 1976 to 1977. Some of her game show appearances included Go, Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour, Body Language, The (New) $25,000 Pyramid, The $100,000 Pyramid, Super Password and Hollywood Squares.

She played Mary's (Cameron Diaz) mom in the 1998 film There's Something About Mary. Some of her TV movie credits included Tricks of the Trade (with Cindy Williams and John Ritter), Glitz, Someone She Knows and Visitors of the Night.

Survivors include her husband, producer and writer Michael A. Ross; and daughters Kate Armstrong Ross and Daisy Schoenborn.

30 Rock - Markie Post, Harry Anderson and Charlie Robinson

Ms. Post was a talented and beautiful actress. She was wonderful as Christine Sullivan and in her many other television roles. We thank her for the many laughs and entertainment she brought us during her career. It's been a very sad last month for Night Court fans as we lost Charlie Robinson on July 11. She will be deeply missed.

Share your memories on our Night Court and Hearts Afire message boards. View photos in our galleries.

Night Court airs weekdays on Laff TV from 8-9am & 2-3am and weekends from 6-8am.

Johnson

The series premiere episodes of the newest Bounce original series Johnson were seen by 2.1 million viewers 2+ in their debut telecasts. The first two episodes of Johnson premiered back-to-back on Bounce on Sunday, Aug. 1st from 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. ET and their initial airing burst within 24 hours included special presentation on Bounce's sister network ION Sunday night. Johnson becomes the most-watched half-hour series launch in Bounce history. Johnson is a single-camera half-hour series that focuses on life-long best friends, all of whom share the same last name, centering around their intriguing and sometimes complicated journey of love, friendship, heartbreak and personal growth. The series is produced in partnership with Cedric The Entertainer and Eric Rhone's A Bird & A Bear Entertainment and Deji LaRay (The show's creator) and Thomas Q. Jones' Midnight Train Productions. Johnson's ensemble cast is led by D.L. Hughley, LaRay (Bosch, Greenleaf), Jones (P. Valley, Luke Cage), Philip Smithey (Switched At Birth, The Rookie), and Derrex Brady (NCIS, First). Bounce premieres new episodes of Johnson Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET, with a primetime play for the west coast at 12 Midnight ET/9:00 p.m. PT. They are added to Bounce's streaming service Brown Sugar on Monday mornings.