As I recall from the 1980s sitcom Night Court, there are night judges (though I have no idea if that is a real thing, I doubt my town has night judges).

Night Court was a great show.

The TV Tropes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/NightCourt) page says that "many legal professionals confide that Night Court is far ''more'' realistic than most straight Law Procedurals." I can't vouch for that, but my father is a lawyer, and it was one of his favourite shows too. His other favourite was Rumpole of the Bailey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumpole_of_the_Bailey.

The common thread here that both shows are both (a) funny, and (b) portray defense lawyers as more-or-less good guys. (My father worked for the Attorney General's department).

I can't think of a law procedural from the last two and a half decades that has either of those features. Why is that?

Night Court's a real thing in NYC at least, although obviously the show wasn't completely accurate as to how it works.