| Bull Shannon | |
|---|---|
 Bull Shannon, played by Richard Moll | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Nationality: | American |
| Age: | 40-49 (original series) |
| Born: | somewhere around 1943 |
| Occupation/ Career: |
Bailff, Manhattan Municipal Court, NYC |
| Character description: |
Seemingly dim-witted, but good-natured, tough, but somewhat childlike; develops unlikely friendships with all of his female co-bailiffs |
| Spouse(s): | Wanda Flinn by Season 9 |
| Appearances/Series information | |
| Appeared on: | Night Court |
| Episode(s) appeared in: |
193, All in series, Seasons 1-9 |
| Played by: | Richard Moll |
Aristotle Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon is one of the bailiffs at the Manhattan Municipal Criminal Court on the Night Court TV series. The part of Bull is played by veteran character/voice actor Richard Moll.
About Bull[]
A (seemingly) dim-witted hulk of a figure, Bull, at heart is actually gentle and often childlike, with a certain honest naivete about him. He was fiercely protective of Harry. Bull would also choose a series of words every month from the dictionary and try to put them in a sentence. Bull was known for his catchphrase, "Ohh-kay," and clapping a hand loudly to his forehead when he realized he had made a mistake. His other trademark trait was when he would become upset he would moan a low pitch whine that became a loud wail as he stormed off in anger or sadness.
Bull was especially close to fellow bailiff Selma Hacker, who acted as a mother figure to the tough-looking but childlike Shannon. In the Season 3 opening episode "Hello, Goodbye", Bull is distraught upon hearing of Selma's death: he goes on an all-night bender with a group of circus performers and shows up the next day drunk-and-disorderly. After talking to Harry, Bull is eventually is able to come to grips with Selma's passing.
Bull apparently served in the military at some point before becoming a bailiff, in either the US Army or Marine Corps. He mentioned at one point that the first time he was away from his mother was Basic Training, but noted that he was comforted by the Drill Sergeants looking like his mother. When lamenting that his appearance often scared people, he said the only people that never cared about his appearance were the Marines. The uncertainty in which service he was in comes from the fact that "Drill Sergeant" is a US Army term, while the US Marine Corps calls them "Drill Instructors". Given he never mentioned serving in Vietnam, which would have been relevant while working with Vietnam veteran Mac Robinson, presumably he never served there. If he was born around 1943, and enlisted at the age of 18 in 1961, he could have served a 4 year and ended his service around the time large-scale combat deployments to Vietnam began in 1965.
Bull had a similar relationship with Selma's successor, the equally gruff, diminutive elderly Florence Kleiner; the two seemed to share more common interests as they both liked motorcycles and loud rock music.
By the time Roz Russell, Florence's successor, arrived in Season 4, the two also struck an unusual friendship, as the equally tough, no-nonsense Roz had even more of a calming effect on Bull, as they developed a true friendship as well, if not deeper than, the two previous female bailiffs did with Bull.
It was revealed in Season 5 (Episode 111) that Bull has an IQ of 181 and is therefore a genius.
Bull married Wanda Flinn on the Season 9 episode "Get Me to the Roof on Time."