Night Court

NBC reboots 'Night Court,' with Melissa Rauch dispensing justice and John Larroquette making a welcome return.

So watch NBC’s Night Court for Larroquette and brace for the inconsistency. There’s an ideology there, of course, but Night Court hasn’t suddenly decided to be a show that aggressively comments on three decades of changes in the judicial system. Another sitcom vet, Murphy Brown favorite Faith Ford, has a good episode as Abby’s mother, but all of the secondary storylines in that half-hour fall flat. So far, it all works less than half of the time, but at least it occasionally works. Like the original, this Night Court — the late Reinhold Weege remains credited as creator, with Dan Rubin as developer of this update — starts with a young judge taking over the night shift at arraignment court. The writers have generally picked new cases that would fit in with the old, like the woman who insists she’s a werewolf, but more frequently the cases here are used to make character-driven points, like various times Abby temporarily worries she might be too soft or sentimental, only to be reminded that sentiment is her family’s core judicial superpower. It isn’t exactly that Dan has evolved in the 30 years since we saw him last. Rauch has precision comic timing and, given her diminutive stature, pairing her opposite the towering Larroquette will always be a workable sight gag. It’s a still-fruitful setting too often wasted by writers who aren’t quite sure how they want to adapt the format to a very different era of television. Shifts within the supporting cast meant that the writers were constantly trying, not always successfully, to tailor new parts to new actors, knowing that they would always be behind Larroquette in punchlines and Harry Anderson in screen time. While it isn’t obvious if every case Dan references from his past with Harry was an episodic plot from the original series, they all might as well be. This inconsistency was especially pronounced if you experienced Night Court, as so many viewers did, primarily in syndication; one episode would lead you to think this was one of the best shows of its era and the next would be pure drivel.

This time, however, that judge is Abby Stone (Melissa Rauch), daughter of Harry Stone, the magistrate from the original, played by Harry Anderson. Anderson died ...

The [NBC](https://www.tvinsider.com/network/nbc/) sitcom is back, more than 30 years after the original series finished off its docket. But we do have updates for other actors from the first Night Court — which ran for nine seasons between 1984 and 1992 — minus Mike Finneran, who dropped out of the spotlight in the mid-1990s. [Night Court](https://www.tvinsider.com/show/night-court/)! [Charles Robinson](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/charlie-robinson/), [Markie Post](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/markie-post/), Selma Diamond, Florence Halop, S. This time, however, that judge is Abby Stone ( [Melissa Rauch](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/melissa-rauch/)), daughter of Harry Stone, the magistrate from the original, played by [Harry Anderson](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/harry-anderson/).

Big Bang alum Melissa Rauch stars in the new sequel series as Judge Abby Stone, the daughter of the original's Judge Harry Stone (played by the late Harry ...

He quickly switches gears and defends the man — who, of course, flashes Abby and the rest of the court before he leaves. The janitor is too busy disposing of dead birds to help, though, and when Dan opens up a box of Harry’s things, a bunch of spring-loaded snakes pop out in his face. Tuesday’s series premiere opens with a perky Abby arriving for her first day as the new judge in her dad’s old courtroom, but not many people there remember Harry and the old Night Court crew. She needles him about what he really wants to do, and her upbeat attitude gets Neil to agree to give her a bit more time with her cases so she can dig in further. When Abby says she’s the new night court judge, Dan lets out a terrified yelp, scoffing at her offer to be the new public defender. Big Bang alum Melissa Rauch stars in the new sequel series as Judge Abby Stone, the daughter of the original’s Judge Harry Stone (played by the late Harry Anderson).

John Larroquette finds his groove, while the rest of the new "Night Court" wastes its promising premise by playing it safe. [Review]

(Judge Abby has the courage to admit she’s “not anti-protest.”) Old fans may be satisfied simply by seeing Larroquette again, and new fans may be taken by him, as well — but the latter group isn’t sticking around for an all-too-familiar old school reboot. But “Night Court” could also rely on Larroquette — who won four of those seven Emmys himself (and could’ve won more, had he not withdrawn from consideration) — and all of the above holds true for the new “Night Court,” as well. Through six episodes, “Night Court” isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. There’s too much order in this “Night Court,” which never becomes as weird or wild as its premise demands, making its case for relevance is too easily dismissed. He pivots his character with grace, making it easy for established fans to go-along with the adjustments and even easier for newcomers to get behind the once-outrageous womanizer. Abby is a neutral presence: perfectly capable of doing the job, but rarely adding anything substantial to the mix. Developed by Dan Rubin, “Night Court” 2023 (or Season 10, or whatever you prefer to call it) picks up in similar fashion to the original pilot. (There are far too many shows where a judge does the job of an attorney, and the O.G. “You live, you love, and you lose — big time — so you close off your heart,” Dan says, describing his post-Season 9 life of solitude. “Night Court” is as guilty as any for propping up such misconceptions.) She wants to bring back Dan Fielding, only not as the prosecutor he played in prior decades, but as the state’s appointed defense. New cases came up fast and funny: some episodes focused on a single issue, while others ran through a few at a time, while shifting focus to the people of the court. Whether the gang was deciding if an omniscient, red-suited trespasser could be Santa Claus or they were merely trying to clear a busy docket, “Night Court” could always rely on its setting to stir things up — even when the jokes were telegraphed, the punchlines tired, and the characters inert.

Here's what happened in the series finale of the original "Night Court." Catch up on what happened right now.

Go behind-the-scenes, stay on top of breaking news, hang with the stars, and much more. Stone](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/what-happened-to-harry-stone-on-night-court) gets offered an associate professorship at Columbia Law School, a partnership with one of the most powerful law firms in the country, a seat on the superior court, an offer to host his own talk show, and an invitation to tour with Mel Torme. Then, Judge Stone reveals that he changed his mind on the job offer and elects to stay in the courtroom in order to make a difference. However, Pamela’s mother, Clare Monroe, shockingly reveals that she and Dan briefly dated in the summer of 1967. And with the exciting 2023 [reimagining airing on NBC](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/everything-to-know-about-the-new-night-court-on-nbc), you may be feeling nostalgic. The two-part series finale of the original Night Court, titled “Opportunity Knock Knocks," aired in 1992.

Reheating old series for modern tastes is common practice. But new revivals from NBC and Netflix seek to honor the TV of an earlier age.

But to anyone interested in a sharper picture of young people in the last years of the last century, let me direct you to Freevee’s lovely “ Attracted to the sound of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” blasting from Donna’s old house next door, Leia meets Gwen (Ashley Aufderheide), determines that she needs to become her best friend and talks her parents into letting her spend the summer with her grandparents. And they are still smoking pot, though, again, this is implied (the signature “circle” scenes are back) rather than shown — an aesthetic choice now, rather than a network mandate. (Eric, still a nerd, has become a professor teaching a course in “The Religion of ‘Star Trek,’” and Donna, still tough, has written “a book,” though just what sort of book it is not thought important enough to specify.) Episodes in the new and old show alike concern acquiring a tap to get beer out of a lucked-into keg. [John Larroquette](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-01-ca-30266-story.html) is the original series’ sole representative — and a joy to watch — transformed by time from a narcissistic womanizer into a merely misanthropic widower. The setting, with its invariably strange, quickly dispatched cases, provides a platform for a variety of comic bits, but the point of the show is To the extent that any lessons are learned, it will not be by anyone who comes before Judge Stone, but by her colleagues, who are children in grown-up clothing. [Harry Anderson](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-harry-anderson-20180416-story.html) as Harry Stone, a young, irreverent judge working the night shift in Manhattan’s Municipal Court. Each features at least one old cast member; each re-creates the old sets; each is, as before, a multi-camera comedy; and neither is out to do more than capture whatever it was that made their progenitors so popular, to not fix what wasn’t broken. It’s impossible to generalize about television except to say that there’s too much of it, but here and there, in a small way, we seem to be experiencing something of a neoclassical phase. [That ](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-03-ca-4805-story.html)’ [70s Show,](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-03-ca-4805-story.html)” which aired on Fox from 1998 to 2006, premieres Thursday on Netflix.

Marsha Warfield has rendered her verdict on NBC's 'Night Court' revival — but will she return as Roz?

At the Television Critics Association winter press tour (now winding down in Pasadena), Night Court revival EP Dan Rubin weighed in on other OGs — such as Warfield and Richard Moll, who played bailiff Bull — possibly popping up, saying “it’s a challenge to keep this show it’s own thing and have it stand on its own two feet. Warfield was between sets at a comedy club Tuesday night, and thus admitted, “I didn’t have a chance to catch the first episode, but I will. To former castmate John Larroquette, who on the revival is reprising his role as legal eagle Dan Fielding, Warfield said, “I can’t imagine a new show doing better than having you to build around.

Melissa Rauch and John Larroquette on the set of Night Court. Dan Fielding is back, but he's not better. Jordin Althaus/NBC/Warner Bros. Television.

If you’re a fan of the original Night Court, there’s enough of it left in this one to make it worth at least a nostalgia watch. I didn’t really want to return to the Night Court universe if Harry, Christine, and Mac weren’t in it. The best episodes and funniest moments of Night Court were driven by the court’s defendants. New Night Court had a major hurdle to clear in that its cast was beloved and half of them (Anderson, Post, and Robinson) are dead. Of all the ways I thought the revival would handle this, I was not expecting what it ultimately did, which was give Anderson his due and make his loss a major part of the show (it is, in fact, its catalyst), and completely ignore Post and Robinson. Night Court is still writing the best lines for and getting the best performances out of its prosecutors! And the rest of the series regulars apparently fell into a rip in the space-time continuum and were erased from existence, as none of them are even mentioned in the first seven episodes. Thirty years after Night Court went off the air, Harry fell in love, got married, had a daughter, and died. In both content and format, the show was very much of its time, which is also very much not of this time. In between, you get something that’s not enough like the original show to keep the fans it had, but too much like the original to attract new ones. And after a co-worker said she thought Night Court was just a 30 Rock invention and not a real show, I knew I would have to review it, as only the show’s truest and best fan could. There are things a fan wants from a reboot — a return to a place, people, and tone — that no Night Court reboot could possibly provide.

NBC's latest primetime offering, "Night Court" took down the Tuesday night competition with its debut.

The second episode garnered a 0.3 rating and 2.76 million total viewers in the bottom hour, leaving “New Amsterdam” in third place behind ABC’s “Will Trent” and “FBI: Most Wanted” on CBS. hour with a new episode of “New Amsterdam.” With another back-to-back reveal, the first of the two episodes attracted 3.42 million total viewers and scoring a 0.4 rating. The procedural raked in 4.62 million total viewers for the new episode – a steady figure for the popular show that’s now in its fifth season. Sitting in second place among Tuesday night’s primetime rankings is ABC’s “The Rookie” with a .6 rating for the hour. Following at 8:30, the second episode dropped 10% in ratings, receiving a 0.9 within the key demo and an 8.72% fall in total viewers. [NBC](https://variety.com/t/nbc/)’s latest primetime offering, “ [Night Court](https://variety.com/t/night-court/)” took down the Tuesday night competition with its Jan.

More than 7 million viewers tuned in to rebooted sitcom.

[ABC](https://www.tvinsider.com/network/abc/)‘s [The Rookie](https://www.tvinsider.com/show/the-rookie/) raked in 4.6 million viewers and a 0.6 rating after steady improvements week to week during its Tuesday slot. [Night Court (2023)](/show/night-court-2023/) where to stream [1Was That ‘The Resident’ Series Finale? [New Amsterdam](https://www.tvinsider.com/show/new-amsterdam/)‘s penultimate episode retained about half the viewership, with 3.4 million and a 0.4 demo, remaining constant with season highs. [NBC](https://www.tvinsider.com/network/nbc/)‘s [Night Court](https://www.tvinsider.com/show/night-court-2023/) revival is shaping up to be a hit, as the network’s latest series garnered more than 7 million views during its premiere. The newly rebooted sitcom, co-starring [Melissa Rauch](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/melissa-rauch/), who also serves as executive producer, debuted on January 17 to 7.1 million viewers and a rare 1.0 demo rating. This time, however, that judge is Abby Stone (Rauch), daughter of Harry Stone, the magistrate from the original, played by [India de Beaufort](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/india-de-beaufort/) as Olivia, [Kapil Talwalkar](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/kapil-talwalkar/) as Neil, and [Lacretta](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/lacretta/) as Donna “Gurgs” Gurganous.” Meanwhile, [The Rookie: Feds](https://www.tvinsider.com/show/the-rookie-feds/) brought in a 9 million/0.3 rating, and on [FOX](https://www.tvinsider.com/network/fox/), the season finale of [The Resident](https://www.tvinsider.com/show/The-Resident/) surged to a 2.9 million viewership and 0.3 rating. What We Could See Next](https://www.tvinsider.com/1077664/the-resident-season-6-finale-conrad-billie-love-bell-trial-devon-proposes/) [2‘New Amsterdam’ Bosses Explain Where Series Finale Left Max’s Love Life](https://www.tvinsider.com/1077494/new-amsterdam-finale-adult-luna-medical-director-max-leaving-helen-wilder/) [3Marilu Henner Joins ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ as Kilbride’s Ex-Wife](https://www.tvinsider.com/1077722/ncis-los-angeles-marilu-henner-kilbride-ex-wife/) [4Meryl Streep Joins ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 3](https://www.tvinsider.com/1077681/only-murders-in-the-building-meryl-streep-cast-season-3/) [5‘Night Court’ Revival Is Big Ratings Hit on NBC Debut](https://www.tvinsider.com/1077816/night-court-reboot-premiere-7-million-viewership-ratings/) [Harry Anderson](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/harry-anderson/). [Rauch told TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/1077084/melissa-rauch-night-court-theme-song-reboot/) before the successful launch of the series. However, [the show’s series finale](https://www.tvinsider.com/1077503/new-amsterdam-series-finale-spinoff-seasons-movie-max-geneva-adult-luna/) lowered to 2.8 million and 0.3.

Night Court reboot executive producer Dan Rubin teases that more original series characters could return alongside John Laroquette's Dan Fielding.

Were one to make a list of the original Night Court actors who would be most welcome on the revival, that list would have to be headed up by Richard Moll, who played the hulking bailiff Bull. But could other original Night Court stars make their way to the revival series? Set on the night shift of a Manhattan criminal court, the original Night Court became a solid ratings performer for NBC during the 1980s, going on to run for nine seasons.

The workplace comedy series, which is reboot of the original series created by Reinhold Weege that ran for nine seasons in the 1980s, debuted with back-to-back ...

[NBC](https://deadline.com/tag/nbc/) since Will & Grace in 2017. It’s also by far the top broadcast premiere of the television season, and the top comedy premiere across both broadcast and cable. The episode also managed 7.4M total viewers. The workplace comedy series, which is reboot of the original series created by Reinhold Weege that ran for nine seasons in the 1980s, debuted with back-to-back episodes on Tuesday. The episode averaged 6.7M viewers. The second episode, which aired at 8:30 p.m., was the No.

With CBS' well-watched FBIs in rerun mode this week, NBC's sitcom “new-boot” (as co-lead/EP Melissa Rauch likes to call it) debuted on Tuesday night — as a self ...

Will Trent (3.2 mil/0.3) added a few eyeballs in Week 3, while steady n the demo. This is only an exhibition, this is not a competition. TVLine readers gave the finale a What’s more, the premiere delivered the highest total audience for any comedy series premiere since ABC’s The Conners in 2018, and the best for an NBC laffer since Will & Grace itself got revived in 2017. With CBS’ well-watched FBIs in rerun mode this week, NBC’s sitcom “new-boot” (as co-lead/EP Melissa Rauch likes to call it) debuted on Tuesday night — as a self-starter, mind you — to 7.4 million total viewers and a nearly-unheard-of-these-days 1.0 demo rating. I’m looking into superlatives, but that has to be one of NBC’s most-watched non-sports things in a minute.

Now that "Night Court" is back in session, reminisce on the funniest "Night Court" quotes from the original NBC series.

— Dan Fielding to comedy." "I'm Dan Fielding. "She is to comedy what Roy Rogers is... "You may be younger, you may be faster, you may even be smarter. — Judge Harry T. "That wasn't herb tea—that was Herb!" "I bet I know what you're doing! — Dan Fielding to Judge Harry T. "I would like to cite the precedent of Becker v. Yikes!" These Night Court quotes, from Harry Stone's goofy capers to Dan Fielding's smarmy quips and beyond, will remind you why you loved the original show and get you even more excited for the next installment of the reboot series.