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Night Court: Annie O'Donnell on June Wheeler Return, Star Trek Irony

Annie O'Donnell spoke with Bleeding Cool about returning as June Wheeler on NBC's Night Court after nearly 40 years, Brent Spiner, and more.

Annie O'Donnell has been one of the most enduring character actresses with a career spanning over four decades since her debut in the 1980s TV series The Life and Times of Eddie Roberts. With 120 credits to her name, one of her most memorable roles was one of her earliest as June Wheeler in the original NBC sitcom Night Court along with Brent Spiner, who played her spouse Bob Wheeler. The Wheelers originally claimed to be from West Virginia before they revealed themselves to be Yugoslavian immigrants struggling to get by and finding themselves at the other end of the law.

As Judge Harry Stone (Harry Anderson) presides over their cases, he finds himself flummoxed over their almost cartoony sad sack scenarios. The two along with daughter Carol Ann Wheeler (Kate Micucci) return after 37 years to wreak havoc again at the other end of the law with Harry's daughter Judge Abby Stone's (Melissa Rauch) court in the upcoming episode "Wheelers of Fortune" O'Donnell spoke with Bleeding Cool about becoming June Wheeler again, if she kept up with Spiner since the original Reinhold Weege series, crossing paths over Star Trek, how often Night Court fans approached her, and thoughts on the new cast.

Night Court: The Nearly Four-Decade Journey Back for Annie O'Donnell

Bleeding Cool: When you got the call to reprise June Wheeler for 'Night Court,' what were your initial thoughts?

O'Donnell: I was thrilled. It's been percolating in my mind that that possibly could happen, but until it happens, it doesn't happen [laughs]. I was on the set in my dressing room for another show called 'Not Dead Yet' when my agent called me, and I thought, "This is wonderful, two jobs in a row." I was very excited.

Was it hard to slip back into the role, or was it like riding a bike?

Not really. June Wheeler is probably my favorite comedy role on TV that I've ever done. What I did was look at some of the videos, which keep popping up online for me, and refreshed myself a little bit about that. I heard the cadence, and the script was so well written for the character that I went into the mode. It was the right tone for the character, and I was pleased about that.

Did you and Brent keep in contact since the original 'Night Court?'

We did not. We had not seen each other. The last time we had seen each other, we ran into each other in the commissary at Paramount when he was doing 'Star Trek: The Next Generation,' and I was guest starring on 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,' and we happened to run into each other in the commissary that day, and that was the only time we had seen each other since the show. It ended for us because he got [cast] in 'Star Trek' [laughs]. The [original series] had planned, it looked like to make us at least heavily recurring characters because the end of the season [four], the last show that we did, which was 'Her Honor: Part Two,' had us buy the newsstand in the commissary and sitting at the table with the series regulars. We had the last lines of that season and "To Be Continued" under our pictures. It looked good, and then two weeks later, Brent got 'Star Trek,' so it was pretty crazy.

When you stepped on this new set, I'm sure you got to reconnect with John Larroquette and…

Oh, yeah.

And, of course, Brent as well. Did you guys reminisce about the old show?

Oh, sure. It was like a whole half-a-lifetime went by between when we had seen each other and done the show last. That was amazing. It was like [that gap] had not happened. It was like we were there like it like yesterday, it all fell into place. They are such wonderful actors and great fun people.

Given your robust career, do you get bombarded by Night Court fans compared to others?

It is. For years, the two things that people would kind of stop me from on the streets were for 'Night Court' and the movie 'Baby Boom' (1987) that I did with Diane Keaton [laughs]. Now what it is, I did an amazing commercial for the holidays that was voted the "Best Christmas Commercial of the Year" for Amazon, where it was the three older ladies sledding down the mountain. That seems to have taken over because they were playing it constantly over the holidays. It's interesting as a character actress, I don't get recognized this much as those who are not character people, because I look different all the time. If you see me in person, I look different from June, whereas more leading actors and actresses tend to have the same look most of the time. That's fine. I get to have privacy most of the time.

What are your thoughts on the new cast?

They're fantastic. I was so overjoyed that the welcome that we got was amazing. I mean, everyone went out of their way to be so kind, welcoming, and complimentary to us. It's just lovely people, and they're fantastic in the show.

Night Court, which also stars India de Beaufort, Lacretta, and Nyambi Nyambi, airs Tuesdays on NBC and streams on Peacock.

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