Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: Night Court

Night Court: Julia Duffy on Why Series is "Wackier" Than Other Shows

Julia Duffy (Palm Royale) discussed Night Court being "wackier" than other shows, working with Melissa Rauch and Ryan Hansen, and more.

Julia Duffy is such a TV legend with a career spanning over five decades since her debut in the TV series Love of Life. From there, she would appear on one of NBC's longest-running soaps, The Doctors, as Penny Davis, appearing in 463 episodes from 1973-1977 before making the rounds on prime time TV on various shows, including guest spots on Eight is Enough, Lou Grant, Cheers, The Love Boat, Wizards & Warriors, Simon & Simon before landing her biggest role as Stephanie Vanderkellen in the CBS sitcom Newhart. Following the series' end in 1990, Duffy has largely embraced her guest starring roles with occasional films, with recent notable appearances on Showtime's Shameless, run on Fox's Palm Royale. Duffy spoke to Bleeding Cool about her recurring role as Susan in the Night Court sequel series, series humor, working with series lead Melissa Rauch; Ryan Hansen, who plays her TV son Jake, and trying to get them back together in the upcoming season three episode "Hot to Trot," the secret to her career longevity, and the kind of project she wishes she could do.

Night Court: Why Julia Duffy Feels the Comedy Is "Whackier" Than Most

Bleeding Cool: How did you get involved with 'Night Court?'

The first episode I did was last season, which had a cliffhanger at the final episode. Jake's mom comes in drops a bombshell unwittingly, making it sound like someone at night court was the father of her child because she didn't know. That set the whole thing up, and I thought that was definitely going to lead to something interesting. It was fun to come in and be the bombshell dropper.

Before you got cast in season two, did you familiarize yourself or know anything about the original series?

I watched it, but it's been so long, and I have never seen it since it was first on. I'm sure it's running places, but I didn't have that in my head so much as other people might because this one is now, and I had watched it.

What did you think about the writing when you came on the show? You've seen and done so much throughout your career; how do you compare?

'Night Court' is always a little wackier than other shows, and the unexpected constantly happens. It doesn't compare to anything else. You don't get that anywhere else where anything could happen. You don't know what's going to happen next. You don't know what this person will do or what kind of cases the judge will have. Everything is unexpected, and so you go with the wacky when you're watching it. It's almost like sketch comedy, except you have strong, ongoing feelings for the characters, and that's what I love about it.

You share many scenes with Melissa for this coming episode. Can you tell me what it's like working with her and how she conducts herself in leading the series?

I can't even think of enough good things to say about Melissa. She's such a soulful, heartfelt person. She's very devoted to comedy but also possesses a view and a comedy history she knows in her head from previous eras a lot of those her age don't to where she's very steeped and smart about it. It really matters to her to honor the first series and everybody who's still around, as you can see.

[Melissa] likes to give them something to do in this show, and she cares about how everybody is on the set, like to gauge if they're happy, and effortlessly, she's the best hostess ever. Everybody at the party feels like she wants you there, and she's happy you're there. It's quite something, and of course, I keep thinking of her as being a lot younger than me, but being younger than she is because she looks so young. It seems amazing to me that she has this aplomb about doing all this all by herself. She's really impressive.

Can you speak about, perhaps, a brief word about Ryan Hansen, who plays your TV son, Jake, and the way you guys play off each other in the air and your chemistry?

Ryan is so sweet. He's much like his character. He's very openhearted and has this sunny disposition. He comes into the room, he's happy to be there, and you just can't catch him not smiling or not having fun. That's the way he is all the time. It's remarkable the way he is, and it makes you want to see Jake and Abby together. I mean, how is she going to do better than that?! I mean, come on! They're playing with that this season, and it's paying off.

What's been the secret to your career longevity?

Like any actor, mostly luck, timing, being in the right place at the right time, all those things. I have something to do with the success, but not all is due to me. That's the way it is.

Is there a genre you wish you would have done you haven't yet, or is there one you dabbled in that you wish you could do more of?

That's a very interesting question. I'd love to do a '40s movie, but I'm nearly a hundred years too late for that because I love things done in a certain style. It's so much fun to do a style of comedy which adds to it when it's not too real, and it's this particular style. There's almost no style of comedy I wouldn't like to do. It'd be fun to do more sketch comedy, but there's not much of that around.

Night Court, which also stars John Larroquette, Lacretta, Nyambi Nyambi, Wendie Malick, and Gary Anthony Williams, airs Tuesdays on NBC and is available to stream on Peacock.

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