Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: Night Court

Night Court: Michael Urie on Living Fan's Dream, "Shrinking" & More

Michael Urie discussed living his Night Court dream by appearing in the NBC series, working with Melissa Rauch and the cast, and much more.

Just around the time Michael Urie started to film his AppleTV+ series Shrinking, a blast from his childhood past happened to be filming at the adjacent stage at Warner Bros in the Dan Rubin revival of Night Court with Melissa Rauch starring as Abby Stone, the daughter who followed in her father, Harry Stone's (Harry Anderson) footsteps as night court judge, and the wackiness of the cases. With season three, Urie was able to live his dream to appear in the legacy series playing Abby's rival Judge Toby Nulman in the episode "Funnest Judge in the City". He spoke to Bleeding Cool about getting cast, the contrast between Toby and Abby, sneaking in to watch filming, getting starstruck, and the tongue-in-cheek Seinfeld Easter egg.

Michael Urie on Finally Living His 'Night Court' Dream, Reuniting with 'Shrinking' Co-star Wendie Malick, and Gay Men's Choir

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

Oh gosh, well, they, I heard about this episode that was coming down the pike, and I heard that they needed to cast "The funnest judge in New York," and I was like, "Can that please be me?" They had been sniffing around, and I was like, "Please let that be me!" I love 'Night Court.' I grew up watching the original, and I would absolutely love to be on the show. It was an easy "Yes" for me.

What's it like being opposite Melissa's character and playing up the whole rivalry?

I love Melissa. She's so lovely and funny. These two characters together were an interesting dynamic because she's a rule follower and wants to be seen as fun, but nobody sees her that way. Here comes this guy who's nothing but personality, and his courtroom is basically a circus. It's basically a show.

Maybe this will be some for next season and whatnot, but I would love to have seen some flashbacks where you guys were roommates with similar ambitions, and one went down the path and the other went down a separate path, but maybe someday. How do you break down the atmosphere that Dan [Rubin] and Melissa had on set?

It's got this lovely set, because there's so much history. The sets look exactly like the original. Before I was on the show, I'm on [AppleTV+'s] 'Shrinking,' which is the stage next door. During the first and second seasons of 'Night Court', the set was up and they weren't shooting, I would sneak in and look at it, because it was so cool to see this. It looks exactly the same as the old show.

There's a ton of history, and there are these wonderful ghosts around. You feel the old cast members, and John Larroquette knows this character [of Dan Fielding] and this world like the back of his hand. Melissa has infused the show with this new life and this new youthful energy. It's a lovely place and it's got a real family. It feels like a family. There are people on the crew who were on the original crew. They've been with the show for 40 years, and it feels like you're making something that is nostalgic, but also it's got a real freshness to it. It's so funny and silly. My favorite thing in this business is doing something that's very silly and everyone takes it seriously. They totally do. They take funny very seriously, and I love that.

Was it hard not to get like a little starstruck meeting John as a fan of the show? I imagine you being on 'Shrinking' and working with Harrison [Ford], perhaps preparing you to meet John?

I mean, I've gotten to meet some titans in my day and work with some of these amazing people from my childhood that meant a lot to me. Luckily, I had met John before. We didn't work together, but we were in the same Broadway show, and he left, and I came in. We weren't in it together, but we did get to meet, and we spent some time messaging each other on social media. I knew him a little bit, and he knew that I was a big fan, so I was very happy to be around him.

I don't get to work with him in my episode, unfortunately, but I did get to be around him and watch him work, so I wasn't so starstruck. I was prepared for John, but I was starstruck around Marsha Warfield, who plays Roz since the original, and it recurs in the new version. That was really cool to see her.

So I got to ask, how did it feel to have that choir complement your courtroom there?

Oh my god! It's so funny. That choir did the musical episode a few episodes before mine. It was so funny, and they loved them so much they brought them back. That choir was so funny, great, lovely guys. What's better than a choir in a jury box? It's like his roots in performing. He has this talk show, basically, and he has the Gay Men's Choir backing him up, which is so delightful.

It's got such a vaudevillian-type kind of feel when you guys play off each other so organically. It was quite something to see there. Do you have anything you could say about some of the other cast members you could talk about like Lacretta, Wendie [Malick], or Nyambi [Nyambi]?

Of course, I work with Wendie on 'Shrinking' and a bunch of times, so I love her. She's such a natural at this kind of work, this multi-cam sitcom thing. She's the queen of the zinger, and Nyambi is so wonderful, also such a lovely guy. He's the straight person trapped in this crazy court and plays it so great. He's always like, "Can you believe I'm here?" and he does such a great job. Lacretta is the secret sauce of the show. Every time I see her, she makes me giggle and smile, and that little mischievous grin she has is fabulous.

My favorite part of the episode was Melissa's Abby, who literally had that 'Seinfeld' moment when she called out your name in disgust.

Nulman! *raises fist*

Season three of Night Court concludes tonight on NBC in back-to-back episodes. The series is also available to stream on Peacock.

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