Posted in: NBC, Peacock, TV | Tagged: India de Beaufort, John Larroquette, melissa rauch, Night Court, Paul Scheer, Upbright Citizens Brigade, veep

Night Court: Paul Scheer on Fulfilling Comedy Dream, Rob Huebel & More

Paul Scheer (Star Trek: Lower Decks) spoke with us about appearing on NBC's new Night Court, his love for the original series, and more.

By the time actor and comedian Paul Scheer burst into the scene on screen in the late 1990s, the original NBC incarnation of Night Court already ended its run in 1992 after nine seasons. Being able to join the Reinhold Weege franchise in its current incarnation from Dan Rubin became a dream come true with his upcoming appearance along with Rob Huebel in the episode "Hold the Pickles, Keep the Change." Scheer and Huebel play a pair of lawyers looking for new opportunities for clients, while Olivia Moore (India de Beaufort) is looking to move her way up into their firm any way she can. Scheer spoke to Bleeding Cool about his love for the original series with John Larroquette (Dan Fielding) featured in both shows, his history with series stars Melissa Rauch (Abby Stone) and de Beaufort, and Huebel, and if he'll return for another season two episode.

Night Court: Paul Scheer from Diehard Fan to Guest Star

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

Scheer: One of the best things about being in this business for so long and having so many great, talented friends is as you rely on them, they rely on you. Melissa played my wife [Shira] on 'Black Monday,' and we have known each other for decades from our time at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. I reached out to her when 'Night Court' was first announced, and I was like, "Oh my gosh! This is amazing. I am so psyched you're doing this. I love that show, and what a smart idea!" When she reached out to me to come on the show, I didn't even care what the part was. I was in.

What's your experience watching the original series?

'Night Court' was such a part of my life growing up; it was crazy to step on the set. As a kid, I always wanted to be an actor or comedian. I didn't know exactly what I wanted. I knew I wanted to be in the TV world of 'Night Court' as much as I wanted to be on the set of 'The Cosby Show' or whatever. I wanted to be there and to be able to step into the exact set as the one on the show that I could stand next to. John Larroquette playing the same character was a real mind explosion. I sent a picture to my dad, and he freaked out. It's like one of those things. It's like, "Oh my gosh! You got to work with John Larroquette," which would have been great. I got to work with him playing the character that I loved as a kid on TV; on the show that he was on I grew up loving. It's so cool.

What was the character you connected with the most on the original show?

It was always (Richard Moll's) Bull [Shannon]. I loved him – (Marsha Warfield's) Roz, too, and Selma Diamond. I loved that cast, and it was interesting. Harry Anderson is the one that probably is the guy I like the most because I love magic. He was so funny, but it was one of those ensembles where I didn't have a favorite as much as I enjoyed living in that world mentally.

Is there a comparison between the humor of the original versus the current incarnation?

Here's the thing: 'Night Court' is an example of a great premise where you can swap out the characters. Harry Anderson, Markie Post, John Larroquette, all these amazing actors were in this brilliant show. At the core of it is the idea of 'Night Court', and you have this crazy, zany world that could hold water with new characters. When you put Melissa in there, she's such an established and amazing comedian and brings something completely different. I don't think in my conversations with anyone that they've said like, "They're comparing her performance to Harry Anderson's performance because he played his role his way. We loved him because of what he had done with it, and we love Melissa. T mistake a lot of people make with reboots is they're trying to capture the old show. The mistake that this show would be trying to make Melissa like Harry Anderson or Mel Torme, making her do magic, right? She has her own thing, and even with John Larroquette, we bring him back, but he's not doing the same thing. Walking the fine line between familiar but unexpected, and a lot of times when we come to reboot, it's familiar and then people forget like, "No, we still need to care."

As far as the character you're in this episode, how do you break down your chemistry with Rob and India?

It's been a blast to work with the two of them. Rob and I have worked together forever. We started at the UCB Theater back in the late 90s. We did our sketch comedy show on MTV for a couple of years. We've done stand-up specials. We perform all the time at UCB. Rob and I stream every week. We have a connection, and Rob is like my work wife. We perform so much, and we know each other. We've been in totally insane situations as performers; there's no one I trust more than Rob. India is somebody that I met when I started when I was on Veep. We had our plotline, and the timing of the second to last season was in the CBS news world; I was the producer, and she was the on-air anchor. It was an amazing time working with her because she's so incredibly talented, and I love what she does on the show. What I thought was fun is that her character felt high status, that we got to come in there and challenge her a little bit. That's a fun runner of the show, and we get to see a different side of her a little bit because she's coming up against one of her own [as a lawyer].

One thing about the original series was the rotational nature with its recurring guest stars; I noticed there hasn't been much in that respect on the new show. While working on the second season, have you filmed anything else beyond this upcoming episode and see if your character returns?

I would be lying if I didn't say we're pitching this spinoff going for Rob and I's characters. "We can shop this; maybe we'll try it the week before Christmas." It's not even a month past that was the fourth episode of this season, so I'm sure that probably three episodes past that now. I would love to come back, and there has been some talk about it, but I don't think it's been locked in because these shows that we finish on Friday, they got their next script ready to go for Monday. There is an engine in play. It's a little harder; it's like turning a giant oil tanker; you can get us back in. It just will take a beat to figure out how to make it worthwhile.

Night Court, which also stars Lacretta and Nyambi Nyambi, airs Tuesdays on NBC and streams the following day on Peacock.

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