Posted in: NBC, Review, TV | Tagged: John Larroquette, melissa rauch, nbc, Night Court, Review

Night Court Review: Rauch & Larroquette Lead Quirky, Charming Reboot

Led by Melissa Rauch, John Larroquette & an impressive ensemble cast, NBC's Night Court revival stands on its own while honoring the past.

Upon finding out Night Court was getting a legacy reboot on NBC, my initial question was… how? The bulk of the principal cast is gone with the passing of original stars Harry Anderson, Markie Post, and Charles Robinson, who played Judge Harold T. Stone, Public Defender Christine Sullivan, and court clerk Mac Robinson. In fact, the only holdover from the original cast was John Larroquette, who played District Attorney Dan Fielding, leading a new crop of predominantly fresh faces with Richard Moll and Marsha Warfield not returning to reprise their roles as bailiffs Bull Shannon and Roz Russell (that we know of). Joining the five-time Emmy winner, four with the original Reinhold Weege series run, is star Melissa Rauch, who plays Harry's daughter Abby Stone, following in her father's footsteps with the gavel; India de Beaufort, who plays District Attorney Olivia; Kapil Talwalkar, who plays court clerk Neil; and Lacretta, who plays bailiff Donna Gurgs.

As a Night Court fan growing up on the original NBC series, the one thing it taught me was to enjoy the show as is because anyone who knows its history should realize how it survived on its revolving cast. In fact, Anderson, Larroquette, and Moll were the only cast members that were initially cast in 1984 and stayed for all 193 episodes. To start, there were two female bailiffs who passed before Warfield joined in season four. Before Post was firmly cast, there were Paula Kelly and Ellen Foley as public defenders. Before Robinson, there was Karen Austin's Lana Wagner. My point is the show still retained its humor until we got the final incarnation of the original cast, which is what we run into in this latest incarnation.

The new unit is cohesive, and Rauch proves she can more than lead the series as Abby with the youthful exuberance and idealism of her predecessor/father (though having followed her on The Big Bang Theory, it feels a bit off sometimes when she occasionally slips in her Bernadette accent along with her natural voice). Larroquette, as the elder statesman, is far removed from the scheming and lecherous figure he once was as Fielding. He's the bitter-tenured college professor who's seen every single possible student archetype, trying to mind his own business and do his job in a role reversal as the new public defender.

As far as the supporting cast, Talwalkar's Neil is like the sarcastic overworked intern who shares Abby's enthusiasm and has matching sass. Beaufort plays Olivia with some aloofness but is trying to work her way up career-wise. Lacretta is probably the most relaxed and grounded character in the series, which reminds me of the genteel nature and matching sharp wit of Florence Halop's character from the original series in season three. Overall, the slice-of-life zaniness that helped make the original special is retained in spirit.

While it would be nice to see the familiar original cast mates or favorite recurring characters like Brent Spiner and Annie O'Donnell's Bob and June Wheeler, the series needs to establish an identity to thrive on its own. Early on, the series does make a concerted effort to remind viewers of Anderson's lingering influence on the series from the more blatant ways (with Harry trolling Dan from beyond the grave with his magic) and the subtler ways, as Dan fulfills a kind of surrogate father role that helps build the characters around him, especially Rauch's Abby. While you're not going to have Dan perpetually insulting his clients or Bull, the humor's evolved for 2023 not to punch down regularly, and that's a significant step forward for executive producers Dan Rubin, Pamela Fryman, Rauch, and Larroquette. Night Court premieres January 17th on NBC.

Night Court Season 1 E01 "Pilot" / E02 "The Nighthawks"

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Review by Tom Chang

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8/10

NBC's Night Court revival, with Melissa Rauch and original series star John Larroquette leading an impressive ensemble cast, is a charming legacy sequel update. The series shines on its own merits without having to rely on any nostalgic ties to the original series, and yet there's no mistaking that Rauch, Larroquette, and the rest of the team respect what came before them.

Credits

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Showrunner

Dan Rubin

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