Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: India de Beaufort, John Larroquette, Kapil Talwalkar, Lacretta, Marsha Warfield, melissa rauch, nbc, Night Court

Night Court Succeeded By Embracing But Not Depending On Nostalgia

NBC's Night Court sequel series succeeded because it never felt the need to use nostalgia as a crutch as it fully embraced the new cast.

Published Sat, 13 May 2023 09:09:12 -0500

by Tom Chang

Last updated Sat, 13 May 2023 23:30:26 -0500

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The difficult balance in bringing back a beloved legacy series is how to embrace the past with an eye toward the future. NBC's current incarnation Night Court managed to almost completely lean on its new cast to tell their stories while doing the bare minimum on its legacy past. Melissa Rauch does an exemplary job finding Abigail Stone's voice learning on the job while taking fatherly type advice from the holdover in John Larroquette's Dan Fielding. The series could have easily been a complete trip down memory lane going back to the original series with former cases and ties to the original cast members, but the current incarnation's creator and showrunner, Dan Rubin, really made Night Court his own. He managed to expand the late creator of the original series Reinhold Weege's vision. The following contains spoilers.

Letting New Night Court Thrive Without Needing to Pass the Torch

Everyone from Rauch to the supporting cast in India de Beaufort's Olivia, Kapil Talwalkar's Neil, and Lacretta's Gurgs are well-developed characters without having to resort to being cliches. I'm also impressed with Larroquette's evolution as Dan since his original lecherous incarnation is far from acceptable in the #MeToo era. Aside from his status as a widower, it feels like given his past in the original series, there probably should have been some children from his several past flings. They barely scratched the surface with the Wendy Malick episode. Given that NBC renewed the series for a second season, perhaps we might see that happen.

In the season finale, we finally got someone else from the original series to make a cameo in Marsha Warfield reprising her role as Roz, but it's only in the end-credits scene. She's taken to a Louisiana courtroom where she discovers Dan is the judge and, as a subject of a bachelorette party, asks to be taken back to her cell. Part of me hoped originally that she could mentor Gurgs about the life of being a bailiff, but the other part reminded me how often these types of cliches can undermine the development of the new character. Not everyone needs a "passing the torch" moment, as I don't think NBC-turned-Peacock legacy shows like Punky Brewster and Saved by the Bell learned. Whether that's a one-off, we'll have to find out next season or if we'll be surprised by another blast from Night Court's past, whether it's original cast member Richard Moll reprising his role as original bailiff Bull Shannon or Brent Spiner and Annie O'Donnell returning as favorites Bob and June Wheeler.

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