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Melissa Rauch Talks Which Big Bang Theory Stars Could Stop By Night Court
Melissa Rauch almost didn't play Judge Abby Stone on the Night Court revival. The former Big Bang Theory star tells NBC Insider about the moment she changed her mind and decided to pick up the gavel.
We're approaching the bench! Night Court is back—and it’s bringing a new slate of hilarious cases, characters, and storylines to the screen.
The reboot of the beloved NBC series is returning for Season 3 with Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory) behind the bench as Judge Abby Stone. John Laroquette returns as Dan Fielding, this time as a defense attorney, causing a captivating ruckus wherever he goes. Lacretta plays court bailiff Donna “Gurgs,” Nyambi Nyambi (Mike & Molly) plays court clerk Wyatt, and Wendie Malick (Emperor’s New Groove, Shrinking) joins as series regular and new prosecutor Julianne Walters.
NBC Insider caught up with the cast in between filming new episodes to get a sense of what's to come in the jam-packed new season.
Capturing lightning in a bottle again: “That’s Night Court, baby!”
The cast laughs together often and really are a family, Rauch told NBC Insider.
“It’s just joyful to be on set together and do scenes together and it’s because it’s Night Court you... just never know what’s gonna happen,” Rauch said. “The other day we had like dozens of clowns running through the courtroom and then so you’re just walking out of a scene and go to craft services and there’s just, like, a line of clowns eating fajitas. We’re like, ‘That’s Night Court, baby!'"
For Larroquette, there is nostalgia involved when he comes to set since the essence of the show and characters remain true to the original series.
“We’re trying to be as funny as we can and that’s certainly reminiscent because that really was the bellwether of the original, was just be as funny as we can,” Larroquette said, adding to capture the humor of the show is similar to doing a play for the actors.
“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we are all together working on the stage, finding the beats and finding the pauses and finding… hopefully the laughs and the writers are always tinkering and trying to hone the script,” Larroquette explained about the process.
Still, working a sitcom has its own set of unique difficulties. Larroquette noted they have significantly less time to rehearse.
“You’ve got to sort of find your feet, so a lot of the humor is actually created spontaneously when we’re doing it,” Larroquette said. “I think we’ve gotten to the point where we trust each other. That if a ball is thrown in a direction that wasn’t necessarily planned that your partner’s gonna be able to catch it anyway.”
RELATED: Where Is the Original Night Court Cast Now?
Malick’s career encompasses drama, voiceover work in animation, and theater, but she still loves the thrill of a live-camera audience for sitcoms.
“I suddenly remembered how much fun it is the night that the audience is loaded in,” Malick told NBC Insider about joining the cast. “It just gooses the whole thing, and you then get to ride the laughter… You really wanna be there with fresh eyes and ears to hear how much they’re with you and… it’s like surfing. It’s fun.”
Rauch applauded Malick's "instant chemistry" with Larroquette. Lacretta joked she's finally able to make eye contact with Malick now on set.
"I get so shy," Lacretta said. "She's so cool."
For Nyambi, once he embraced spontaneity during scenes with his cast-mates, he started having so much fun too.
“Be willing to not only be surprised but to surprise my partner,” Nyambi said. “Once I sort of gave over to that I was just like, ‘Oh this is… fun. I’m having fun.’”
Night Court cast teases what to expect from Season 3
“We have the cliffhanger from Season 2 that launches us into resolving the cliffhanger in Season 3,” Rauch said.
The new season kicks off diving into who is Abby’s boyfriend’s father, according to the cast. Ryan Hansen plays the aforementioned love interest for Abby, an HR rep named Jake.
“We’re excited to find out whether or not Dan Fielding is the father,” Nyambi said. “You don’t know. We’ll find out, so we’re excited for that.”
The mystery of Jake’s parentage will be tied up with “humor” and “pathos,” according to Larroquette.
Rauch also teased a “very fun murder mystery Christmas episode” with lots of cool costumes.
Night Court season 3 guest star includes The Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik
The revolving doors of the courtroom bring in a lot of opportunities for fun guest stars, and Season 3 is no exception.
“We have a wonderful season planned of many, many guest stars who can come through those doors… shake things up and drop a bomb in there that we can all react to,” Rauch said. “We’ll definitely have a Big Bang face or two this season, again.”
Last season,The Big Bang Theory star Kunal Nayyar reunited with Rauch in a guest star role.
Now, Mayim Bialik is set to appear in an upcoming new episode as a defendant, who ends up actually being a stalker. The hilarious reunion marks their first on-screen moment since The Big Bang Theory.
It's not the only reunion of note! Bialik previously worked with Larroquette as his daughter on the '90s sitcom The John Larroquette Show. Marsha Warfield will also reprise her role as Roz Russell, the former bailiff with the original cast.
“We absolutely love having her here, she’s such a core member of our Night Court family,” Rauch said about Warfield.
Other guest stars set to come on include Julia Duffy (Palm Royale, Christmas with the Campbells), Jessica St. Clair, Andy Daly (Eastbound & Down), Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, RENO 911!), and Nico Santos (Superstore).
Behind the scenes Night Court revival with Melissa Rauch and cast
Rauch jokes her arm has gotten “very muscular” from using the gavel on set.
“There is such power in that move with the gavel,” Rauch said, noting it’s the prop that comes to mind for her as one she’d want to take home. “There’s something very satisfying about making a definitive statement and then banging the gavel, so at some point I’d like to have it. I’d like to take it home and just like, 'Do the dishes!'"
When they first started developing the reboot’s pilot episode, Rauch had no intention of playing Abby, she told NBC Insider. Rauch is an executive producer of the show.
“I really thought I was just gonna be behind the scenes as a producer and John and I developed this really great friendship over the course of the development process and he, from the moment I started bugging him to see if he wanted to do the show, kept asking me if I was gonna play Abby,” Rauch recalled. “Then as we go towards the end… the pilot was going to get made… I was standing in my kitchen and I was reading the wonderful pilot script and I was like, ‘Oh Gosh…. I’m gonna be such a dummy if I don’t do this.’ I’m gonna be on set watching whatever great person we get to do it kicking myself that I didn’t play this role.”
Night Court Season 3 premieres Tuesday, November 19 at 8:30/7:30c on NBC.
