'Night Court' Sequel Series In The Works At NBC With John Larroquette Coming Back
Remember, Night Court? It was an NBC sitcom that aired from 1984 through 1992 and followed the night shift of a Manhattan municipal court presided over by the young unorthodox Judge Harold "Harry" T. Stone (played by Harry Anderson). The series followed the comedic antics between Judge Stone and the court's public defenders, prosecutor, bailiffs, court clerks and various other characters that crossed their paths. Now we're heading back to the courthouse with a Night Court sequel series at NBC, and it will have both new and familiar faces.
Deadline has news of the Night Court sequel series in the works at NBC, following the original show created by Reinhold Weege. The Big Bang Theory star Melissa Rauch will be executive producing with her After January production partner and husband Winston Rauch. Also executive producing will be Dan Rubin (The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), who will be handling script duties as well.
Rauch grew up as a fan of the series, and saw a good opportunity to create a follow-up with a new main character that has ties to the original Harry T. Stone. Unfortunately, actor Harry Anderson died in 2018, so he's unable to reprise his role, but the new series will focus on his daughter, Abby Stone (yet to be cast), who follows in her father's footsteps as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court and tries to bring order to its crew of oddballs and cynics.
Abby Stone wasn't a character who appeared in the original series, not even as a child played by a young actress, so this will be an entirely new creation for the sequel series. However, she will be joined by a familiar Night Court face with John Larroquette still hanging around as former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding. Since he's a former night court prosecutor, we're not sure what his role will be in the sequel series, but maybe he's brought back into the fray after leaving night court or something like that. Will any of the other Night Court alums make an appearance? I can't imagine NBC would want to miss out on an opportunity like that.
The original Night Court is a sitcom favorite, having run for nine seasons and getting nominated for the Emmy for Oustanding Comedy Series three times. Though the series never won the big prize, John Laroquette won four Emmys for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, so having him back is a smart move. Though it might not seem like he's been around much in recent years, he's been appearing in The Good Fight, The Twilight Zone, Me, Myself & I, and The Librarians. But this role is easily what he's best known for, and having him back in court will undoubtedly be a joy for fans.
The big question is whether the Night Court sequel episode that was already given to us by 30 Rock will be considered canon. It will certainly have a lot of explaining to do if that's the case since it's includes Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) as a werewolf lawyer. But what's the point of having court at night if you can't have werewolves there?