Review by C.J. Bunce
Many try, but few get it right. When you see a good holiday episode of a popular television series, you just know it. That’s the case for this week’s premiere of the second (or eleventh) season of the brilliantly funny revival of Night Court. The episode “A Night Court Before Christmas” has it all, and it’s tied up in only 22 minutes of quick and snappy writing, complete with the requisite laughs and the series’ long-standing brand of laugh out loud jokes and set-ups. If you missed the last 16 episodes of the show in 2023, it’s a good time to catch up. John Larroquette has never been funnier and the new cast is a perfect follow-up to the original.
The transition after a 30-year hiatus was surprisingly seamless. The TV Gods finally got one right, and instead of another cancellation of a great show, NBC’s fall Prime Time line-up is looking up with this first episode hitting the ground running. What’s ahead for this season? Since the groundwork was laid for the new roles in 2023, the show will hopefully get into the groove of case of the week and guests of the week. That begins with a very Christmas Eve predicament and guest star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The 2023 season was every bit as laugh-out-loud funny as the original, with the same heart and quirky spirit, with some episodes even better than the original Night Court, which first aired from 1984-1992. The spiritual successor to shows like Barney Miller and Welcome Back, Kotter, Night Court dabbled in the truth of life in the Big Apple’s dingy corners, using humor to buff its dull reality. NBC returned the original series to Prime Time with a show that is as worthy, with John Larroquette providing half the connection with the original, back as attorney Dan Fielding, and the other half from new series lead Melissa Rauch as Judge Abracadabra “Abby” Stone, daughter of the late Harry Anderson’s Judge Harry T. Stone (Anderson died in 2018).
Rauch didn’t change her focus all season, playing Judge Harry Stone’s daughter as a sweet, adorable newbie to the big city, and like the elder Stone, she doesn’t have a bad bone in her body. She’s also fiercely all about the noble role she serves, “unapologetically optimistic,” which created all the room the writers needed to set up a new decade of stories. They (lightly) broached “serious” issues, while keeping the series lighthearted and not an “issues” show. Too many comedies try too hard to make the humor about character relationships–this series puts the characters in their places and lets the writers come up with the best jokes they can in their confined spaces. And they more than succeeded. In this week’s episode, Rauch throws her whole self into the part and every joke is a hoot. Yes, she makes a great Elf, and Larroquette a passable Santa, even without the suit–their size difference makes every scene funnier.
Comedienne and singer Lacretta counterbalanced Rauch’s dose of heart with an equal but different dose of heart, as the new bailiff, Donna “Gurgs” Gurganous. Her easy-going, generous, and just plain normal character was unique in the show’s history, but the quirks came to light as she brushed up against the new prosecutor, India de Beaufort’s assistant district attorney Olivia. Of all the characters, Olivia got the biggest work-out, questioning her own place in the world, her career choices, her friends, her enemies, and her relationships with the Judge and Gurgs.
The only question is whether court clerk Neil, played by Kapil Talwalker, will return. Frequent Whose Line is it Anyway? funnyman Gary Anthony Williams brings his signature humor as clerk in this episode, so maybe he’s here to stay. Neil was the least tapped of the key cast, and had the most opportunity for growth in Season 2.
The original run saw recurring appearances by Mel Tormé, John Astin, Yakov Smirnov, Gilbert Gottfried, and Brent Spiner (it’s where the face of Star Trek’s Data became recognizable nationwide as a frequent down-and-out defendant). The 2023 season followed the same formula–skip big name guest stars and stick to familiar character actors from classic TV, and maybe some future stars will surface from this season. Psych’s Kurt Fuller was the season’s big recurring guest, with Just Shoot Me!’s Wendie Malick, Murphy Brown’s Faith Ford, and a surprise visit by Marsha Warfield as Roz, the last of the original run’s bailiffs.
Same court. Same judge’s chambers. Same cafeteria. Same hallway. With a good cast in place, the show really is all about the writing. Writing team Dan Rubin, Lon Zimmet, Azie Dungey, and Leila Strachan, Mathew Harawitz, and a small writers room brought out all the funny–with one episode in it looks like the series is off to a great start. It’s nostalgic for the characters, the set-up, its 1980s brand of humor, the positivity, even the logo card, and it’s funny–the show to look forward to all week long.
Look for the Season 2 premiere episode and all sixteen first season (or tenth season if you include the original run) episodes of Night Court now streaming on Peacock, where you also can catch up on original show episodes. Night Court airs Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Central on NBC, streaming next day on Peacock.
