Night Court will stay in session at NBC. The network announced on May 3 that the show, which stars Big Bang Theory alumna Melissa Rauch and original Night Court star John Larroquette, will return this fall.
Rauch co-executive produces the show and plays Judge Abby Stone, the daughter of Night Court‘s Judge Harry Stone, who was played by the late Harry Anderson. She told ABC Audio before the renewal news that fans seemed to spark to one key change to the show in the second season.
“Something that we learned from the first season is that everyone wanted more ‘court’ in Night Court, which I absolutely love.” She added, “The nature of the original, and this revolving door comedy that could come in, when you have these left-of-center cases … can really drive that comedic engine.”
The show was NBC’s top-ranked comedy in primetime.
Rauch also revealed playing Abby is a bit easier than playing Bernadette, her character on the long-running The Big Bang Theory, because she no longer has to affect that character’s high-pitched, nasally voice all day.
“Yeah, it’s definitely different,” she says with a laugh.
“I’ve always sort of used my voice as a way into character. The voice, the pitch or the tenor is usually how I first start dissecting the role, and then sort of figure everything else else out from there. But with Abby, I knew that I wanted it to be as close to my normal voice as possible.”
She does add she “watched a lot” of Anderson in the original series to try to pick up “a similar cadence and some of his mannerisms” to bridge between the father and daughter.
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