NBC's Night Court is the latest classic series to get the revival treatment. While we've criticized a lot of reboots recently, many of us at JoBlo.com are excited for this one, as the original Night Court holds a special place in our hearts. Initially running for nine seasons starting in 1984, Night Court featured an excellent cast, including the late Harry Anderson and the late Markie Post. Revivals can be tricky, especially with multi-camera sitcoms, which seem kind of dated these days. Fortunately, I'm happy to report that the new Night Court is a satisfying successor to the original comedy and features plenty of new faces along with the original's returning star, John Larroquette.
Thirty years after the original series went off the air, Night Court is back with a sequel series that serves as both a continuation of the classic sitcom and a reboot. Taking Judge Harry Stone's (Harry Anderson) place is his daughter Abby (Melissa Rauch). Following in the footsteps of her late father, Abby is a bubbly personality who wants to find goodness in the criminals in her courtroom. Rauch, who scored a huge hit on The Big Bang Theory, plays Abby as an upright and friendly woman, but with a more natural voice and personality than in her previous CBS sitcom. Abby is joined by a new assistant district attorney, Olivia, played by India de Beaufort, replacing John Larroquette's Dan Fielding. When the public defender quits, Abby finds Dan and convinces him to rejoin night court but on the other side. Larroquette, who played Fielding as a womanizing snob, is still the same baritone know-it-all but has gained some perspective since the death of his wife. After some convincing, Dan joins the team and the series is on its way.
Stars: Melissa Rauch, John Larroquette, India de Beaufort
The cast also includes Lacretta as Donna "Gurgs" Gurganis, the spirited sheriff who is a solid replacement for Marsha Warfield and Richard Moll. She's funny in a way that sometimes seems naive, but others display an intelligence that makes her much more interesting than a cliché, sassy partner. Replacing Charles Robinson's employee, Mac is Kapil Talwalkar as Neil, a lovesick boy who wants out of the night court. The entire cast has great chemistry, but the true champions of this series have always been the criminal kooks that show up and the weirdos that hang out in court. Like the original series, this new Night Court has plenty of kooky scene-stealers from the very first episode and throughout the six available for this review.
In the episodes I've seen, Night Court doesn't miss a beat trying to replicate the tone, look, and format of the classic series. The set is a faithful recreation of the 1984 courthouse, and even the opening theme is a slightly updated (and truncated) version of the original. Interestingly, the pilot is the only episode that feels like it has to reintroduce these characters and it comes off a bit clunky, but the second episode of the series seems to have been on the air for years. The entire cast handles the material deftly and makes it feel like a natural continuation of where the first series left off in 1992. Be warned, this series sticks to the traditional "live in front of a studio audience" sitcom format. ". with the characters looking for applause and occasional moments of over-the-top banter. In short, if you're expecting this to be a 21st century reboot, you're going to be disappointed.
The Night Court reboot comes from the producing team of Melissa Rauch, her husband Winston Rauch and John Larroquette. All three are avid fans of the original series and have a vested interest in making this series feel like a worthwhile successor to the sitcom without turning it into a recreation of the awakening. There are certainly references to many political events in recent years, including the #MeToo movement, the George Floyd protests, and more, but they never seem to preach or impact the humor of the episodes. Showrunner and writer Dan Rubin, a veteran of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Scrubs, keeps his staff in the loop with episodes that are just as outlandish as the original series and constantly feel like they were stories thirty years ago.
Night Court is a broad, multi-camera sitcom that taunts the camera, pulls silly jokes, and manages to feel like an homage to all the fun shows we watched in the '80s and '90s. Unlike some recent reboots like Murphy Brown and Will & Grace, Night Court works because it combines the classic elements of the series that inspired it to bring back.
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