With their Night Court reboot, actor and producer Melissa Rauch (Big Bang Theory) took an idea that might have seemed like a joke (a really well-executed one by way of 30 Rock) and turned it into the rarest of things in this media moment: a reboot with heart and relevance of its own, allowing it to push back on the idea that it might be a hollow nostalgia play. Pulling in original co-star John Larroquette to appear opposite Rauch’s upbeat judge/daughter of original judge Harry Stone (Harry Anderson), the 2023 version of the ’80s classic leans on the quirky vibe (and sets) of the original to create a workplace multi-cam comedy with a lot of charm and a strong cast.
As Night Court (airing Tuesdays on NBC and Wednesdays on Peacock) heads toward the end of its first season with a renewal in hand, Uproxx spoke with Rauch about the journey to this point and why audiences respond to upbeat yet complex characters like her Abby Stone character and Ted Lasso.
The dynamic of working with your husband (Winston Beigel) on this where he’s your producing partner and your writing partner, how does the division of labor go?
For this project, we’re both producers on it, so we’re not writing. It’s really great just producing this together and getting to have that home relationship and then our work relationship too. It’s just really fun and special to create something with the person that you love.
Are there challenges, though, trying to keep those two worlds separate?
I think that I have to make a conscious effort to say, “Okay, we’re going into family time now,” because, of course, as we’re sitting at the dinner table with the kids, it could be tempting to start talking work stuff and things that we need to do for the day, so there’s definitely a mindfulness about saying, “Okay, this is family time now.” Because also, just even for being able to shut it off for both of us so that there is an end of work day, I think it’s important.
It just never ends if you don’t.
It’s so true. It started during the pandemic just from working from home. There wasn’t that, “Okay, I’m closing my office down. I have my drive home and that’s the end.” So, I think it’s definitely trying to find that balance for sure.
I’m sure you’ve answered this a million times, but why was this show the idea? What was it about the original that you both loved and also that you wanted to bring to audiences now?
I think the specific kind of humor that is Night Court, this absurdist, almost Vaudevillian-esque kind of comedy can be so broad and so heightened, and then you have these really special beautiful moments of heart that are layered in there, and this format really gives you the ability to do that. In a time in which we can all use some comfort and some laughter, having a show that you can tune into every week where you know that you’re going to not only get the laughter and the comedy, but the nostalgia, I think, is something that feels really good right now. I think when we watch shows that remind us of a time in our lives when maybe we were watching it with someone who meant a lot to us who may not be here anymore, I sort of liken it to a bit of a time machine that can take you back to that happiness, and I hope that’s what Night Court can be.
Is it nostalgia, you think, specifically for Night Court? Or, for that type of TV show?
I think it’s a little of both. As far as Night Court goes, we have the same exact sets from the original, granted they’re updated with some paint, but we really wanted to keep some of that time capsule effect of the fact that a government building probably wouldn’t have changed so much over the years. We also don’t really have that much technology on that set. I think that courtroom, you don’t see screens anywhere, it’s very much stuck in that time, and that was very deliberate. Revisiting a show that was so beloved, there’s obviously nostalgia in that, but I also love the multi-cam format, I think it’s such a special form of television that I so hope will continue. There’s nothing like a live studio audience. There’s electricity in the air on a tape night and a relationship between the cast and the audience that is just instant and right there.
Your character is so irrepressibly positive at points, but there are things that are going on under the surface that peak out, which I love. There’s a want for positivity in characters like this, why do you think that is and why do you think those characters really resonate with people right now?
I think that’s something that everyone wants in their life, even if it’s not something that you feel you can actively be or actively achieve. I think in a time where it feels like there’s a fair share of darkness around, it’s nice to see light reflected back at us. But I think it has to be done in a very specific way so that it’s not positivity for the sake of positivity or coming at you in a Pollyanna way and rooted in naivety about the world. That was something that was very important to us when we were developing Abby, that she’s not trying to see the best in people and seeing the sunny side of life because she just hasn’t experienced anything other than that. It had to come from a place of she’s seen darkness and she’s actively choosing the light on a daily basis. It’s one of the reasons we’ve delved into the recovery storyline, because there needs to be a level of grit and a level of realness for that to be able to be something that people can connect to, hopefully, because otherwise, especially with what we all have been through, I think otherwise it doesn’t come from a genuine place, so it was important for us to ground Abby in that.
Is there a part of you in this character and those choices? Is that important for you that there’s a part of you that you recognize?
I think there’s definitely a part of me in all the characters I play and I think something I emulate about Abby is her ability to always see the positive side of things. I think I’m generally a positive person, but it may take me a little longer to get there versus Abby starting her day that way.
Is there a part of the character that you play in The Bronze (Rauch’s indie comedy about a fallen gymnast’s road to redemption) that is like you? I love that movie.
You do? That’s so nice. That means so much to me because I think there might be just you and my mother who have seen it. It’s very near and dear to my heart. It just got wrapped up in a distribution issue. Anyway, thank you for that. Is there any of me in that character? I would say maybe that potty mouth. That’s it, I’ve been known to drop an F-bomb or two.
New episodes of ‘Night Court’ air Tuesday nights on NBC and stream Wednesdays on Peacock