Night Court (2023 TV series)
Night Court | |
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Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | Reinhold Weege |
Developed by | Dan Rubin |
Starring | |
Theme music composer | Jack Elliott |
Composer | Benjamin Sword Larroquette |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 4 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Cinematography |
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Editors |
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Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | January 17, 2023 present | –
Night Court is an American sitcom, a revival of the original series of the same title that aired from 1984 to 1992. It premiered on NBC on January 17, 2023.[1] In February 2023, the series was renewed for a second season.[2]
Cast
Main
- Melissa Rauch as Abby Stone, the daughter of the late Harry Stone, who fills her father's former position as judge on the night shift at the Manhattan Criminal Court
- India de Beaufort as Olivia, the assistant district attorney assigned to Abby's court
- Kapil Talwalkar as Neil, Abby's clerk
- Lacretta as Donna "Gurgs" Gurganous, the bailiff for Abby's court
- John Larroquette as Dan Fielding, the former assistant district attorney for Harry's court who comes back to serve as the public defender in Abby's court. Larroquette is the only cast member who reprises his role from the original series.
Guest starring
- Wendie Malick as Julianne, Dan's date who reveals herself as a career criminal who wanted to ruin Dan's life for prosecuting her years ago.
- Faith Ford as Gina, Abby's mother and Harry's widow[3]
Episodes
No. | Title [4][5] | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [4][5] | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Pilot" | Pamela Fryman | Dan Rubin | January 17, 2023 | T11.10152 | 7.55[6] |
Abby Stone, daughter of late Judge Harry Stone, takes over the night court. Like her father, she is interested in the defendants as people and wants to take time to administer justice, much to the annoyance the overworked courthouse staff. When the public defender quits, Abby recruits Dan Fielding, the former assistant district attorney and her father's friend, to fill the role. Dan, who has been working as a process server after losing his wife, is reluctant, but agrees to fill in for a few weeks. Meanwhile, Gurgs tries to track down a courthouse vandal. | ||||||
2 | "The Nighthawks" | Pamela Fryman | Dan Rubin | January 17, 2023 | T12.17502 | 6.94[6] |
Dan, who is used to being a prosecutor, has difficulty caring about his clients. When Abby insists he try harder, Dan bribes Gurgs to interview his clients for him. Only after connecting with a mentally ill defendant does Dan begin to take his work seriously, leading Abby to predict he will stay on for a long time. Meanwhile, Abby encourages the staff to bring their own touches to the courtroom with somewhat disastrous results, Olivia is stalked by a stenographer determined to be her best friend, and the custodian deals with a pigeon infestation. | ||||||
3 | "Just Tuesday" | Anthony Rich | Mathew Harawitz | January 24, 2023 | T12.17505 | 5.17[7] |
In her efforts to remedy a defendant's newly chronic criminality, Abby accidentally outs him as an undercover cop. Fearing her personal approach is doing more harm than good, she becomes unrelentingly businesslike in the courtroom. When Dan tries to remedy this overcorrection, Abby holds him in contempt. Dan realizes that Abby's sensitivity to being of service stems from the fact that, like Dan's late wife, Abby is a recovering alcoholic. She confides that her drinking cost her a lot of time with her father, though he lived long enough to see her thrive in recovery. Dan tells her that Harry would never have felt let down by her. She returns to her previous demeanor. Meanwhile, Olivia struggles to adapt when the police officers withdraw the perks she had been enjoying. Believing this is an unreasonable response to the courtroom incident, she confronts the officers, only to inadvertently reveal the ethically questionable perks to an Internal Affairs representative, whose presence was the actual reason for the change. | ||||||
4 | "Dan v. Dating" | Anthony Rich | Lon Zimmet | January 31, 2023 | T12.17504 | 4.77[8] |
When Abby learns that Dan is being hit on by multiple women, including his client, she suggests to Dan that he start dating again. He then hits it off with a woman named Juliane who gives him her number. Dad arranges a date. Abby and Neil then go to spy on the them, finding Dan alone at the restaurant. Upon learning that Dan didn't even text the woman, Neil sends the message he wrote but didn't send. Upon learning that Juliane is only interested in sex, Dan takes her home, but is only able to talk about his ex wife. Juliane admits that she is a career criminal who wanted to ruin Dan's life for prosecuting her years ago, but finds him too pathetic for revenge. Meanwhile Gurgs and Olivia move into an abandoned office, but Oliva has trouble dealing with Gurgs's outgoing personality. | ||||||
5 | "The Apartment" | Unknown | Unknown | February 7, 2023 | TBA | N/A |
6 | "Justice Buddies" | Unknown | Unknown | February 14, 2023 | TBA | N/A |
Production
Development
On December 16, 2020, it was announced that Warner Bros. Television Studios and NBC were developing a Night Court sequel series. John Larroquette was slated to reprise his role as Dan Fielding, and produce the show. Melissa Rauch, who initiated the project, and her husband Winston Rauch were to be executive producers, for After January Productions. Dan Rubin would write the series, and be an executive producer as well.[9]
On May 3, 2021, the series was given a pilot order by NBC,[10][11] and on September 24, 2021, was given a series order.[12] The series premiered on January 17, 2023.[1] On February 2, 2023, NBC renewed the series for a second season.[2]
Casting
Larroquette was already attached to the series when it was announced on December 16, 2020.[9] Although Melissa Rauch was not originally expected to act in the show,[9] on April 30, 2021, it was reported that she would play the leading role of Judge Abby Stone, the daughter of the original series character Harry Stone.[13]
In June 2021, Ana Villafañe joined the cast as Monica, an assistant district attorney, and Lacretta was cast as Donna "Gurgs" Gurganous, a court bailiff.[14][15] In July 2021, Kapil Talwalkar was cast as Neil, a court clerk.[16]
Villafañe left the series after shooting the original pilot. In March 2022, India de Beaufort was cast as Olivia, a prosecutor, in a "reimagining" of Villafañe's role, as a second pilot episode was then shot.[17]
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 71% approval rating with an average rating of 6.6/10, based on 21 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "This revival retains enough of the original Night Court's spirit to ward off objections from fans while offering a somewhat stale sitcom format to newcomers, but it ought to sustain interest when judged alongside its own peers."[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 65 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[19]
William Hughes of The A.V. Club gave the series a B and said, "If you're curious about it, don't let the pilot throw you off, at least; check back in a few episodes later, once the show has actually hit its (often pretty funny) comedic stride."[20]
Ratings
No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) |
Viewers (millions) |
DVR (18–49) |
DVR viewers (millions) |
Total (18–49) |
Total viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Pilot" | January 17, 2023 | 1.0 | 7.55[6] | 0.3 | 2.07 | 1.3 | 9.63[21] |
2 | "The Nighthawks" | January 17, 2023 | 0.9 | 6.94[6] | 0.3 | 2.18 | 1.3 | 9.12[21] |
3 | "Just Tuesday" | January 24, 2023 | 0.7 | 5.17[7] | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
4 | "Dan v. Dating" | January 31, 2023 | 0.6 | 4.77[8] | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
References
- ^ a b Porter, Rick (November 7, 2022). "Magnum P.I. Gets NBC Debut Date as Part of Midseason Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
- ^ a b Cordero, Rosy (February 2, 2023). "'Night Court' Renewed For Season 2 At NBC". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- ^ Manno, Jackie (January 17, 2023). "Here Are All the Guest Stars Set to Appear on NBC's New Night Court". NBC. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
- ^ a b "Shows A-Z - Night Court on nbc". The Futon Critic. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ a b "Night Court: Episode Guide". Zap2it. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
Click the "Episode Guide" tab to view all listed episodes.
- ^ a b c d Salem, Mitch (January 19, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Tuesday 1.17.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (January 25, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Tuesday 1.24.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
- ^ a b Berman, Marc (February 1, 2023). "Tuesday Ratings: Soft Return for NBC's 'La Brea'; Another Solid Showing for the Peacock Net's 'Night Court' Reboot". Programming Insider. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ a b c Andreeva, Nellie (December 16, 2020). "'Night Court' Sequel In Works At NBC With John Larroquette As Dan Fielding, Harry Stone's Daughter As Focus & Melissa Rauch As EP". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 4, 2021). "'Night Court' Sequel Starring Melissa Rauch & John Larroquette Gets NBC Pilot Order". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ Alter, Rebecca (May 4, 2021). "NBC Knows What the Youth Wants, Reboots Night Court". Vulture. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ White, Peter (September 24, 2021). "'Night Court' Sequel Starring Melissa Rauch & John Larroquette Lands Series Order At NBC". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 1, 2021). "Night Court: EP Melissa Rauch Set To Star With John Larroquette In Sequel At NBC". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 8, 2021). "'Night Court': Ana Villafañe Joins NBC Sequel Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 16, 2021). "Night Court: Lacretta Joins NBC Sequel Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (July 7, 2021). "Night Court: Kapil Talwalkar Joins NBC Sequel Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
- ^ Goldberg, Lesley (March 10, 2022). "Night Court: India de Beaufort Joins NBC Comedy in Recasting". The Hollywood Reporter. PMRC. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
- ^ "Night Court: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ "Night Court: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ Hughes, William (January 12, 2023). "Night Court review: The NBC revival (slowly) finds its rhythms". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
- ^ a b Berman, Marc (January 18, 2023). "Tuesday Ratings: Solid Sampling for NBC's 'Night Court' Reboot; Peacock Net Tops Night". Programming Insider. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
External links
- Night Court at IMDb
- 2020s American sitcoms
- 2020s American legal television series
- 2020s American workplace comedy television series
- 2023 American television series debuts
- American sequel television series
- English-language television shows
- NBC original programming
- Television series by Universal Television
- Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios
- Television shows set in Manhattan