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Melissa Rauch Opens Up About Night Court Cancellation as Revival Fails to Find New Home: I Was in ‘Straight-Up Denial'
Some six weeks after NBC handed down its verdict to not renew its Night Court revival for a fourth season, series co-lead and executive producer Melissa Rauch has shared her thoughts on hanging up Judge Abby Stone's robe.
As TVLine's Inside Line column reported earlier this month, early efforts to shop the sitcom revival had come up empty. As such, the eventual outlook was not looking great. And now it is official.
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'I have held off on posting anything about Night Court not continuing until I knew we did everything in our power to find another home for it,' Rauch began a lengthy Instagram post, shared Wednesday. 'Perhaps it was being raised on The Goonies' 'Never Say Die' motto or straight up denial that I didn't want this incredibly special experience to come to an end.
'That said, after turning over all the stones there were to be turned over, we've learned that it is officially the hour to say 'farewell,'' she continued. 'Or at least 'Until next time.''
A continuation of the 1984-92 courtroom comedy led by the late Harry Anderson and five-time Emmy winner John Larroquette, NBC's revival starred Big Bang Theory alum Rauch as Abby Stone, who presided over the same New York City night court as her late father Harry. Larroquette reprised his role as attorney Dan Fielding, who served as the night court's public defender. The supporting cast included Lacretta as bailiff Gurgs, Nyambi Nyambi as court clerk Wyatt and sitcom vet Wendie Malick, who joined the cast full-time in Season 3 as new prosecutor Julianne. Warfield, who played Roz on the original Night Court, occasionally reprised her role as well.
Viewership for the revival slipped 36% in Season 3, to an average of 1.95 million per episode. Among all NBC scripted shows, it only outdrew freshmen Suits LA (cancelled) and Grosse Pointe Garden Society (ostensibly still in limbo).
'As a kid whose best friend was TV, getting to play make believe with comedy legends on the recreation of a set I watched as a little girl felt like stepping through the looking glass in the best possible way,' Rauch said. 'Walking through those iconic halls. Sitting at the cafeteria tables with the chairs from the original. Feeling the electricity from the live studio audience on a tape night while doing a courtroom scene surrounded by a brilliant, powerhouse group of actors, phenomenally gifted writers and the best crew in the biz. It all felt exceptionally dream-like.'
In conclusion, Rauch wrote, 'I was told that the original creator of Night Court, the great Reinhold Weege, said that the courtroom doors were key to the show's engine as they ushered in endless stories. And I like to think that's how Night Court carries on. Just as it did in the 30 years between the first incarnation ending and us beginning. The evergreen revolving door of oddballs and cynics populating that Manhattan arraignment court in the wee hours of the night and at the center of it all a workplace family that will forever be… until next time.'
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