‘Night Court’ Sequel In Works At NBC With John Larroquette As Dan Fielding, Harry Stone’s Daughter As Focus & Melissa Rauch As EP

EXCLUSIVE: Night Court is back in session. NBC is developing a follow-up to the classic legal comedy series, with co-star John Larroquette set to reprise his Emmy-winning role and produce. The Big Bang Theory alumna Melissa Rauch executive produces the reboot for Warner Bros TV.

Written/executive produced by Dan Rubin (The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) based on the original series created by Reinhold Weege, the multi-camera Night Court centers on the unapologetic optimist judge Abby Stone, daughter of the late Harry Stone, who follows in her father’s footsteps as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court and tries to bring order to its crew of oddballs and cynics, most notably former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding (Larroquette).

The original Night Court, which aired on NBC for nine seasons from 1984-92 and earned three Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy nominations, followed the proceedings during the night shift of a Manhattan municipal court, led by a young, unorthodox judge, Harold “Harry” T. Stone. He was played by Harry Anderson, who died in 2018 at age 65. Abby is a newly created character who was not part of the original show.

Melissa Rauch and Winston Rauch executive produce via their After January production company, which is based at Warner Bros. TV. After January produces in association with WBTV, which was also the studio behind the original series. There are no plans for Melissa Rauch to act in the project, which she initiated.

Under her company’s WBTV deal, she approached the studio about the Night Court IP as she grew up a fan of the show and felt that a new incarnation could work well today.

Night Court is one of several projects After January has in development at WBTV. Melissa Rauch is coming off Warner Bros TV’s blockbuster comedy series The Big Bang Theory, which aired on CBS for 12 seasons. She recently appeared in Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat alongside Meryl Streep. Rauch starred, produced and co-wrote along with husband Winston Rauch, The Bronze – which was the official opening-night film of the Sundance Film Festival and was released by Sony Pictures Classics. She recently produced, co-wrote (with Winston) and starred in a stage production of a political satire titled The Secret Lunches of Chelsea & Ivanka at Joe’s Pub in NYC. She is repped by WME, Untitled Entertainment and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman.

Larroquette won four consecutive Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Emmys for his signature role on Night Court. He recently joined the cast of CBS All Access’ The Good Fight and starred on the CBS comedy series Me, Myself & I. Larroquette landed his fifth Emmy for his recurring role on ABC’s The Practice. He is repped by Gersh and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

Rubin worked on Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt for the comedy’s entire run. He continued his collaboration with Kimmy Schmidt‘s Tina Fey, Robert Carlock and Sam Means on their Netflix animated series Mulligan. His series credits also include Fox’s series Outmatched, Happy Endings, Scrubs, Worst Week and The Michael J. Fox Show. Rubin is repped by Rise Management, UTA and Jared Levine.

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