Night Court wasted no time in becoming a big freshman hit in the 2023 TV lineup, and earned a renewal from NBC after just four episodes. A lot of the charm of the revival comes from the chemistry between all the series regulars. Lacretta, who plays Gurgs the bailiff, spoke with CinemaBlend about the show and how the stars got to know each other on the job.
In addition to Lacretta as the “wicked smart” Gurgs, the new sitcom stars Big Bang Theory alum Melissa Rauch as Judge Abby Stone, original Night Court actor John Larroquette as public defender Dan Fielding, and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist’s India de Beaufort and Kapil Talwalkar as assistant district attorney Olivia and clerk Neil, respectively. The show mostly takes place in a handful of key sets: the court itself, the cafeteria, the courthouse hallways, and Abby’s office.
According to Lacretta, the limited number of sets helped the cast to bond and "get to know each other" in the early days, as she shared:
If something is going on in Abby's chambers, and we have a scene that's coming up in the cafeteria – because they're so far apart – we can kind of hang out in the cafeteria with hushed voices and get to know each other and just kind of chat, and vice versa. If there's something going on in the cafeteria, then we can kind of hang out in either the hallway, or the chairs are really comfortable in Abby's chambers, [so] we can hang out there. Also, when we need our time, we can go back up to our dressing rooms and just kind of chill and decompress.
The cast may not always have raucous parties to get to know each other better, but hanging out on the various sets and chatting in hushed voices evidently was helpful in bonding! That’s not to say that they don’t get some time to themselves, with their dressing rooms available. There’s also apparently no TV magic in making the chairs in Abby’s office look more comfortable than the cafeteria seats!
The sets helping give the cast opportunities to hang out is only one of the reasons why Lacretta was full of praise for Night Court behind the scenes, and she made sure to give credit to the set dressers who build the world for Gurgs and Co. The actress said:
I love the way that our set is set up. We’ve got the swing set area where we have the apartment or the restaurants, they're there. So it's nice, because our set dressers are amazing, and all of the detail that's there. For me, I like to walk those sets and just look at all the intricate things that they've put there. Just to see, 'Wow, this is what this is,' and you touch it and it's flat, but when you step back from it, it looks like there's depth to it. I'm just so fascinated by that kind of magic.
There seems to be a lot of factors that came together to give Night Court the magical recipe for success, up to and including the set design. The show has also managed to bring in some standout guest stars, including former Olympic figure skaters Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir, despite their nerves. MADtv’s Stephnie Weir recently appeared as a character who Abby and Dan weren’t prepared for, and went on to share the funny stories behind meeting Melissa Rauch and John Larroquette on the set.
And it’s safe to say that Night Court won’t be ending any time soon! The early renewal guarantees that the sitcom will be back in the 2023-2024 TV season, with production reportedly restarting not long after the end of Season 1 due to a potential writers strike on the way. Hopefully the ensemble will stick together for the long run!
There’s the potential complication of Neil having a crush on Abby and the possibly ticking clock of Dan’s promise to serve as public defender for a limited amount of time, but the future looks bright for Night Court. Tune in to NBC on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET for new episodes of Night Court, and revisit earlier episodes streaming now with a Peacock Premium subscription.
