How & Why The Night Court Revival Will Be Different From The Original

The upcoming revival of the classic ’80s sitcom Night Court will be an entirely different series than the original. This is due to most of the original cast not being involved in the revival, and the one returning character being problematic by modern standards. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the new show won’t share the original series’ DNA.

Running for nine seasons from 1984 to 1992, the original Night Court was part of the now-legendary NBC Thursday Night Must See TV line-up. The action of the series centered upon the wacky antics that ensued during the night shift in a Manhattan criminal arraignment courtroom overseen by Judge Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson). Though the ensemble saw considerable changes during its first few seasons, the core cast came to solidify in season four with defense attorney Christine Sullivan (Markie Post), prosecuting attorney Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), clerk Mac Robinson (Charles Robinson) and bailiffs Bull Shannon (Richard Moll) and Roz Russell (Marsha Warfield).

Half of the six actors who starred in the original Night Court are now deceased. Harry Anderson passed away from a stroke in 2018, while Charles Robinson and Markie Post both ended their respective battles with cancer in 2021. Of the surviving ensemble, only John Larroquette is returning for the revival. Richard Moll has repeatedly asserted his reluctance to return for any kind of Night Court revival or reboot, while Marsha Warfield reportedly was not asked about returning and didn’t know anything about the plans for the revival until the pilot order was announced by NBC.

It makes sense that the producers of the Night Court revival would want Larroquette on-board for the new series, as Dan Fielding was the breakout character of the original show and Larroquette won an unprecedented four consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series in the role. Though the Emmys are not as important as they used to be, the achievement is still remarkable. However, Dan Fielding is also the single most troublesome element of adapting the original series for the 21st century. While Dan was meticulous in his work and resisted repeated attempts at bribery, he was also an unrepentant womanizer for most of the series run. Much of the show’s humor was based around Dan sexually harassing Christine Sullivan and other women around the courthouse, making his character problematic. However, the series’ finale found Dan resigning his position to follow Christine, realizing that he loved her and wanted to prove that he could change for her.

The pilot description for the Night Court revival describes Dan Fielding as a “former night court prosecutor,” leaving some question as to what Dan’s role will be in the court of Harry Stone’s daughter, Abby Stone (Melissa Rauch). Fans of the original series are also dying to know just who Abby’s mother is and if Christine Sullivan wound up with either Dan or Harry after the original series ended. In either case, the new Night Court will have to be an entirely different show than the original, though it will hopefully maintain the same zany atmosphere with a largely new cast of characters.

About The Author

Matt Morrison
(1835 Articles Published)

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Matt Morrison has been writing about comics since before the word
“blogging” was coined. He got his start writing for the
legendary DC Comics digital fanzine Fanzing,
before receiving his own column, The Mount. Since then he has gone on
to write for over a dozen websites, including 411
Mania, Comics
Nexus and The Cult of Nobody. He holds both an MS in Information
Science from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the
University of Texas at Arlington. Known as a font of comic book
history trivia, he has delivered lectures on the history of American
Comic Books, Japanese Manga, Doctor Who, and Cosplay at over a dozen conventions
and served as an Expert In-Residence for a course on Graphic Novels
for Librarians at the University of North Texas. In addition to his
work for Screen Rant, Matt is currently the Editor In Chief of
Kabooooom.com and writes reviews for No
Flying, No Tights – a graphic literature and anime review site
aimed at teachers and librarians. He also maintains a personal blog –
My Geeky Geeky Ways –
which hosts his extensive episode guide for the television series
making up The Arrowverse as well as his
comedic Let’s Play videos. What little spare time he has is
devoted towards acting, role-playing, movie-riffing and sarcasm. You
can follow his adventures on Twitter, @GeekyGeekyWays.

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