'Night Court' Revival Adds 'Big Bang Theory' Alum Alongside Returning Star

04/30/2021 11:18 pm EDT

The Night Court sequel series featuring original star John Larroquette is inching closer to a pilot order from NBC and its latest casting could be enough to put it over the top. The Big Bang Theory star Melissa Rauch, who starred as Bernadette on the hit CBS series, has now agreed to star in the series. Rauch, 40, was a driving force behind the new Night Court and was already an executive producer on the project.

This will be the first post-Big Bang Theory TV role for Rauch. Although she was invested in seeing Night Court return to the small screen, she initially only planned to work behind the scenes as an EP for Warner Bros. Television, reports Deadline. However, after she read the new script, she agreed to star. She will play Judge Abby Stone, the daughter of the late Harry Stone, who was played by the late Harry Anderson in the original series. Like her father, Abby is overseeing the night shift at a Manhattan arraignment court. Larroquette will be back to play prosecutor Dan Fielding.

The pilot script was written by Dan Rubin, who also serves as an executive producer. Rauch and her husband, Winston Rauch, are executive producing through After January, which is based at Warner Bros. Television, which also produced the original series. Night Court debuted on NBC in 1984 and ran seven seasons. Larroquette won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series four times, and the series was nominated for the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy three times. Rauch is a fan of the original series and approached WB TV about reviving it. Night Court was created by Reinhold Weege. Unfortunately, the show is not available to stream with a subscription anywhere but is available to rent.

Rauch joined The Big Bang Theory in Season 3 and was a main cast member until the show ended in 2019. She also starred in Steven Soderbergh's Netflix movie The Laundromat and the 2019 comedy Ode to Joy. Rauch and Winston also wrote the 2015 sports comedy The Bronze. As for Larroquette, he also won an Emmy for The Practice and earned a Golden Globe nomination for Night Court in 1988. More recently, he starred in Paramount+'s The Good Fight, CBS' Blood & Treasure, and an episode of The Twilight Zone reboot. In 2017, he starred in the short-lived CBS comedy Me, Myself, and I.

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