'Night Court' Revival Ratings Are In Following Premiere Episode

Night Court, NBC's latest sitcom, dominated the Tuesday night competition with its debut on Jan. 17. Back-to-back scheduling of the first two episodes on the network at 8 p.m. led to a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49 and 7.39 million total viewers for the revived comedy, Variety reported. The second episode followed at 8:30, receiving a 0.9 among key demo viewers and an 8.72% drop overall. However, 6.75 million viewers is a substantial opening night audience for the second half. It's the best comedy premiere since The Conners in 2018 and the best on NBC since Will & Grace in 2017, both revivals of critically acclaimed sitcoms.

In Night Court, Abby Stone (The Big Bang Theory's Melissa Rauch) continues the legacy of her late father, Judge Harry Stone. She takes the helm and leads an oddball crew of misfits working the night shift at a Manhattan arraignment court in the revival of the classic series that ran for nine seasons on NBC.

NBC ordered the series in September 2021, according to Deadline. Rauch also serves as executive producer with Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt executive producer Dan Rubin. John Larroquette, who also serves as a producer, is back as Dan Fielding, a prosecutor who still works at night despite returning from the original series. New cast members include Ana Villafane as an assistant district attorney, Lacretta as bailiff Donna "Gurgs" Gurganous, and Kapil Talwalker as court clerk Neil. Regarding his comeback, Larroquette told AARP in a Jan. 18 interview that his character Dan "still thinks he's the smartest person in the room, and that "It was both interesting and frightening to do a character one did a lifetime ago. The physical comedy I easily was able to accomplish in the '80s I can't approach now without an ambulance standing by. I can't jump over railings or tie myself in a pretzel. But the idea was intriguing — how this person has changed."

ABC's The Rookie ranked second in Tuesday night's primetime rankings with a .6 rating, Variety reported. In its fifth season, the procedural has averaged 4.62 million viewers for its newest episode. Streamers and online viewers are not included in this number, which only reflects the show's broadcast audience. The Resident ranked third with 2.92 million viewers and a .4 rating among the focused group, 25 percent behind NBC. In the 9 p.m. hour, NBC reigned supreme with another back-to-back debut of New Amsterdam. With another back-to-back premiere, the series' first episode scored 0.4 and attracted 3.42 million viewers. Night Court gained a win for the hour, but after Night Court finished airing, the audience had about a 44% change in audience. During the bottom hour of the second episode, New Amsterdam garnered a 0.3 rating and 2.76 million total viewers, placing it third behind ABC's Will Trent and CBS' FBI: Most Wanted.