Night Court is just days away from wrapping its third season on NBC, and star John Larroquette has already addressed how the sitcom is ending the spring 2025 TV schedule with some "bang, bang funny" material. While NBC has not yet renewed the show for a fourth season, Season 3 will conclude in style with the return of Marsha Warfield as Roz as well as two stars from the Big Bang Theory world that Melissa Rauch knows so well. Larroquette opened up to CinemaBlend ahead of the big episode that will be packed with recognizable guests.
That is, big episodes, plural, because Night Court is going out this spring with two back-to-back installments. The first will reunite Larroquette with Marsha Warfield from the original Night Court, which I for one am excited about. Last year's finale also featured Roz and included a sweet tribute Markie Post's Christine Sullivan to really throw back to the old Night Court days.
When I spoke with the Dan Fielding star about waiting on a Season 4 renewal, he also shared his thoughts on how the Season 3 finale night will compare to the last episode of Season 2:
I think it's maybe funnier, just because with the Christine episode, I really tried to be as sensitive and tell the truth about Fielding's feelings toward Christine Sullivan, but also to have it as sort of a small homage to Markie, who we all loved phenomenally. It's why we hired Gigi Rice, who actually played Markie's sister in a movie for television years prior, and Gigi and I worked together on The John Larroquette show, but it wasn't just bang, bang funny.
The tribute to Markie Post's Christine Sullivan was one of the most solid ties between the current Night Court revival and the original, but the storyline was understandable even for viewers who might not have been tuning in back in the '80s. Larroquette went on to preview that the Season 3 finale will be funnier, although he of course wasn't going to spoil any big surprises on the way. He shared:
The season [finale] of this year is just bang, bang funny. I think the surprise will be great. I think the surprises will be great. It's also, as you know I'm sure, an hour show. Two episodes, the first one being with Roz's character comes back. The first half hour will be that, the second half hour will be the finale. I think that's a good hour of comedy, hopefully.
Thanks to NBC's St. Denis Medical season finale airing on April 29 and vacating the 8 p.m. ET time slot, Night Court can take over the whole hour on May 6, and the sitcom is packing a lot in. The first episode features Shrinking's Michael Urie as a "fun judge," while Marsha Warfield's latest return as Roz seemingly involves Gurgs.
The second episode goes all-out on the Big Bang Theory connections, with Melissa Rauch reuniting with Simon Helberg. His character is shrouded in mystery, although I think it's a safe bet that he won't be playing a stalker version of himself like Mayim Bialik did. We also shouldn't rule out Helberg playing Rauch's love interest for the second time in his career.
Big Bang Theory fans might find that easier to watch than when Kunal Nayyar played Abby's love interest in a very big shift from their characters on TBBT. Plus, Raegan Revord of Young Sheldon will appear for an homage to the 1984 episode that featured a young Michael J. Fox. I couldn't help but note that Night Court was really packing in the guests to end Season 3, and Larroquette responded:
When in doubt, hire a guest star.
It's no coincidence that Night Court has been able to recruit notable guest stars, which have ranged from Olympic figure skaters to Star Trek vet Brent Spiner to Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Joe Lo Truglio. John Larroquette shared why actors often want to come over to the sitcom and deliver some laughs in Abby Stone's courtroom:
I've talked to guests who have come by, that so many actors in town just love the show, but also they love coming and playing on the show because they know it's going to be funny. They know they're going to have a chance to be funny... As we know in the season finale, Melissa has pulled two cards from Big Bang, and we've had some of those people on, and people like doing this show. Actors like doing this show, so I think we have a great advantage in that we can call someone and say, 'Hey, you want to come play?' And most of the time they say, yes.
Be sure to tune in to NBC on Tuesday, May 6 starting at 8 p.m. ET for the full hour of Night Court action, or stream next day with a Peacock subscription. My fingers are crossed that the network will announce whether Night Court is renewed for Season 4 ahead of the finale, but the sitcom at least isn't the only show with a fate still undetermined.
Other than St. Denis Medical and Happy's Place, NBC hasn't renewed any of its primetime series, so it's just a matter of waiting and hoping for good news at this point. At least Night Court seems to be setting up a finale night to remember with a standout slate of guest stars.
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