Spoilers ahead for the March 12 episode of Night Court Season 2, called "Wheelers of Fortune."
Night Court became a successful revival right off the bat back in 2023 for NBC, with a new Judge Stone but a familiar format and a familiar face. John Larroquette was originally the only star from the original series to join Melissa Rauch's reboot, but Marsha Warfield returned as Roz at the end of Season 1. Now, Night Court brought back none other than the Wheelers, with Brent Spiner and Annie O'Donnell reprising their roles from back in the '80s. O'Donnell opened up to CinemaBlend about the story behind the return in the 2024 TV schedule.
Annie O'Donnell and Brent Spiner debuted as June and Bob Wheeler back in 1985 with four episodes of the original Night Court's third season, followed by another two episodes in Season 4 in 1987. When I spoke with O'Donnell, she shared how she reacted when found out that the team behind the revival wanted to bring the Wheelers back:
Well, I was very, very happy. I was not totally surprised, because I had seen on some of the chats and stuff that people kept saying, 'We want the Wheelers back.' [laughs] But it's a new show with new ideas and everything else, so I thought 'Maybe it'll happen. Maybe it won't.' So when I got the call, I was very, very happy.
While the shortage of original series stars in the revival is at least partly due to many of the cast members passing away, longtime fans have certainly had ideas about who they'd like to see come back. Melissa Rauch was a fan of the original series, so I'd say it was fun to see how Abby was delighted to meet Bob and June in "Wheelers of Fortune." That said, Dan knew to expect some bad luck as soon as they stepped foot in the courtroom, so he was less delighted. Annie O'Donnell also shared that this episode was the first time she'd reunited with Brent Spiner in many years, but they certainly seemed comfortable with each other!
Of course, not everybody who is tuning in to the 2023 revival on NBC or streaming via Peacock Premium subscription has seen the original series that introduced the Wheelers. As a newcomer to Night Court myself with the reboot, I enjoyed how "Wheelers of Fortune" portrayed them as having history with Dan without requiring the backstory ahead of time. I asked Annie O'Donnell how well she thinks the episode works as an introduction to the Wheelers, and she explained:
I think it works very well. I was not worried, but I was thinking 'Well, I hope the new writers have a hold on what crazy people we were.' [laughs] When I got the script, I was very pleased to see the young female Asian writer caught the essence of the Wheelers and I was very pleased. I thought she wrote very well for us, and the response from the taping was extremely, extremely well received. I don't know whether it was a lot of people who had been fans of the old show, the original show, or what, but the response was wonderful. So really, really made us feel welcome.
Kim Tran wrote "Wheelers of Fortune" for Night Court after joining the writing team for the second season. O'Donnell only had good things to say about how Tran brought the Wheelers back to TV after nearly forty years, which included the addition of a new member of the family: daughter Carol Ann, played by Big Bang Theory alum Kate Micucci and every bit as weird as Bob and June.
With so much time between her last appearance as June Wheeler in 1987 and her return in 2024, did O'Donnell need a refresher on the role? She explained whether or not she rewatched any of her older episodes, saying:
I did. Not a lot, but I just sort of thought, 'Well, you're working next week, you should take a look at what you did.' So I did. I did watch a couple of the episodes and I enjoyed them. I must say, I enjoyed us very much and did look at them to kind of get in that frame of mind with the voice and the accent and the look and just that rhythm of the Wheelers. So it was fun to revisit the old Wheelers. The young Wheeler is actually now with the old Wheelers.
The Wheelers definitely had a distinctive accent and look that extended to their daughter in "Wheelers of Fortune," and Annie O'Donnell revisited her earlier performances to make sure that she brought those elements back this time around. So, would she be open to coming back to Night Court as June Wheeler with her on-screen husband along for the ride? The actress answered that very question:
Oh, sure. I'd love to. I'd love to. It would be a dream. It would be just wonderful… Fingers crossed. It seemed like the feeling from Melissa and everybody was that when a new season starts – fingers crossed for all of that – that the Wheelers might show up again. That is if we can keep Brent from being out of town doing something else wonderful!
Brent Spiner spent the past few years revisiting a role that was certainly wonderful for Star Trek fans, as he reprised his iconic character of Data for Star Trek: Picard. Now that Picard has come to an end, perhaps he could team up with Annie O'Donnell and Kate Micucci to bring to full Wheeler family back to NBC again!
Of course, NBC has not yet officially ordered a third season of Night Court at the time of writing, so a renewal is the first development that needs to happen to hold out hope for more Wheeler action. For now, you can find new episodes of Night Court on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, ahead of Extended Family and The Voice.
