EXCLUSIVE: NBC‘s Night Court is no longer in session as the multi-camera comedy starring Melissa Rauch is not being renewed for a fourth season.
The news is not surprising since NBC has been looking to make cuts as it is preparing for NBA coverage next season. Night Court, a reboot the original 1984 sitcom, was considered vulnerable — after a strong early run early on, the comedy has been posting significant year-to-year drop-off this season as the nostalgia factor may have worn off.
Still, Deadline understands there was a late push for Night Court to return for a shorter fourth and final season, which was unsuccessful. There is a possibility for it to be shopped elsewhere by studio Warner Bros. Television.
Night Court, a followup to the original series created by Reinhold Weeg, follows Judge Abby Stone (Rauch), the daughter of the late Harry Stone, as she follows in her father’s footsteps, presiding over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court. Similarly to her dad, Abby tries to bring order to her crew of oddballs and cynics, most notably former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), a character from the original series.
Rauch, who previously starred in CBS’ hit series The Big Bang Theory, reunited with her small-screen husband, Simon Helberg, in the final episode, with franchise actress Raegan Revord (Young Sheldon) also appearing. The episode, which now serves as a series finale, ended in a cliffhanger.
Night Court also starred Nyambi Nyambi, Lacretta, and Wendie Malick. Marsha Warfield often returned to the universe as her character Roz from the original series, including the Season 3 finale. Warfield and Larroquette are the last two surviving principal actors from the OG show, following the death of Richard Moll in 2023.
The series coincidentally followed a similar pattern to the original series in multiple ways, like how both first seasons saw casting changes for Season 2.
Dan Rubin served as showrunner and executive producer of Night Court, along with Rauch, Winston Rauch, Larroquette, Mat Harawitz, Lon Zimmet, Lindsey Shockley and Mona Garcea. The series was produced by Warner Bros Television in association with After January Productions and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.
