Night Court is airing its two-part Season 3 finale Tuesday (May 6) night on NBC, and with it comes the arrival of two stars from Melissa Rauch‘s Big Bang Theory world as well as a tribute to the original Night Court episode that made her fall in love with the series in the first place.
The finale’s second half will see Rauch’s former TV husband, Simon Helberg, appear in a mystery role that’s involved in a plot twist so big, Rauch says, “Even people who haven’t seen one of our episodes would be able to also be extremely surprised by what we have in store.” It’s a change that’s also hugely involved in the show’s plans for a fourth season (as of the time of publication, Night Court has not yet been renewed for Season 4).
Part 1 of the Night Court Season 3 finale begins at 8/7c and features the return of Marsha Warfield, Night Court‘s original bailiff, who will team up with the revival’s bailiff, Gurgs (Lacretta). Shrinking‘s Michael Urie also guest stars as a comedic rivaling judge for Rauch’s Abby Stone.
Nicole Weingart / NBC
Helberg will appear in Part 2 as Spencer, a role that’s being kept tightly under wraps. There’s only one photo of Helberg from the episode currently available (see below), and it reveals very little about the character. What we do know is that this episode is an homage to the teen runaway marriage episode of the original Night Court that featured Michael J. Fox. In this episode, the teen runaways are played by Young Sheldon‘s Raegan Revord (who recently reprised her Big Bang Theory spinoff role in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage) and Charlie Korman.
Rauch can’t share much of anything in regards to the plot of Part 2, titled “A Decent Proposal,” but she does reveal to TV Insider, “There will be some questions that we desperately want to answer in a Season 4 [after this finale,] and we have a really spectacular game plan in place if that should happen. We really want it to because I feel like there’s so many more stories to tell, and especially the story that you’re going to be seeing in this season finale. There’s a major story there that we want to continue to tell.”
The twist is going to shake up Abby’s world, but “Dan [John Larroquette] is involved in the twist and is also surprised himself,” Rauch reveals. “In the vein of Night Court ensemble, family comedy, I feel like the workplace family that has been built, everyone will be impacted to some extent, to varying degrees to the twist that occurs.”
She continues: “One of the great things about the DNA of Night Court is the fact that it’s just set up for the story generator for not only for people to come back, but for who comes through those doors at any minute could be a surprise or could just build a story that involves all of our cast members in a way that it’s so special and specific to Night Court.”
Rauch recalls what Reinhold Weege, creator of the original series, said about its format allowing for a “revolving door” of guest stars in each episode of the courtroom comedy. That has been reflected in each season of Rauch’s iteration. She hints that these doors are going to bring in an unexpected guest in this episode.
Nicole Weingart / NBC
“It is this beautiful thing, these doors, you never know what’s going to happen,” Rauch says. “You never know who’s going to come through or who’s going to come back.”
The twist “doesn’t open the episode, so you have to hang with us for a while,” Rauch notes, and she won’t say if the twist is a cliffhanger at the end either. “But anyone who has never seen an episode of this can pick up right at 8 o’clock and join right in and they will be as surprised as anyone who’s been watching from the beginning,” she says.
“Each week on our show has very much been this unbelievable murderer’s row of powerhouses that come in and we get to build stories around. And in continuing with that, I feel like our season finale does that on steroids, and I’m so excited for everyone to see it.”
Night Court, Two-Part Season 3 Finale, Tuesday, May 6, 8/7c, NBC
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
