There’s a perk to being a revival sitcom like Night Court: not only do you tend to have a sitcom legend or two in your primary cast, you also get the bonus of bringing in some of the all-time heavy-hitters for guest spots. That’s definitely the energy that the 2023 Night Court revival serves in Episode 4 (“Dan v. Dating”). Not only do we get a storyline centered around original Night Court star and sitcom legend John Larroquette, we also get the pleasure of seeing him perform opposite one of the greats: Wendie Malick.
And if we are lucky, this won’t be the last time that we see Malick drop by the Night Court set. Okay, yeah, her role may seem pretty one-and-done, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Hear us out, NBC! But first…
Who does Wendie Malick play in the Night Court cast?
In the episode “Dan v. Dating,” Wendie Malick plays Julianne, a potential love interest for Dan Fielding (Larroquette). This is a big deal for the former playboy prosecutor. While Dan was quite the love ’em and leave ’em type back in the original Night Court run, he’s loved and lost a wife in-between series. Today’s Dan Fielding is a different man entirely, and he’s not exactly sure he’s ready to date. He’s not even sure he’s ready to go on a date with Julianne, a perfectly nice-seeming woman who politely hits on him in the night court cafeteria. SPOILER ALERT — he should trust those instincts.
It turns out that Julianne isn’t just looking for a fling with Fielding. She’s actually looking for revenge. Apparently Dan prosecuted Julianne 30 years ago for setting her then-boyfriend’s house on fire. When she ended up at night court again (“Different boyfriend, different fire”) she saw an opportunity to get revenge on the man who sent her to prison. Fortunately for Dan, he was just too sad for Julianne to really mess with.
Where have you seen Wendie Malick before?
You probably recognize Malick from her two major series regular roles on Hot In Cleveland and Just Shoot Me! She’s also had a number of notable recurring roles, like on Frasier where she played Ronee in the final season. Malick is still seen and heard all over television today, via a recurring role on Apple TV+’s Physical as Rose Byrne’s mother and a voice role as Young Beatrice on Netflix’s BoJack Horseman.
Will we see Wendie Malick in the Night Court cast again?
Uh, if the brains behind Night Court have any sense, yes! Series star and executive producer Melissa Rauch spoke about bringing in an all-timer like Malick when Decider caught up with her at the Television Critics Association winter 2023 tour.
“Getting to watch [Larroquette and the guest stars] together — that was so exciting,” said Rauch. “A lot of times as I was behind the monitor for the scenes I wasn’t in, like the scene with John and Wendie Malick… I felt like the little girl me who was getting a front row seat to watch this was losing her mind. There’s an electricity between the sitcom all stars and we were seeing it at every turn. There’s this sizzling sitcom magic that I feel like happens on a set when you get people like that in a room together and it was really, really cool to witness.”
So what if Julianne turned out to be, as she put it, “criminally insane”? Maybe she and Dan didn’t make a love connection, but that doesn’t mean she can’t come back and mess with Dan in future episodes! In fact, Malick’s ability to play grand, over-the-top weirdos is better served by playing a foil for Dan than a love interest. She could be the kind of recurring character that you love to see on a sitcom, the one you look forward to seeing because you know she’s going to stir things up. Think Newman, Janice, Waldo Faldo — even the original Night Court’s Buddy Ryan. Make this happen, Night Court bosses!
New episodes of Night Court premiere on NBC on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET, with new episodes available to stream the next day on Peacock.
