Celebs: they’re just like us! At least, that’s what Judge Abby Stone (Melissa Rauch) thinks when The Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik (playing what Rauch teases is a “very heightened, bizarro version of herself”) appears on the stand after a run-in with the law.
“Abby is ecstatic that Mayim befriends her, but things take a turn when their relationship quickly goes off the rails,” previews Rauch, who teases that self-proclaimed superfan Abby gets “way more than she bargained for with the encounter.”
The episode, which is also the show’s midseason premiere set to air on Tuesday, January 14, marks a long- awaited reunion for Rauch and Bialik, who costarred on Bang for several years — Bialik as neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler and Rauch as microbiologist (and former Cheesecake Factory waitress) Bernadette. Bialik’s appearance on Rauch’s legal sitcom is the first time that the two have acted onscreen together since the hit comedy signed off in 2019. (In an “all in the family” way, it also reunites Bialik with her former The John Larroquette Show TV dad: John Larroquette reprises his role in the rebooted Night Court as public defender Dan Fielding.)
“The process started when Melissa shared with me that she spoke with Mayim, who said she’d be up for doing a guest star role, so we were all extremely excited about the idea of her joining us,” executive producer and showrunner Dan Rubin tells TV Insider. Adds Rauch, “It was so incredibly special getting to be reunited and work with Mayim again. She’s such a consummate comedic pro who was so game for taking this character in any direction we imagined.”
Nicole Weingart / NBC
That direction is off the wall with, of course, plenty of references to CBS’s long-running Big Bang as well as Bialik’s ’90s sitcom Blossom.
Inspired by an idea that Rauch pitched to Bialik about Abby being a huge Blossom fan in her teen years, Rubin confirms that the former Jeopardy! host was fully on board when it came to exaggerating her personality…even if that meant she had to play a stalker.
“Abby presents as a joyful, optimistic, upbeat person, but what we learn is that this outlook is an active choice that she makes every day,” says Rubin. “And in the weird, sometimes complicated world of Night Court, that worldview is constantly tested.”
Bialik isn’t the first Big Bang Theory cast member to walk through the courtroom doors — Kunal Nayyar played a fashion designer in Season 2. “We’ve had a lot of fun bringing in folks from the Bang world and folks from the original [Night Court],” Rubin says. “Hopefully there’s more of both to come.” We say “Bazinga!” to that!
Night Court, Midseason Premiere, Tuesday, January 14, 8:30/7:30c, NBC
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