‘Night Court’ is back in session with a Philly-born director at the helm
“I owe everything ... to the fact that I grew up in Philadelphia,” Pamela Fryman said.
Pamela Fryman is one of the most prolific directors in recent television history.
Fryman, 63, was born and raised in Villanova, and has directed episodes of Friends, Frasier, The King Of Queens, and Two And A Half Men, as well as 196 episodes of How I Met Your Mother. Her latest directorial work is NBC’s revival of the 1980s sitcom Night Court. The new show premieres tomorrow with two episodes, starting at 8 p.m. You can also stream the show on Peacock.
Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory) is both producer and star. Her character, Judge Abby Stone, presides over the chaotic night shift at a Manhattan court. Abby Stone is the daughter of the original series’ Judge Harry Stone (played by the late Harry Anderson). Joining her in court is John Larroquette as lawyer Dan Fielding, another of the main characters from the original series.
Ahead of its premiere, The Inquirer spoke to Fryman about Night Court and her links to Philly. The conversation has been edited for clarity.
What attracted you to ‘Night Court’?
I have been a fan of Melissa Rauch for a long time. We knew each other through friends and had hoped that someday we’d get to work together. More than anything, though, I am a huge John Larroquette fan. I was lucky enough to do a series with him some years ago, called Happy Family. It didn’t last a long time, but remains one of my favorite shows ever.
‘Night Court’ ran for nine seasons in the 1980s. Did you use the original episodes as inspiration?
I looked at them enough to be familiar and inspired. I watched Night Court when it originally was on, but I knew that this was not the old show. You want to do some things the same way just so the audience can appreciate how you are respecting the original. But this is obviously a new take on a classic.
How has being from Philadelphia influenced your career?
I owe everything that I’ve got today to the fact that I grew up in Philadelphia. I’m such a fan of the town. When I was in high school in 1977, I got to be an intern on The Mike Douglas Show. I got to meet incredible people and became enthralled with the entire process. I got to go downtown and see real television being made. At that age, Los Angeles seemed very far away and it all just affected me in a remarkable way. I was lucky that many of those people ended up moving to Los Angeles a few years after that. When I came to LA for a visit, I went to see those people, and they offered me a job. That’s how my career started. Had I not taken that [first Philly] job, I don’t know what I would be doing right now.
What do you hope audiences take away from ‘Night Court’?
I hope it is a hug for people that enjoyed the original. Now we get to continue it. For the people who have never seen Night Court, it’s funny and the characters are great and well-defined. There aren’t that many multi-camera sitcoms on TV anymore, so it’s so lovely to be able to do something like this. I’ve never gone into single camera features, because this is my love. It’s like theater. And to be able to have John Larroquette in front of an audience is magic. That’s a man who knows how to play the crowd. For the other actors, it was like having the best tennis partner in the world. It was wonderful to watch them get better and better and better over the course of the season. That’s what makes magic.
“Night Court” premieres Jan. 17, 8 p.m., on NBC. It will then air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and be available for streaming the next day on Peacock.