'Night Court's revival is in its third season and John Larroquette is the only initial cast members still around for the reboot. He talks reuniting with Mayim Bialik and seeing her reconvene with her 'Big Bang Theory' costar Melissa Rauch. He also discusses his work with other child stars, including Macaulay Culkin and Daniel Radcliffe.
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00:00If it's funny, it should be successful.
00:02If you can sit down and for 20 minutes have laughs
00:05that aren't dependent on what's happening
00:07in the zeitgeist of the world,
00:09the jokes could be 50 years old,
00:10they could be from tomorrow, you know?
00:12It's just comedy.
00:13Just sit down and laugh.
00:19So, you're back at Night Court.
00:21Yes.
00:21What has it been like to be back after all these years?
00:24At first, it was daunting.
00:25It was bittersweet.
00:27It took me a long time to say yes.
00:28But walking back on the set that I had spent,
00:30you know, nearly a decade of my life in, in the 80s,
00:34it felt like a ghost town, literally,
00:36because so many of all of the cast members
00:39had died before I ever, before we ever did the reboot.
00:42So, it was tough for me to see those, you know, to remember.
00:46It changed all of our lives.
00:48That show was sort of a launching pad
00:50for all of our careers.
00:52It was very popular and successful
00:54and to see it without those people in it
00:56was strange at first.
00:58But I've obviously grown to love the new people
01:00that are there as well.
01:02Why do you think it still works all these years later?
01:04Hopefully because it's funny.
01:06I mean, I, I don't see any other reason
01:08to define it in any other terms.
01:09If it's funny, it should be successful, you know?
01:12And the idea that if you could sit down
01:14and for 20 minutes have laughs that,
01:17that aren't dependent on what's happening
01:19in the zeitgeist of the world.
01:20We're never political.
01:21It's never current.
01:23The jokes could be 50 years old.
01:24They could be from tomorrow, you know?
01:26It's just comedy.
01:27Just sit down and laugh if you can.
01:29It's a bit of escapism, maybe.
01:31Exactly.
01:31Particularly escapism.
01:33Yes.
01:33So back in the original Night Court run,
01:35you won four Emmys for your work on the show.
01:38And by the time the fifth one came around,
01:39you were like, I'm done.
01:40Take me out of the running.
01:41What made you choose to do that?
01:43You know, I'm asked that a lot.
01:45And I, I, I think my, I'm a legend in my own lunchtime.
01:48But I think that I thought at the time
01:51that it was going to be tough to get away
01:53from that character.
01:54You know, it was so, it was indelible
01:57in American television at the time.
01:58And I thought if I ever want to play a dad,
02:00if I ever want to play a surgeon,
02:01I've got to put some distance between me
02:03and that character.
02:04And so I thought after four consecutive Emmys,
02:06it's, that's great.
02:07Let me just, however much longer the show lasts,
02:09I'll be happy to show up and suit up and be funny.
02:12But let's, let's move on.
02:13Let's move on from that.
02:14At the time, those four wins, they were a record,
02:16which is really cool.
02:17Were you able to understand how successful
02:20you were at that time?
02:20Or was it something like you kind of still
02:22had that imposter syndrome?
02:23That's interesting to say.
02:24Yeah, I think that I'm still figuring
02:26that they were going to find out and just say,
02:28you know, you can leave town now if you'd like.
02:30But you know, by that time,
02:32particularly after the fourth one,
02:33it was just not just that, the show's success.
02:36That night on NBC, that Thursday night
02:38was just, just full of great shows.
02:41And so it was clear to me we were successful
02:43and I was part of that.
02:44So I didn't go home thinking,
02:46I don't deserve this.
02:48I deserved it.
02:49And you know, you did say that
02:50it was your big break, obviously.
02:51Yes.
02:52And what did it feel like when you found out
02:53that you'd gotten that role?
02:54Was it a big deal for you?
02:55Well, when I got the role, it was just,
02:57oh, thank God, a job that I can pay for Christmas.
03:00Because it was just that, it was a pilot.
03:01We didn't know if it was going to become a series or not.
03:04Actually, when I first read for it,
03:05I read for the part of the judge.
03:07And as I was leaving the building,
03:08I was called back and said,
03:09there's another part.
03:10You want to read this other part?
03:11And everyone, yeah, sure.
03:12That same week, I read for the bartender on Cheers.
03:15So it was that, you know, I was making the rounds
03:17and happened to land that one,
03:18made the pilot and got money to be able to,
03:21you know, afford Christmas that year.
03:22And it was great.
03:23That worked out.
03:24That was it.
03:24So you did mention that you and the current cast
03:27are very close now.
03:28And Melissa told Parade actually recently
03:31that she feels like you guys are like family.
03:33You're that close.
03:33Do you agree with that?
03:34I do.
03:35She and I talked for over, well over a year
03:38before I ever said that I would do this show.
03:42And once we got together,
03:44and because of her character coming to my character
03:46as the daughter of the fictional judge,
03:49that relationship was established very quickly
03:52and Fielding, who was a hermit,
03:53who didn't want to have anything to do with life,
03:55found a reason to sort of come back
03:57into the real world to protect her.
03:59That's really sweet.
04:00Yeah.
04:00She had some lovely things to say about you.
04:02She's a very kind and lovely person and a famous liar.
04:05You had one guest star who you knew from back in the day,
04:08Mayim Bialik.
04:09Yes.
04:10Yes.
04:10And she played your daughter back in the day on your show,
04:13the John Larroquette show.
04:14Correct.
04:15What was it like to reunite with her?
04:16It was great.
04:17And the real wave of that though
04:19was because Melissa and Mayim
04:21have such a history together from Big Bang.
04:23Yes.
04:23So it was the three of us sort of in this odd triangle
04:26of we both worked with her and both loved her.
04:28And so it was great to have her back
04:30and she played a great character.
04:32So outside of your time on television,
04:33you've also done quite a bit with Broadway.
04:35And you were in How to Succeed in Business
04:38with Daniel Radcliffe.
04:39I was.
04:40He was shortly coming out of his Harry Potter status.
04:43Are you a Harry Potter fan?
04:44I would say I'm a fan, yes.
04:45I'm not an avid fan.
04:46I've seen the movies and I think I saw most of them
04:48after I knew I was going to be working with Dan.
04:50I didn't, you know, I was at the age
04:52where my children were too older
04:53than they would be enjoying those films as a must-see.
04:56But yes, of course, I've seen them.
04:58Was he Harry Potter to you or is he just Dan?
05:00He's just Dan.
05:01He's just Dan.
05:02And I had some reluctance.
05:03I'll be real honest.
05:04I had some reluctance when I was offered it
05:05because as I say, Dan Radcliffe has been famous
05:08since he was a fetus.
05:09And meeting a young man who's been that famous
05:12sometimes it can go in several directions.
05:14But Daniel Radcliffe is the most of a gentleman
05:17I've ever met in my life.
05:18Educated, funny, sincere, honest, charitable,
05:22loves everybody, knows everybody's name.
05:25For that year that I spent with him on Broadway
05:27was spectacular time to have met him and know him.
05:31And we still occasionally stay in touch.
05:32He's a great guy.
05:33So as you said, you've worked with quite a few child stars
05:36that are very famous to this day.
05:38So we've got Daniel Radcliffe, Mayim Bialik, Macaulay Culkin.
05:41Macaulay, uh-huh.
05:42Do you like working with these child stars
05:44or do you feel like it?
05:46You know, most of the ones, those three you mentioned
05:48were ultimate professionals.
05:49So yes, the age had very little to do with it.
05:52Mayim was already a seasoned veteran
05:54by the time she came to the John Lauer Cat Show
05:55and she had her own show.
05:57And Macaulay certainly, the success that he had
05:59and the amount of work that he had done
06:00when he and I worked together, he was always, it was great.
06:03It never occurred to me that they were children,
06:06quote unquote.
06:07And you said you do keep in touch with-
06:09With Dan I do, yes.
06:10With Dan I do.
06:11Not with Macaulay and not with Mayim
06:13because time had passed.
06:15But Radcliffe and I stay in touch.
06:16There's like four of us, we call them the alley boys.
06:19We used to sneak out the theater at intermission
06:22and smoke cigarettes and have a talk.
06:24And I had the Zippo lighters made
06:26and engraved the alley boys, 2011.
06:28So four of us in the cast used to just hang out
06:31a lot together.
06:31That's awesome.
06:32So we have a fun little game if you're down.
06:35We'll see about that.
06:36Okay, it's called The Final Verdict
06:38in which you get to be the judge
06:39instead of the prosecutor.
06:41Yes.
06:41So you'll be the final judge
06:43on these silly, controversial topics.
06:45Really?
06:45Yes.
06:46Okay.
06:46Okay.
06:47Do you believe in pineapple on pizza?
06:49Yes or no?
06:50No.
06:50No, okay.
06:52Is a hot dog a sandwich?
06:53Yes.
06:54Oh, you were ready.
06:55Meat and bread, what is not a sandwich?
06:58Is cereal a soup?
07:00No.
07:01Why not?
07:01Crunchy soup.
07:04Fair.
07:04Would you consider a block of cheese
07:06to be a loaf of milk?
07:11Strictly speaking, I guess yes, but no.
07:14Should we legalize naps at work?
07:17Naps at work?
07:18Yeah.
07:18Yes.
07:19How come?
07:20I think people would do better with a nap.
07:22I was talking to my wife about that.
07:23I don't nap, but she's English
07:26and the Europeans nap all the time
07:27and the States seem to be a lot happier
07:28than we are most of the time.
07:29So maybe napping is a clue to that.
07:32That's a good point.
07:33Which is the superior pet, dog or cat?
07:35Dog.
07:37If Harry Potter magic was real,
07:39should it be legalized?
07:40Yes.
07:41Would New York City survive a zombie apocalypse?
07:44Isn't it already?
07:47And is Taylor Swift overrated or no?
07:50No, not overrated.
07:51I mean, the impact that that person has had in the world,
07:54you can't overrate something like that.
07:56Are you a Swifty?
07:57I wouldn't call me that,
07:58but I admire her talent tremendously.