The original Night Court featured the Wheelers, and now their family lore (and their back luck streak) continues.
Lucky for fans of Night Court, the unlucky Wheelers are back!
Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Independence Day: Resurgence) and Annie O’Donnell (2 Lives in Pittsburgh, Black Sheep) just reprised their roles as Bob and June Wheeler from the original Night Court. The husband and wife are usually popping up with an unfortunate set of circumstances usually known to trigger the fight, flight, or funny in Dan Fielding (John Larroquette).
“We were so pathetic [on the original show] that it was funny,” O’Donnell recalled about their characters’ introduction on the show in a chat with NBC Insider. “We each had a couple of lines, that was it, [but] then the reception was so great with the audience, they immediately started writing us into the next episode.”
The Wheelers are back on Night Court
“The first time we did the show was about 40 years ago, and it was great to come back. I’ve described it as like an old pair of shoes or something, because it really didn’t take a lot of work to find these guys again,” Spiner told NBC Insider. “I think Bob has always been a part of me and…Annie just fell right into June again…The magic is still there.”
The latest episode has the Wheeler family expanding with their kids, Carol Ann (Kate Micucci) and Crash (Andy Ridings), joining the fray.
“I feel like the luckiest to be a part of that unlucky family,” Micucci told NBC Insider.
Micucci watched all of Spiner and O’Donnell’s original episodes from the series, which she notes introduced a daughter for the Wheelers.
“They’re just so ridiculous, so funny,” Micucci said. “Annie and Brent are so funny together…I think I look at them almost like the original Debbie Downers. They were just the most unlucky…the biggest womp, womp, womp.”
O’Donnell was “thrilled” to come back and work with Spiner and Larroquette again.
“Being the old guard…I think [Larroquette] likes the fact that we’re from the old Night Court,” O’Donnell said warmly. “We just love spending time with him. He’s fantastic. I think he’s a comic genius.”
Season 3 of Night Court reunited Melissa Rauch with some Big Bang Theory alums
When it came to casting decisions for the new Wheelers, Rauch called up her former Big Bang Theory co-star Micucci about taking on the role of Carol Ann, Micucci revealed.
Rauch previously played microbiologist and Howard Wolowitz’s wife Bernadette, and Micucci played the recurring character Lucy on The Big Bang Theory.
“Melissa and I became friends when I first guested on Big Bang Theory, and we just hit it off immediately,” Micucci revealed. “We’re both girls from New Jersey originally, and I don’t know if maybe that’s just in our DNA or something that we’re just like, ‘Oh, we like each other.’”
Micucci isn’t the only actor playing a Wheeler who’s also been on both beloved shows.
“I did one episode of Big Bang,” Spiner said. The actor played a version of himself on the other sitcom, though he noted he didn’t share scenes with Rauch. “Melissa is a joy; she’s a wonderful person. She’s really lovely and a great captain of this team of people who do [Night Court], and the combination of Melissa and John Larroquette is unbeatable.”
