Yahoo Lifestyle “Big Bang Theory”'s Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik Dish on Their 'Clever' “Night Court ”Reunion: 'It's Like Home' (Exclusive)
"All week, I was just pinching myself that we were getting to work together," Rauch tells PEOPLE while Bialik, who plays a heightened version of herself, teases that the Jan. 14 episode includes an "elaborate twist"
Nicole Weingart/NBC
Mayim Bialik (left) and Melissa Rauch on 'Night Court'Amy and Bernadette have found their way back to each other.
Mayim Bialik has reunited with her The Big Bang Theory costar Melissa Rauch for an upcoming episode of NBC's Night Court on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
While Bialik guest stars as a heightened version of herself, who appears as a defendant on the legal sitcom, Rauch's character, Judge Abby Stone, is a super fan of the Bialick's, until she realizes she's being stalked. Fans will enjoy jokes and innuendo about The Big Bang Theory as well as Blossom, Bialik's hit 90s sitcom.
Since NBC rebooted Night Court in January 2023, Rauch tells PEOPLE "it's been a dream of mine for Mayim to be on the show."
"I loosely in conversation had mentioned to her, 'It would be so great if at some point you came by and guest starred.' And she was like, 'Yeah, let me know.' Of course, very supportive, but it was very casual," she recalls.
Nicole Weingart/NBC
Mayim Bialik (left) and Melissa Rauch on 'Night Court'Bialik insists it was a more of a patience game. "I never want to be presumptuous and assume that Melissa would want to have me on her show," she explains. "But I also was a huge Night Court fan, and so much of the crew that Melissa works with, I know either from Big Bang Theory or from Call Me Kat."
"So I was just so excited at the idea that she would want to have me on," Bialik continues. "I thought maybe I would do a scene or a little cameo. I didn't know it would be like a full episode, and I get to interact with all of the cast members, which was really fun."
The storyline for the episode actually stemmed from Rauch's real-life experience with Bialik. "When I first met Mayim, I had to wrestle with the notion of informing her that I was a huge Blossom fan growing up," Rauch recalls.
Once the two joined Big Bang Theory as regulars, Rauch admits "I was in this dilemma of, 'Do I let her know now that I am a super fan?' I have pictures of me as Blossom for Halloween as a kid, I knew the whole dance."
Nicole Weingart/NBC
Mayim Bialik (left) and Melissa Rauch on 'Night Court'It was especially prudent for Rauch to disclose her fan-girling because the two women shared a bathroom on set. "It was an very intimate situation and I just thought, 'If I don't tell her now, and then she finds out later that I've been harboring this secret all this time, it could make it more weird," Rauch says. "So we walked off the stage together and I told her. And she was so kind and gracious."
Once Rauch shared her story with the Night Court writers, the team got to work for the reunion episode and "kicked it up a notch," Rauch adds. "And Mayim was so game and just absolutely brilliant at every turn."
The guest role also allowed Bialk to have a mini-reunion with John Larroquette, having played his daughter in The John Larroquette Show years ago when she was on Blossom.
"So it was just like all these things kind of combining." Bialik adds. "I don't even know why but I suggested to Melissa, 'You can do whatever you want with me. Make me drunk.' But they did something much better and much more clever with this sort of elaborate twist."
Nicole Weingart/NBC
Mayim Bialik (right) with John Larroquette in 'Night Court'Though the two are close friends, reuniting for the Night Court episode marked the first time they had worked together since wrapping The Big Bang Theory in 2019, in which Bialik played Amy, an accomplished neuroscientist who marries Jim Parsons' Sheldon, and Rauch played mircobiologist Bernadette.
When Bialik first came to the Night Court set, Rauch admits, "I was like, 'I don't know if I'm going to just giggle or sob. So I opted for the former so that it didn't make it weird, but I was just so happy. And all week, I was just pinching myself that we were getting to work together. It's like home. It's just so wonderful getting to have that time with her."
Related: The Cast of The Big Bang Theory: Where Are They Now?
There was also a shared history between the women as both were series regulars together on The Big Bang Theory.
"It changed both of our lives forever, and we got to be part of that together," Bialik says. "But also there was so much behind the scenes kind of among the whole cast, like things that went on in our lives that we got to share together. So I love that I not only got to be part of this incredible experience of The Big Bang Theory with Melissa, but I really did gain a friend through all those experiences. We were there almost a decade together. I mean, I definitely saw her more than my own children."
When Rauch first started working on The Big Bang Theory, "I think I was engaged and then I got married and then also became a mother. So it was really just life cycles for all of us and just a special moment in time," she says. "I'm very, very grateful for the friendships I was able to take with me."
Bialick is the second of Rauch's main Big Bang Theory costars to appear on Night Court. In an episode titled “A Crime of Fashion" that aired in February, Kunal Nayyar took on the role of an A-list fashion designer and Rauch's love interest.
As for more former Big Bang Theory costars guest-starring on her show, Rauch could never pick just one. "If we're lucky enough to get more, I would be very excited," she says. "For the seven of us, that's a Sophie's Choice because I love them all."
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Night Court airs Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC and can be streamed the following day on Peacock.
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