Melissa Rauch explains how the Night Court revival made sure that Dan Fielding worked in a modern sitcom. Premiered on NBC last month, Night Court is a revival of the popular sitcom of the same name that originally aired between 1984 and 1992. The revival is led by the Big Bang Theory alum as Abby Stone, who fills her late father's position as the night court judge, and features the return of John Larroquette as Dan Fielding, now serving as a public defender in Abby's court.

Rauch recently sat down for a profile by Salon and opened up about all things Night Court, especially how the revival updated Dan Fielding for modern television, who was an unabashed womanizer and chauvinistic in the original sitcom. The Abby actress explains how the revival approached updating Dan for the reboot by humanizing him. Read what Rauch said below:

Well, I think, first of all, there were definite conversations about how Dan Fielding exists today. When you look at the character in the original, there were small evolutions, very small, but seeds that were planted about who this new Dan Fielding is. There's an episode, one of my favorites, and we even spoke about it in the pitch, the "Dan Operation" episode. It's a beautiful, beautiful scene between him and Harry Stone, Harry Anderson who played him. He talks about how he's been with all these women. Even though he's had all these experiences with women, no one has ever said "I love you," and that is truly what he wanted."You see this through all the womanizing and all the flirtations and everything that we saw Dan Fielding do; at the end of the day, he was this insecure guy who just really wanted love. What it did is anytime you then saw him strike out with a woman or do something that was inappropriate, you maybe laughed a little harder because you saw where it was coming from. And then it was important to us that that evolution really be strengthened as we were going into the series. He found love. He lost love. He's been humbled by life. I think as hopefully with anyone over time, they would mature and grow. That's truly who he is now. He's not without fault. He still thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, and he's still very much a narcissist, but I think that love and loss has just really shaped him.

Related: Why Night Court Reboot Needs Marsha Warfield To Return

Why The Night Court Revival Has Been So Successful

Night Court Reboot Cast Poster

Just a few episodes into the Night Court revival, the show has already proven to be a big success for NBC. The premiere was watched by over 7.5 million viewers and was rewarded with a swift season 2 renewal. An NBC executive previously shared his perspective on why the Night Court revival has been so successful, while something more widely-known like Friends hasn't even been attempted, citing Night Court's nostalgic appeal and how well the sitcom functions on a week-to-week basis.

Night Court is the latest in a long line of reboots that has found success by providing nostalgic appeal for the original audience while also updating the IP for modern audiences, similar to Netflix's Cobra Kai. The Night Court revival's willingness to adapt is best exemplified by the character of Dan. In the revival, the character still maintains all those signature narcissist tendencies from the original, as Rauch explains, while also developing the character by exploring his faults, insecurities, and what makes him human.

Larroquette previously offered his own perspective on the changes the Night Court revival made to Dan Fielding. The returning star fully supports the changes made to his character, agreeing that the show should now focus on the love lives of its younger characters rather than his 75-year-old public defender. The Night Court revival has done a commendable job of handling Dan Fielding's womanizing past, which is a major part of why the show has been so well-received so far.

More: Every Original Night Court Reference In The Reboot Show

Source: Salon