Night Court Premiere Draws Impressive Ratings For NBC

UPDATED WITH FINAL NUMBERS: The two-episode premiere of Night Court ushered in some impressive ratings for NBC.

The workplace comedy series, which is reboot of the original series created by Reinhold Weege that ran for nine seasons in the 1980s, debuted with back-to-back episodes on Tuesday. The first episode delivered the highest-rated and most-watched program of the night with a whopping 1.2 rating in the advertiser-targeted 18-49 demographic, according to live + same-day Nielsen data.

That’s a feat that no network show has managed this season without an assist from an NFL lead-in. The episode also managed 8M total viewers.

The second episode, which aired at 8:30 p.m., was the No. 2 program in both ratings and viewership on Tuesday. It dipped slightly to a 1.1 demo rating, which is still very high for even an established broadcast series. The episode averaged 7.2M viewers.

The back-to-back episode premiere equated to the highest total viewers for any comedy premiere since The Connors premiered on ABC in 2018 and the best on NBC since Will & Grace in 2017. It’s also by far the top broadcast premiere of the television season, and the top comedy premiere across both broadcast and cable.

“To see Night Court wholeheartedly embraced by the audiences is a testament to how beloved the show remains as a cultural touchstone,” said Lisa Katz, President, Scripted Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “These success stories once again prove the staying power and popularity of broadcast and we look forward to seeing our two upcoming and critically applauded second-year comedies – American Auto and Grand Crew – also finding similar traction.”

Night Court centers on unapologetic optimist judge Abby Stone, the daughter of the late Harry Stone (originally played by Harry Anderson), who follows in her father’s footsteps as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court and tries to bring order to its crew of oddballs and cynics, most notably former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding, with John Larroquette reprising his role.