Is John Larroquette leaving Night Court?

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for the May 2, 2023 episode of Night Court. 

The latest episode of Night Court had a huge turn for Dan Fielding. Is it possible John Larroquette is leaving the hit reboot of the 1980s comedy? Here’s what we know.

How did Dan Fielding return to Night Court?

The original Night Court was one of NBC’s biggest comedy hits, running from 1984 to 1992. It focused on Harry Stone (the late Harry Anderson), a quirky judge handling a court that always seemed home to a never-ending assortment of weirdos committing strange offenses.

The highlight of the supporting cast was John Larroquette as Dan Fielding, a suave, womanizing, arrogant prosecutor. Larroquette won four Emmy awards for his work and would go on to appear in scores of television series.

The rebooted Night Court stars Melissa Rauch as Abby Stone, Harry’s daughter (Anderson died in 2018), who now runs the same courtroom as her dad. The pilot had Abby talking a retired Dan back into being a public defender. The series has shown Dan slowly coming to admire Abby and be a good mentor to her.

But the latest episode and the setup for the Season 1 finale have viewers wondering if Dan might be leaving soon.

What’s happening with Dan on Night Court’s final episodes?

The May 2nd episode had Dan revealing to Abby that he was being offered a spot as a judge, something he’d worked for all his life. While hating the idea of losing him, Abby decided to throw Dan a great farewell party. Dan was moved to realize how many people truly admired him and seemed to reconsider leaving.

Ducking out of the party, Dan got a phone call from Abby, who had been arrested when her attempt to help an elderly client led to a wild fight. This sets up the May 9 finale as Dan will defend Abby, as her career could be in jeopardy.

So far, there’s no word of Larroquette wanting to leave the show. It may be that defending Abby makes Dan realize how he prefers being in the court and not on the bench and staying on.

Right now, the fate of Night Court itself is up in the air as production on Season 2 has been suspended due to the Writer’s Guild of America strike. Yet it does sound like fans can expect Dan to continue his fun courtroom antics for a while.

Night Court season 1 finale airs Tuesday May 9 at 8/7c on NBC and streaming on Peacock.