Just like the late Reinhold Weege’s original series, showrunner Dan Rubin isn’t afraid of tinkering with the cast of the current version of Night Court in order to get the right chemistry. People forget how many cast changes the original had in its early seasons, both due to chemistry reasons and — in the case of Selma Diamond and Florence Halop — unfortunate deaths. But the version of the original that everyone knows didn’t really meld into shape until Markie Post joined the show for good in its third season. For the third season of the current version, Wendie Malick is joining the cast, replacing Indie de Beaufort and reprising her role of Julianne Walters from the first season. If you remember, Julianne had a lot of hot times with Dan Fielding (John Larroquette)… but then threatened to kill him.

NIGHT COURT SEASON 3: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: In the chambers of Judge Abby Stone (Melissa Rauch), Flobert (Gary Anthony Williams), the night court’s jack of all trades, asks the judge to summarize how she got to the point where she thought her boyfriend Jake (Ryan Hansen) might be the son of defense attorney Dan Fielding (John Larroquette).

The Gist: Abby started thinking about this when Jake’s mother Susan (Julia Duffy) said that back in the ’80s she slept with a tall, well-dressed prosecutor in New York. That was what Dan was back then, which is why Abby was alarmed. It’s gotten so bad that she has nightmares that Dan and Jake smash her office after accidentally finding out.

As Abby schemes with Flobert, her clerk Wyatt (Nyambi Nyambi) and bailiff Gurgs (Lacretta) to get both men’s DNA, Dan has other things to worry about. Flobert has been filling in as a prosecutor since Olivia (India de Beaufort, who left after Season 2) left to go to a big law firm, but a new prosecutor has been hired: Julianne Walters (Wendie Malick), who went to prison after threatening Dan only a couple of years ago.

How did this happen? Lots of therapy and meds, and the fact that Abby was the only judge to participate in Operation Second Chance at Rikers (Abby signed up 40 times). Still, Dan, thinks Julianne is playing cat-and-mouse with him and he’s the “juicy little mouse.”

Abby goes to visit Susan in the hospital — she’s getting breast implants despite being in her 70s — and Jake’s drugged-up mom says she not only slept with a tall prosecutor in the ’80s, but a judge and a magician. Abby, knowing that her dad Harry was both, wonders if she left out a comma in that sentence and slept with “a judge, and a magician.” “Where’s the comma?” she screams at Susan. So she cuts off more of her hair than she needs and sends it in for the DNA test, to make sure she’s not sleeping with her brother.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Of course, this Night Court revival is a sequel to the 1984-92 original, with Larroquette being the link between both.

Our Take: Night Court showrunner Dan Rubin has replaced one-note striver Olivia with Julianne, who has a history with Dan. But more notably, sitcom veteran Wendie Malick is now a full-time cast member, and she immediately brings the snarky, sexy vibe she has brought to shows like Just Shoot Me and Hot In Cleveland (and currently, Shrinking) for decades now. She’s a pro that knows how to wring laughs out of lines that don’t jump off the page, just like Larroquette can.

The idea behind bringing her on, as well as casting Williams and Nyambi last season, is to make the comedy a true ensemble instead of depending mostly on Larroquette to carry the comedic load. Things still haven’t really gelled through the first two episodes of this season, but at least we see a pathway to the even comedic distribution we saw in the original series.

The other thing that Rubin tries to accomplish is to make sure the cases Abby sees are as nutty as the ones her dad presided over, which is still a work in progress. And then there’s the final piece of the puzzle, which is bringing in the weird and wild people who work and hang out at the courthouse. That part is still lacking, but we see some promise of that in the second episode with a scene about a book club Dan and Abby make fun of in the cafeteria.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: Julianne snorts a little when she tells Dan that Abby thinks he’s Jake’s father.

Sleeper Star: Lacretta is always smiling and good natured as Gurgs, and she’s given the silliest situations as b-plots, like her quest in episode 2 to get Julianne to stop smoking on the fire escape outside of Abby’s chambers.

Most Pilot-y Line: Abby decides to write Dan a “friendly, anonymous letter” about Jake, that looks exactly like a ransom note.

Our Call: STREAM IT. We’re hoping that the addition of Malick, along with the changes made last season, make the new Night Court into a more of a comedy ensemble than it’s been to this point. That was the strength of the original, and it’s what will make this show get close to what we remember about the show’s ’80s run.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.