The Big Picture
Bob and June Wheeler, the “Yugoslavian recidivist knuckleheads,” return to
Night Court
with their daughter Carol Ann in Season 2.
In an unexpected twist, former prosecutor Dan Fielding now defends the unlucky Wheelers after 39 years of bad luck.
The upcoming episode features a psychic guest star helping Abby resolve a dispute with her late father, Harry T. Stone.
As we live and breathe, Bob and June Wheeler are back on Night Court. The woefully unlucky, “Yugoslavian recidivist knuckleheads,” played by Brent Spiner and Annie O’Donnell in the original Reinhold Weege series, return to the Manhattan Municipal Court this week to face Judge Abby Stone (Melissa Rauch) for the first time in the Dan Rubin-helmed reboot. In another first since their debut episode, they’ve also brought along their daughter Carol Ann Wheeler, played by Rauch’s multitalented former The Big Bang Theory colleague Kate Micucci. Collider is excited to share a sneak peek at the upcoming Season 2 episode, titled “Wheelers of Fortune,” which sees Abby asked to babysit the now fully-grown Wheeler child.
The clip opens with the unfortunate Bob and June covered in feathers and needing to relocate their sheep. They turn to Abby for help with Carol Ann, a task she’s more than happy to take on considering her babysitting experience from high school. What she’s not prepared for is a fully-grown adult woman who really wants a kidney from Abby, though Bob insists she just likes to play with them. It’s a lot for Abby to handle, though she still tries to approach the peculiar situation with a smile much like her father before her.
“Wheelers of Fortune” will flip the typical Night Court formula on its head, as Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), who often derided the Wheelers as a prosecutor whenever they appeared in the original series, will now be tasked with defending them in court. After 39 years, their bad luck continues to follow them everywhere they go and Dan will have his hands full with them. Also set to make her Night Court debut in the upcoming episode is SNL veteran and Work in Progress star Julia Sweeney, who also guest stars as a psychic who promises to help Abby resolve a lingering dispute with her late father, Harry T. Stone.
Who Were The Wheelers in ‘Night Court’?
Spiner and O’Donnell made their debuts as Bob and June Wheeler on the Season 3 episode “The Wheels of Justice, Part 1,” serving as comedic relief during a heavy two-parter in which Harry (Harry Anderson) grapples with the realities of a justice system that sometimes feels unfair. The two became fan favorites for their darkly hilarious stories of woe, from losing their home, business, and dog to a tornado to buying the newsstand at the courthouse for an outrageous markup. In total, they appeared together in six episodes throughout Seasons 3 and 4, though Carol Ann only appeared in one with young Keri Houlihan playing her.
Spiner left Night Court to take on what would be a longtime role as Data in the Star Trek franchise. He most recently reprised the role on the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard last year, though he also boasts roles in Independence Day and its 2016 follow-up, Independence Day: Resurgence among many other parts. O’Donnell, meanwhile, would go on to have a varied career full of smaller roles in shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Murder, She Wrote, and NCIS as well as films like Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Black Sheep. Like Micucci and Rauch, she’d also enjoy a role in The Big Bang Theory, marking yet another connection to the hit comedy after Kunal Nayyar’s guest appearance earlier in Season 2.
See the Wheeler family return to Night Courtin the upcoming Season 2 episode on March 12. New episodes air every Tuesday on NBC. Season 1 is streaming now on Peacock. Check out the sneak peek below.
Night Court
Unapologetically optimistic judge Abby Stone, the daughter of the late Harry Stone, 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.
Release Date January 17, 2023
Cast John Larroquette , Lacretta , India de Beaufort , Kapil Talwalkar
Main Genre Sitcom
Seasons 1
Watch on Peacock