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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Night Court stars Lacretta, Nyambi Nyambi and Gary Anthony Williams say Season 3, airing Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. EST on NBC, includes new jobs for their characters, new family and friends, and even a musical. In a Zoom interview with UPI, Nyambi said the musical episode was his first in the genre since attending New York University graduate school. He plays court clerk Wyatt.
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"I have sung before and I've been told to stop," Nyambi joked. "This has been fun."
Lacretta was a Broadway star prior to Night Court and already performed in a Season 2 episode. She said that despite roles in the Legally Blonde and Hairspray musicals, breaking into song never made sense to her.
"All of a sudden we're having this awesome conversation and now we're singing and I don't understand why," Lacretta said "Opera makes more sense to me because we're just always singing, but that also makes the spoken stuff really important and poignant."
Lacretta plays bailiff Donna Gurganous, known as "Gurgs" for short. Her previous song on the show was a private performance in Judge Abby Stone's (Melissa Rauch) office.
For the musical episode, Lacretta said that without spoiling the plot, the reason it includes songs makes sense to her.
"The entire episode is not a musical number," Lacretta said. "It's just like a play with music, so it's just a TV show that happens to have some music."
Williams said nobody in the Night Court cast could best Lacretta at music. Still, he enjoyed playing in the musical milieu.
"It really was like Halloween," Williams said. "We're all wearing little fancy costumes and putting on a show. It was so stupid fun."
Williams was a part of his high school chorus and performs improvisational music on the show Whose Line Is It Anyway. He says that gave him just enough practice to get by.
"I can fake it," Williams said. "I'm not the best."
Last week's episode introduced Wyatt's daughter, Megan (Brooke Bailey). Nyambi confirmed viewers will meet Wyatt's younger daughter in an upcoming episode.
Nyambi said he related to Wyatt as a father because he himself is a new father to a one-year-old girl.
"She's so brilliant beyond what I expect and that's what's difficult," Nyambi said. "It becomes difficult because they're constantly keeping you on your toes."
Another episode introduces Wyatt's best friend, whose casting has not yet been announced. Nyambi said Wyatt's friend pushes his limits even more than his children.
"You get to see who he is in terms of what he will tolerate," Nyambi said.
Wyatt is also studying for the bar himself, and Nyambi said his character's ambitions could come to fruition in a future episode.
"Within 24 hours I am doing a lot," Nyambi reflected. "I am court clerking and going to law school at the same time while being a single dad to two daughters."
Williams' character, Flobert, is perhaps even more multi-talented than Wyatt. Introduced as a judge in a Season 1 episode, Flobert keeps returning in different capacities.
"Every second or third episode, you will find out something else that Flobert is up to," Williams said. "They just mentioned he sold real estate before. He was involved in hypnotism for a while. He just mentioned that he's been involved in some rap battles."
Flobert appeared as a prosecutor in some episodes, which reminded Williams of an early job when he was hired to help real lawyers practice for courtrooms in Atlanta, Ga. Williams hopes Flobert can return to practicing law.
"I love the fake bravado of a lawyer," Williams said. "I love people who really think they know everything and chances are they do not. I love that fake power that they have. I'll just call it false importance."
Even Gurgs, who has been bailiff since the beginning of the Night Court revival, has been promoted to chief bailiff. Lacretta said that will add more comical responsibilities to her role.
"There's going to be a lot of paperwork and lost papers," Lacretta said. "Then we've got a social media influencer that's going to be coming and putting a lot of pressure on her."
In her real life, Lacretta has modest expectations for her participation on social media.
"I don't understand the algorithm so I'm never going to go viral but I have fun and I love streaming on Twitch," she said. "I'm satisfied. I don't need tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of [followers]."
Longtime fans of Lacretta might remember her going by Lacretta Nicole on stage. She said she added Nicole because she was worried Lacretta might get confused with Broadway actor LaChanze, which she now realizes was unlikely.
She officially removed Nicole from her name when she made the film Second Act.
"No one really calls me Lacretta Nicole anyway," she said. "I didn't like seeing Nicole in my costumes because that's not my name. My name is Lacretta. To guarantee that Lacretta is going to be in my costume, then I have to just go by Lacretta."
