Scene Stealer: Lacretta as ‘Night Court’s Bold Bailiff Gurgs
Night Court may have made an impact during its original run, but the revival series on NBC is making a star of Lacretta, who plays bold bailiff Gurgs in the half-hour comedy.
Below, we break down why we can’t get enough of Lacretta and Gurgs each week. Plus, catch a first look at what’s next for the bailiff in the exclusive sneak peek clip, above.
She Plays…
Bighearted but wired bailiff Donna “Gurgs” Gurganous in the reimagining of Manhattan’s kookiest night court, where she works alongside presiding judge Abby Stone (Melissa Rauch), optimistic offspring of Judge Harry Stone (the late Harry Anderson) from the original 1984–92 comedy.
(Credit: Jordin Althaus/NBC/Warner Bros. Television)
Where You’ve Seen Her Before
Fans of the theater may have caught her on Broadway in 2016’s Disaster! or, leading up to that, the first national tour of The Book of Mormon. On the small screen, she’s tackled both comedy (30 Rock) and drama (Law & Order: SVU).
Why We Love Her
Gurgs is fiercely — and hilariously — loyal to the court and her coworkers, evident in the April 25 episode when cranky public defender Dan Fielding (John Larroquette) is doused with a daiquiri by a drunken woman in the gallery. “Gurgs takes it as a personal failure that she didn’t protect him,” Lacretta explains. Determined to keep Dan safe, the bailiff refuses to leave his side, even setting a safety perimeter around him in the court’s cafeteria. “He’s so annoyed,” she says, laughing.
Tradition of Excellence
The actress is well aware of the series’ history of indelible performances in the bailiff role. “There was the weirdness of Richard Moll [as Bull] that allowed me to put a lot of weirdness into Gurgs,” she says. “Then you had the groundedness and regalness of Marsha Warfield [playing Roz], so I could marry them in a way that pays homage to them but lets me do my own thing.” We concur!
Night Court, Tuesdays, 8/7c, NBC
