“Night Court”'s John Larroquette Talks Marsha Warfield Reunion and Their Unspoken Bond Today: We're '2 Standing Soldiers' (Exclusive)

The actor tells PEOPLE why working with Warfield made him nostalgic

When John Larroquette reunited with Marsha Warfield in the Night Court revival’s second season, it was a bittersweet experience.

In the season 2 finale, Roz (Warfield) tied the knot with Loretta (Indira G. Wilson) in a ceremony held in the courtroom, with Dan (Larroquette) walking Roz down the aisle and sharing a sentimental embrace.

During a recent visit to Night Court’s set, Larroquette, 76, spoke with PEOPLE about the opportunity to work with Warfield, 70, more than three decades after starring together on the original Night Court with a cast that included the late actors Charlie Robinson, Markie Post and Richard Moll.

“It was wonderful because she and I are, as it were, still the two standing soldiers from the original, because nobody else is alive,” Larroquette explains. “So to have her back, it reached out to the past of this show and yet brought it to the center of the present time. … She'll be back as well, so we're going to have her a couple of times, I hope.”

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“To have Marsha there next to me, who I could turn to and, ‘Oh, you remember when?’” he continues. “There's nobody else to do that with here, 35 years ago. Whenever it was.”

Night Court’s third season picks up where season 2 left off, Larroquette hinted, exploring whether Dan is actually the father of Abby's boyfriend Jake (Ryan Hansen). The show will also feature the onscreen sister of Christine Sullivan (Markie Post), played by Gigi Rice, and sees Wendie Malickbecome a series regular, reprising her character Julianne and joining castmembers like Larroquette, Melissa Rauch, Lacretta and Nyambi Nyambi.

For Larroquette, revisiting his beloved character more than 30 years after the original Night Court went off the air has surfaced a mix of feelings. The revival is filmed on Stage 10 of Warner Bros.’ studio lot in Los Angeles, right across the road from where the first series was filmed. It even has several items from the set of the original show, including the leather couch and armadillo statue in Abby’s office.

“There's so much history on this set for me,” he explains. “And so obviously it was melancholy, partly because … it's a bit of a ghost town, as it were. But then to see the new people who I'll be working with, it revitalizes the show and the relationships.”

Related: Night Court's John Larroquette Admits He 'Wouldn't Be Here' Without Melissa Rauch's Persistence About the Spinoff (Exclusive)

Larroquette still frequently thinks about his former costars from the first series, including  Charlie Robinson and Markie Post, both of whom died in 2021 followed by Richard Moll last October.

“It was sad knowing that people that I loved and worked with for all those years are gone, and it was joyous knowing that there's this other whole group of people coming in who are new to it, who loved the show,” he explains.

Night Court’s writers take on the show episode-by-episode rather than thinking about its character over the longer term but Larroquette hopes Dan opens his heart “a little” to the possibility of love once again.

“Abby brings out the humanity in him again,” he explains. “So I just think to see him continue to be a bit of a curmudgeon and yet his heart open up a little as we go along is the only goal that I have with him — and to be funny.”

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Season 3 of Night Court premieres Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.