Actress Melissa Raunch portrays the role of the protagonist, Judge Abby Stone, on NBC’s Night Court which premiered Tuesday. 

”Rather than a reboot of the original, the new Night Court will be a continuation of the original story, this time starring Judge Harry Stone’s daughter, Abby Stone (Melissa Rauch), taking the reins as Judge in the courtroom. Episodes will follow a similar formula to the original Night Court as Abby and her courtroom staff tackle the day’s most complicated and kooky cases that make their way to the night shift,” according to NBC.

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Who is Melissa Raunch?

Raunch was born to Susan and David Rauch, a Jewish family living in Marlboro Township, New Jersey. She has a younger brother, Ben. She developed an interest in acting while attending Marlboro High School. She graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City in 2002.

The 42-year-old is known for playing Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, for which she was nominated for the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2013.

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From 2004 to 2008, Rauch worked as a regular contributor on the VH1 series Best Week Ever. Her other acting credits include playing Tina on the American remake of Kath & Kim and Summer on the HBO fantasy horror drama True Blood. She also starred in the 2015 sports comedy-drama film The Bronze, which she also co-wrote and co-produced. She provided the voice of DC character Harley Quinn in the 2017 animated film Batman and Harley Quinn.

Rauch also had supporting roles in I Love You, Man (2009), Ice Age: Collision Course and Flock of Dudes (both 2016), and Ode to Joy and The Laundromat (both 2019).