Olivia Moore announced her departure, leaving the show without a district attorney. However, rather than introducing a new face, the latest batch of installments sees Wendie Malick's Julianne Walters take on a series regular role.

Julianne is described as a "sophisticated, savvy woman and accomplished attorney who also knows how to make a shank out of a spoon." The role is surprising given that Julianne was previously sent to prison, but her chaotic nature makes for a more entertaining dynamic within the Manhattan Municipal Courtroom. Malick shares that she enjoys playing misunderstood characters, and teases that Julianne's presence will keep things interesting for everyone.

ScreenRant participates in a round table with Malick, who discusses transitioning from a guest star to a series regular, Julianne's relationship with Dan, and why she's absent from Night Court season 3 episodes.

Malick Teases A Love-Hate Relationship Between Julianne And Dan In Night Court Season 3

"They connect on some level, but they also both know that it's probably a little bit dangerous to go there."

ScreenRant: You've guest starred in Night Court before, so what most excites you about stepping into a series regular role?

Wendie Malick: First of all, hilarious that a criminally insane person would be asked to this group as a prosecutor, but this is the magic of television. [Laughs] Apparently, I have a law degree among many other things.

I like to play neurotic people or people who have sort of little glitches in their personalities, and I think of Julianne as sort of a savant. She's very good at some things, but there's something mis here [points to head]. My hope is she's going to be going off her medication every now and then, which will keep things very interesting.

CinemaBlend: As you said, we didn't know that your character had a law degree. How was your new arc as a series regular pitched to you?

Wendie Malick: That was when I first said, "How can you have a criminally insane person become a regular lawyer in night court?" And they came up with the idea that there's a Project Second Chance for people who have done their time, and Abby having the huge heart that she has, decided that that would be the right court for me.

I haven't done a sitcom in front of a live audience for many years, but most of my career was spent doing that, and I actually had forgotten how much fun it is to be in front of a live audience. That first time I came back to be a guest on this show, it came back to me. If you're with good, talented people, and you have good writing, that's a pretty sweet gig.

GiveMeMyRemote: One of the interesting things about [Julianne's] past episodes was her relationship with Dan. What can you tease about that dynamic going forward now that they're going to be together constantly?

Wendie Malick: I think we have bad chemistry. [Laughs] But we have chemistry. It's just not terribly healthy, which I discuss actually in this season. It'll be a sort of tug of war between a love-hate kind of thing where there's definitely something there where they connect on some level, but they also both know that it's probably a little bit dangerous to go there.

Malick Hopes Julianne Will Use The Courtroom To Help Out Her Fellow Criminals

"She could point out what they did wrong, and how they could improve it, and give helpful hints to people who have to go to prison."

ScreenRant: I'm also very curious about your character's dynamic with Abby because I would say that those two are polar opposites.

Wendie Malick: Yeah. This is sort of shorthand of the characters I get to play. I'm never the sweet ingénue. I get to play the darker side, the villain, or the—I like to say misunderstood. There's probably a reason why she is the way she is. I think it's a chemical imbalance, personally. It does set up just how incredibly comionate and forgiving Abby is. It allows her to be the light in the room where she takes a chance on somebody who's as wild a card as I am.

GiveMeMyRemote: To touch on the cases that she has to deal with, what can you share about what kind of a prosecutor [Julianne] is now that she's on the other side of the table?

Wendie Malick: What I pitched to Dan Rubin was that I'd love Julianne to think of the courtroom as kind of her acting class for being a better criminal because she has so much experience. Every now and then, she could point out what they did wrong, and how they could improve it, and give helpful hints to people who have to go to prison. I gave a scarf to someone so that he could go to the biggest guy in the yard and have a friend for life and helpful hints like that. I think I could really help out my fellow criminals.

ScreenRant: I would say that Julianne and Olivia have some similarities, but how do their approaches to this job differ?

Wendie Malick: I think I'm sort of looking at the defendants who come in as interesting characters and think, "Do I have anything to learn from them?" and "Do they have anything to learn from me?" I think I'm good at my job, so I want to perform, but I also have a comion for the people who come before the court having been there so many times myself.

CinemaBlend: Between you, John Larroquette, and Melissa Rauch, there are a lot of sitcom credits and a lot of sitcom history. What has it been like to work with the two of them, in particular, with all of this sitcom expertise over the years?

Wendie Malick: They are total pros, and we were just talking about how much fun it is to be with people who are really seasoned at this. This whole cast is really, really good in of timing and just getting it and knowing how to ride the waves of laughter. But there is a kind of shorthand, I think, with people who have been in comedy for a long time.

There's the juicy thing of just letting it fly and seeing what happens, particularly when an audience comes in. John and I did an interview where I said, "I think we have, maybe, 150 years of comedy between us." [Laughs] We've been doing this for so long, but what a gift. I consider it a real blessing to get to do the thing I love and people still invite me.

Julianne Is Missing From Night Court Season 3 Episodes Due To Malick's Filming Schedule

"They'll probably say something about how I didn't finish out my term, and I have to go back to jail for a minute."

GiveMeMyRemote: One of the fun things about network comedies is that they frequently get to do holiday episodes. What are your hopes for what you would like to see your character do in a holiday episode for Night Court?

Wendie Malick: I missed Christmas this year. They already shot that, and I wasn't there. So they got to sing and I said, "Oh, I hope you do that again. I want a chance to sing not well." I'm not a great singer, but I love to take a stab at it. I can sell a song. It's not perfect, but it's good enough.

ScreenRant: It's early on for your character, so is there a storyline you'd like to see explored?

Wendie Malick: My pitch to Dan and Melissa was that I'm like a Renaissance woman, and when I was in jail, I taught a yoga class or a dancercise class. I'm a really good seamstress, so I made custom jumpsuits for all the ladies.

It's already been established that I'm an excellent knitter and that I could make wine from the grapes. So I think she has a lot of surprises up her sleeve, and maybe I was a disc jockey. I don't know. I just think that there are any number of things she could do that could surprise you—that she kind of is a master of all trades.

CinemaBlend: Do you enjoy this master-of-all-trades trait for your character? That there's really no limit to what we won't be surprised that she can do?

Wendie Malick: Oh yeah. The idea that I'm going to keep you guessing is what is intriguing to me about this character. When she's on her medication, she's very effective and very, very stable, but she goes off it a lot, so you just never know when she's going to go off. And I like to mess with people, particularly John's character. So sometimes I pretend that I'm not on my medication when I am just to mess with him.

GiveMeMyRemote: You had to be offscreen for The Chicken Sisters, but what can you share about why Julianne is offscreen? Is she just missing an action or is she off doing some adventures while you're gone?

Wendie Malick: So how are you explaining that you introduced me as coming to be there, and then I'm not there? [Laughs] So they're going to reshoot some stuff I missed for the second episode, but there are a couple I'm missing, and I think they'll probably say something about how I didn't finish out my term, and I have to go back to jail for a minute. I don't know what they're going to say. I leave that to them to explain where the hell I went, because it's very strange to me. But that's not my problem. [Laughs]

About Night Court Season 3

Abby Stone follows in the footsteps of her revered late father

In her quest to bring order and dignity to the court and reign in its colorful crew of oddballs, Abby enlists former night court district attorney Dan Fielding (John Larroquette) to serve as the court’s public defender. Still exceedingly self-confident, Fielding must adjust to a new boss and a new job – defending the downtrodden. And, beneath his arrogant demeanor, there is an empathetic side to Fielding that Abby is determined to unearth.

Check out our other Night Court season 3 interviews:

• Betsy Sodaro
• John Larroquette & Nyambi Nyambi
• Melissa Rauch & Lacretta

Night Court season 3 airs Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC.