Sitcom Legend Faith Ford Spices Up ‘Night Court’ Playing Abby Stone’s Mom

Faith Ford feels that guest starring on an established series is a little like cooking up the perfect dish.

This week, she’s appearing as Gina Stone, Judge Abby Stone’s mother, on Night Court. And, although the two are close, Gina is worried that a long held secret might come be revealed and change her relationship with her daughter forever.

Melissa Rauch stars as Abby Stone, and also serves as executive producer on the series.

After starring in sitcoms including Murphy Brown, Hope and Faith, Maggie Winters, and Carpoolers, Ford is happy to be originating another comedy role.

“I was really grateful when they asked me to do this.” She laughs a little as she says, “They really thought I could be great in this role, which is a lot of pressure, but then I had to make sure I proved them right. So it feels like their plan, if they had one, in saying that, sort of worked.”

She reveals that even with all of the time she’s spent on various sets, she still gets a bit nervous when she steps in as a guest star.

This is where Ford’s food analogy comes in.

With a bit of a nod to her southern roots, having grown up in and currently calling Louisiana her home, she explains, “You know, it’s kind of like making gumbo; you have all of these ingredients that go in, but you don’t want to put in too much of this spice or too much of that spice, because you’ll ruin it. So, you want to make sure that you add everything in in just the right way, so that it doesn’t alter what’s already in there, making it taste bad. That’s the best way I can describe coming in to work on an established series as a guest star.”

Working as a non-regular on a series, Ford says that she also strives to just blend in. “Melissa kept asking me, ‘are you okay? Are you happy with how things are going?’ And I just said, ‘Honey, I’m so good. You just don’t even worry about me,’ because my thing is I never want to be a problem. I don’t want them to notice me too much because if they notice me too much that means it might be a problem. Sitcoms are really a team sport; you have your moments but you also have to be able to let others have their moments too.”

Speaking about her time with Rauch, Ford believes that the two had an instant connection from the start. “I didn’t have any idea if we would or not, but she’s smart, strong, and as sweet as can be. I just fell in love with her right away. So, I feel like the bond that you see between us on-screen is really there for us in real-life.”

Ford says that while she never got to work with Harry Anderson before he passed away in 2018, she really feels like the character of Abby Stone is truly the perfect combination of Anderson’s character Harry Stone and her Gina Stone character.

She has, however, worked with John Larroquette, who played attorney Dan Felding on the original series and does as well as on this current version of Night Court. The two appeared together in the movie Beethoven’s 5th and in the Murphy Brown reboot when Laroquette guest starred on the series in 2018.

And, the two have a personal connection as well. “I’ve known him for a long, long time, and we’ve got this ‘Louisiana’ kind of understanding, even though he doesn’t live there anymore. But it’s still very much something that is understood that doesn’t need to be discussed. So, when we’re together, there’s a familiarity between us. It’s comfortable, and fun.”

Looking ahead, Ford says that because she loved being a regular on a series and that working with an ensemble ‘is always fantastic,’ she’d consider doing that again, but at the same time, she’s ‘open to whatever comes along.’

But for her to take a role, it has to be one that, “I can really give something to, that I feel like it’s the right fit for me,” she says, noting that it’s not about necessarily being overly picky, it’s more about wanting to always bring her ‘A game.’

And, even given her comedy background, this doesn’t mean she wouldn’t consider taking a role as killer on a crime drama. But, she adds, with a sarcastically serious tone, “Well, it depends on the kind of killer I am.”

She sums up with, “I never say never to anything. I just have really think about if it’s something I can see myself doing, and if I do, then I fully commit to it.”

In addition to her stint on Night Court, Ford also has a film that just debuted on NetflixNFLX
, entitled We Have a Ghost, that also stars Jahi Di’Allo Winston, David Harbour, Anthony Mackie, and Jennifer Coolidge.

As for appearing as Gina Stone again, Ford says, “I would like that a lot. One of the things that I found interesting about my character is that she’s flawed, and what we show is that although she’s Abby’s mother, Abby mothers Gina a bit, and then both of them show that they can be vulnerable with each other. And that’s just a small part of the relationship between the two, so I think that there’s a lot to explore there.”

Ford admits that even though her time on set, for now, has wrapped, she’s still in constant contact with Rauch. “Every week I just send her an email, not because I’m kissing up or anything like that,” she laughs, “But because I just feel so proud of what she’s done. I was really feeling like sitcoms with a studio audience — which is what Night Court is — is almost like a lost art now. It feels like people are down them. But Melissa’s making this one work, and it’s got both humor and heart, which is what you need to make a sitcom really capture viewers. So, I just want her to know that she’s really doing something special.“

Using yet another cooking analogy, Ford says that Night Court is a show that’s, “like a layer cake. There are these amazing characters and each week they show another layer that tells the viewers something about them, and while you’re watching that, you’re laughing one minute and then thinking the next minute, ‘ah, what they’re saying to each other is so sweet.’ That’s just what a really great show does, and this is one of them.”

‘Night Court’ airs Tuesdays at 8e/p on NBC, and is available for streaming on Peacock.

Faith Ford appears as Gina Stone in the episode airing on Tuesday, February 24^th