Interview w/ Ellen Foley (Billie Young) - Kickin' it Old School

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http://oldschool.tblog.com/post/1971072477

Q: How did the role of "Billie Young" for season 2 of Night Court come your way? What do you remember about that process and getting a major role on a prime time sitcom? Was it awkward at all taking the place of Paula Kelly (who had received an Emmy nomination for the first season) on the show?

Ellen: The role on Night Court came about as a run-of-the-mill audition process. Next thing I knew they were flying me out to L.A. to test for it and I was suddenly a transplanted New Yorker. It wasn't necessarily awkward taking on the role because there was a revolving door where the female character was involved.

Foley's "Billie" character was definitely feisty yet also compassionate. As public defender, she battled prosecutor "Dan Fielding" (played by John Larroquette) each episode while catching the eye of unorthodox "Judge Harry Stone" (played by Harry Anderson). You can see this for yourself in these scenes from a season 2 episode of Night Court...

Q: Night Court had such a tremendous cast of characters. What can you tell us about your experience working with Harry Anderson, John Larroquette, Richard Moll and the rest?Night Court What are some of your best memories from being on Night Court?

Ellen: The whole cast was hilarious. My favorite quote I remember is from Selma Diamond who was five foot tall at the most. When referring to the guys who were all very tall, she said "I feel like I'm in a forest of men". [Selma Diamond played a bailiff on Night Court for the first two seasons, but passed away from lung cancer before the third season.]

I wasn't in a great place in my life when I was on Night Court. I was embroiled in a doomed relationship back in New York, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. And Los Angeles can be really lonely. But I certainly can appreciate the great worth of the actors I was with, especially Larroquette who is a tremendous comedic actor.

Season 2 of Night Court ended up ranked #20 overall in the Nielsen ratings that year. Foley left Night Court after just that one season and was replaced by Markie Post the following season. The series went on to run 6 more seasons (for a total of 9). Night Court received three Emmy nominations for Best Comedy Series (in 1985, 1987, and 1988) and 31 overall, winning seven. John Larroquette won four consecutive Emmys for Best Supporting Actor in a comedy series from 1985 to 1988, before he withdrew his name from the ballot in 1989. Night Court was always one of my favorite sitcoms during its run.

[Dave_L]

Thanks for posting this. It's the first time I've seen an interview with Foley about her Night Court days. Even though Markie Post was great and understandably the woman people most immediately associate with NC, I did like Foley in the role of Billie and would have been interested to see how her character might develop as the show got weirder and crazier in the years after she left.

I also liked Karen Austin and Paula Kelly from the 1st season, but the show had a very different vibe that year, so I don't know if they could have transitioned into what the show became. I think Foley had a better chance.

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I never thought about this until today, but I wonder what if the producers brought Ellen Foley (at least temporarily) back instead of the trying to write in Markie Post's real life pregnancy (w/ Christine hooking up w/ that undercover cop, who always called her "Sullivan", even after they were briefly married) during Season 7? They could've brought Billie/Ellen back once Markie was beginning to show too much. I'm guessing it would've been hard to cover up her pregnancy, since her character required a lot of standing up in the courtroom.