‘Night Court’ – ‘Pension Tension’ Post-mortem Interview with Eden Sher

NIGHT COURT -- "Pension Tension" Episode 310 -- Pictured: (l-r) Eden Sher as Madison, John Larroquette as Dan Fielding -- (Photo by: Nicole Weingart/NBC)

Eden Sher is a highly accomplished actor that has appeared in a host of notable comedies throughout the years. Such as, The Middle, Superstore, and Lopez vs Lopez, and this week she dropped by Night Court as Madison. A strait-laced assistant that goes the extra mile for Dan and the team, and we had the honor of sitting down with Eden to discuss her time on the show.
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John Betancourt: I’d like to start by getting to know, what attracted you to the role of Madison.
 
Eden Sher: I mean, the truth is, my agents were like, “Do you want to do an episode of Night Court?” And I was like, “Yeah!” And then they sent me this script. I was like, let me read the script, though, to make sure. I was like, I knew it had a precedent. I knew it was going to be adorable. But then I was like, let me just make sure. And I read it, and I was like, “Yes, this is this is me.” I don't want to say I could do this in my sleep, because that makes it sound like I don't work very hard. But it was just to say that I well, I don't, who knows, maybe I don't work very hard. (Laughs) But I was like, “Yes, I love it. This is… I identify with this type of person.” I don't know. I just thought it was fun. I don't know, why did I want to do it? It was fun. It was fun.
 
John Betancourt: I want to talk a lot about the fun side of it today, because your role is very unique, and I appreciate that it's almost kind of in contrast to season three’s zaniness, because Madison's kind of that strait-laced, deadpan humor, in a world where, you know, Flobert is wearing wigs in the weirdest, weirdest of situations. And I'm kind of curious, um, if it was difficult to pull off that strait-laced vibe.
 
Eden Sher: Well, I don't know that I did pull it off John. But yes, it was, I was like, there were a lot of times I was like, “Oh, my God, I'm straight-manning right now. Like, I'm straight-manning John Laroquette, or anyone, or Flobert. Like, I am the least broad person in the room right now. And I've never experienced that in my life. And so. I was like, “Oh, God, I didn't really nail that joke.” And its sort of like, wait, actually, I didn't have really have a joke there. Like, I need to be there to, like, set up someone else's joke. And I was like, I was trying to get in contact with my like, if there is a deadpan side of me, there's like, not really, I tried to go as far as I could go. But it is. It was a totally, it was like, simultaneously, not a stretch. I love the like assistant, on it, yes, yes, yes part. But just kind of, I was like, I gotta get in touch with my dry side.
 
John Betancourt: Well, I think you nailed it. 110%
 
Eden Sher: Good. Great. They fix everything in editing. (Laughter)
 
John Betancourt: What’s also really intriguing about this season is, or the show in general. Is that, even though there's so much zany, sometimes there's a real grounding of realism with all these characters, even with the guest stars, Madison has a real, real depth, to her, and I'm curious how you found that depth.
 
Eden Sher: Um, you're treating me like I'm a real actor. (Laughter from Eden and John). Um, no, I think it is just, um, I didn't like, really try to find any sort of depth. It's more like with every single, every role I do, no matter how broad or dry or whatever. Just like, try to find like, not without sacrificing the comedy or the actual music of the jokes, just to like, at the end of the day, how would a human person react in this situation? And so even if the way, like my human person would react a little differently or if it's like, not a little different, if it's like, opposite and in like, complete contrast to what I'm physically doing. I can't remember there's any line in this, or any part where that happened.
 
I don't think there was, but it's almost, it almost becomes more interesting then to be like, “Okay, I'm gonna commit to this joke, this bit, or whatever, but I have to play it” -- it's like, if it's like, I'm going to be really, if the reaction is supposed to be, you know, angry, but really, I would be like, I would be devastated. The real human person would be really devastated. I think that's where a lot of the funny comes in, where it's like, “I'm going to say the words, I'm going to say them in the angry, but I know on the inside, I'm gonna be really sad,” and that's where, sort of, like, the depth is, where the comedy comes in. So how do I find the depth? I don't know. I just go to, like, how would I be a person? And sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. (Laughter)
 
John Betancourt. Obviously, you’re no stranger to multi-cam and comedy, and I'm just curious. I've heard time and time again that the energy of the audience is a huge deal in kind of influencing your performance and making it work. What does it do for you when you get out there on stage and that audience is there?
 
Eden Sher: I mean, it really, I think what it really does is help you find jokes that you maybe didn't know were there before. Because even though, you know multi camera is a little different than performing well, different than performing live, where you truly don't know where they're going to laugh. I mean, because I perform live, and it's like I have jokes written and I know that sometimes they will laugh, I have places where there’s tried and true laughter, but like each audience is a little bit different, and you never know if they're going to find something that you didn't have before. And so, like, it's a little bit more contrived with multi cam. I think I can say that, because they're sort of guided. They're really guided when to laugh. But it is still a live audience.
 
So, if they pick up on something, and you have writers, you have a team of writers at like, crowded around this one, you know, this one monitor. And so like, if they do, if the audience picked up on some things that maybe the writers and the actors did not pick up on, they immediately, they come in, and I had a line like that where they changed it, where they're like, “Wait a second, actually, pause” and that got a laugh. “Pause after the first part. And then we're gonna add on to it.” And they'll just like, (Eden makes a rapid typing motion) and they’re like, re-memorize. Like, here's another joke to add on. So, like the live audience. It does. It does. It's, like, I don’t want to say this, it’s going to sound really egotistical, but like, “They're a third, they're another character.” But, like, they kind of are in the like, form of the script. They are their own character.
 
John Betancourt: Now, this is Night Court. It's one of the biggest franchises to ever be around in sitcoms and comedy in general. I'm just curious what it means to you personally now to be a part of the lexicon of this franchise.
 
Eden Sher: Honestly, I don't think I realized how big of a deal it was until my mom. Like my until my mom started freaking out, and then when I saw her on set, because I brought her, it's like, “You have to come and you have to meet John, like, you gotta come on. And so like, seeing her this, like 65-year-old, staunch like, she does not have a sense of, like whimsy or like wonder about her. Seeing her have this sense of the complete wonder, like, just like astonishment. On set. I was like, “Oh, this is kind of a big deal.” This is, like, very cool. I'm like, “Yeah, I'm part of the canon. I'm in the canon now. I'm in the Night Court. MC -- I'm in the Night Court CU.”
 
John Betancourt: The Night Court CU. We need that. And actually, now I have to ask a follow-up if it's okay. What was that like, seeing your mom meet John Larroquette?
 
Eden Sher: Oh, it was, honestly, it was hilarious. It was amazing, because she never doesn't have something to say. Like, that woman can just like talk and talk and talk. And she met him, and she was silent. She was like, “nice to meet you.” And I was like, “Mom,” and also John. I think, I think John likes me. Because I was like, “Listen, Mom, he might not want to, he might not like, he might need to go home. He might just need to go home.” And he was so sweet. He was like, “Where's your mom? Where's your mom?” He loved them. He knows how to deal with moms. And he was like, “Let me, let me meet your mom.” And he was so wonderful. But he was really trying to get some conversation out of her. She just couldn't, couldn't fathom, it was amazing, amazing.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.