A sitcom created by novelist Chad Kultgen (“Men, Women and Children”), “Bad Judge” stars Kate Walsh (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice”) as a horny, hard-drinking criminal court boss.
I’ve seen both versions of the pilot and I must say the new version we’re seeing tonight with Ryan Hansen (“Veronica Mars”) is much, much better, slicing away some of its lamest moments, including the bits involving the judge’s rock band.
I judge the “Judge” pilot is way better than “A To Z,” which is also premiering tonight and seems to be getting slightly better reviews.
I laughed at a line in the new “Judge” pilot about the Walsh character tying her leg to her bed at night. And we get to see a lot of Walsh in short-shorts and minidresses, which is a fabulous idea because Walsh has really good legs.
It’s not much of a compliment to say “Bad Judge” is better than most sitcoms I’ve seen on broadcast or cable (and I’ve seen pretty much all of them), but I was going to say it anyway. Until I saw next week’s second episode, which was as bad as any episode of “Animal Practice” or “Sean Saves The World.”
... It's all so random that it smacks of a creative team that threw up its hands before the task was even done, knowing there was no way to salvage this mess they'd inherited. … And one of the few things more potentially fatal to a network sitcom than having an unlikable main character is having a forgettable one.
... Kate Walsh tries hard to make this strained comedy work, but it keeps resorting to broad gags and dopey jokes, and, just to mix things up, every so often it lunges at sincerity. None of it lands, unfortunately. The show can't really make up its mind about whether Walsh's irresponsible-judge character is someone to emulate or dislike, and in any event, there just aren't many laughs here. …
... Walsh, an actress who has only grown more interesting with time, is worth watching, even as the show grows slack beneath her. Check this out if only to remind yourself that she is made to last, whether "Bad Judge" does or not. …
... there’s a caustic wit to “Bad Judge” that, with a little help, might still rise above its more shallow laughs. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... The pilot is not that funny as it trades in predictable gags about a woman who's competent at the office but a mess in her personal life. Perhaps that's why the revised pilot and a second, funnier episode sent for review push the series to spend more time with Wright at the office. Her buddy friendship with bailiff Tedward (Tone Bell) grows funnier, the pair seem more like friends than colleagues, and a visual gag toward the end of the show's second episode elicits some laughs. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... The premise is intriguing, but the execution fizzles, for the most part. The show doesn’t really know what it wants to be, and you feel the writers pulling their punches on the judge’s badness. …
... Walsh seems game for anything, which makes the writers’ timidity confounding. …
... it’s just not funny. …
... the sort of bad TV show that makes you despair of the future of comedy.…
... What you're left with is a show that reeks of too many cooks, and one Walsh seems ill-equipped to save. …
... even generous acceptance of the show as broad farce makes it difficult to return a favorable verdict. …
... It is trite and boring, has almost no movement or believability and, outside of Walsh’s legs, has not one thing to recommend it. …
8 p.m. Thursday. NBC.
