NBC premieres comedy Bad Judge—starring Kate Walsh as an unorthodox judge—on Thursday, Oct. 2, 9 p.m. The following are reviews from TV critics around the web, compiled by B&C.
“The problem is that Bad Judge’s originality, whatever or wherever it is, will likely be ironed out to be as inoffensive and widely appealing as possible.”
—Sonia Saraiya,A.V. Club
“Ah, Bad Judge. If ever a title lent itself to ridicule, it’s this one, although the show works pretty hard to earn the gibes.”
—Brian Lowry,Variety
“She's fun and funky, nonjudgmentally, the way guys get to be in films by, say, Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, who executive-produce this series. And the ‘Funny or Die’ duo makes this zesty, single-camera comedy speak to adults by letting their lead be one.”
—Diane Werts, Newsday
“Like I said, the original Bad Judge pilot wasn't all that funny, but a show with the guts (and the appropriate channel placement) to go full Bad Santa with her as the lead could work very well. Instead, Bad Judge has been noted into oblivion. She's no longer quite so bad, but she's also not anything else. She's just... there.”
—Alan Sepinwall, HitFix
“What could possibly go wrong? Oh, the writing. And the tone. And the characters. Bad Judge immediately goes on the ‘how soon will it be canceled’ list.”
—Tim Goodman, The Hollywood Reporter
