PILOT REVIEW: Bad Judge

BAD JUDGE

Starring: Kate Walsh, Tone Bell, John Ducey, Theodore Barnes, with Ryan Hansen, and Miguel Sandoval

Created by Chad Kultgen and Anne Heche
Written by Chad Kultgen & Anne Heche, Directed by Andrew Fleming

THE PREMISE: Bad Judge is one of those shows that pretty much explains it premise with the title. Judge Rebecca Wright (Kate Walsh) is tough in the courtroom but a mess outside it, with a wild lifestyle that includes drinking, fooling around in her office, pregnancy tests, etc. Her life is about to change when she befriends eight year old Robby (Theodore Barnes), whose parents she put in jail. Rounding out the main cast are others in the coutroom including baliff Tedward (Tone Bell), psychiatrist and part-time lover Gary (Ryan Hansen), and fellow Judge Hernandez (Miguel Sandoval).

THE GOOD: I actually didn't hate this pilot as much as I thought I would. It wasn't good, but it wasn't a trainwreck. Kate Walsh is commanding even as a stereotype (more on that below) and she got off a few funny deliveries. She's at her best when she's being brassy in the court. There were some funny side characters including the teacher at Robby's school, and I think Tedward seems like he could be a pretty amusing supporting character.

THE BAD: Just because it exceeded my low expectations doesn't mean that I enjoyed it. The entire Rebecca Wright character is just one mess of a sitcom cliche. The idea of the wild party girl who is tough on the job has been done to death, or at least it feels like it has. And they pretty much hit every stereotype of a "wild girl" making the character much more of a caricature than a well-developed idea. Another obvious sitcom cliche was apparent in the very first scene when Wright tricked the defendant into expressing his intentions to leave the country. That type of set-up and joke has been done since I Love Lucy.

BOTTOM LINE: Bad Judge wasn't the worst new fall show but it's probably not one I'll watch again. There wasn't anything that really caught my eye and made me want to come back. Kate Walsh is good but not good enough to overcome bad material. The title probably should have been "Mediocre Judge."