Wednesday, October 01, 2014
NBC Fall Pilot Review: Bad Judge - Premieres Thursday, Oct. 2; Antenna TV's Hitch-O-Ween Marathon on Halloween
Bad Judge - Thursdays at 9:00PM ET/PT on NBC
Premieres Thursday, October 2, 2014 at 9:00PM ET/PT
by Pavan
No excuses, no apologies, no compromises. Wild child Rebecca Wright (Kate Walsh, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice) knows how to have a good time, but she also happens to be one of L.A.’s toughest and most respected criminal court judges. She has a reputation for unorthodox behavior in the courtroom, including creative rulings and saying exactly what's on her mind. Her private life, on the other hand, is anything but innocent. While there’s no shortage of male admirers who would love to spend time with her, she's not ready to settle down.
Cast Details:
Tone Bell as Tedward
John Ducey as Tom Barlow
Ryan Hansen as Gary Boyd
Miguel Sandoval as Judge Hernandez
Kate Walsh (Rebecca Wright) is widely known for her starring role as Dr. Addison Montgomery on Private Practice, a spin-off of the hit show Grey's Anatomy. The enormous success of her character on Grey's led writer and creator Shonda Rhimes to create a spin-off based solely on Walsh's character. During her two seasons on Grey's Anatomy, the show received a SAG Award for best ensemble in 2007 and won the Golden Globe for best television drama series in 2007. The show also received Emmy nominations for outstanding drama series in 2006-07. Most recently, Walsh co-starred in the TV adaptation of Fargo, alongside Billy Bob Thorton and Martin Freeman. Her previous small-screen credits include CSI, Karen Cisco, The Mike O'Malley Show, Mind of a Married Man and The Drew Carey Show.
Tone Bell (Tedward) began his career in the Dallas comedy clubs before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting and comedy. Shortly after his move, Bell won the Stand-up NBC Diversity talent search and signed a development deal with the network. After acting in a number of shorts, Tone went on to land a recurring role on the VH1 series Single Ladies and was soon cast in the comedy series, Whitney. Following that series, Tone continued to work on his comedy acts and made appearances on Creepy Caress and Key and Peele. Over the years Bell has been seen on Love You, Mean It with Whitney Cummings, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Mind of a Man and Chelsea Lately.
John Ducey (Tom Barlow) has appeared in more than 20 television shows. He was a series regular on Oh Grow Up, a sitcom created by Alan Ball, and had recurring roles on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and Will & Grace. Ducey also made a brief appearance on Malcolm in the Middle. Since 2003, he has also appeared on various TV comedies like According to Jim, Scrubs, Joey, Freddie, Hot Properties, My Name Is Earl, Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother and Hot in Cleveland as well as Disney properties Jonas L.A. and The Suite Life Movie.
Ryan Hansen (Gary Boyd) first gained attention playing Dick Casablancas in cult fave show Veronica Mars. This past spring Hansen reprised his fan-favorite role in the feature-film revival of Veronica Mars, which premiered at SXSW. The film made headlines when a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign was launched that raised more than $5 million from fans to greenlight the movie. Some of Hansen's recent work includes a recurring arc on the comedy 2 Broke Girls as well as Yahoo! and Red Hour's popular web series Burning Love. Prior to that, Hansen starred in the NBC comedy series Friends With Benefits. He also amassed a following when he co-starred in the Starz original comedy series Party Down. He has also been seen this year in a recurring role in The League and House of Lies. Hansen was last seen on the series Bad Teacher, opposite Ari Graynor, Kristen Davis and David Alan Grier.
Miguel Sandoval (Judge Hernandez) has acted professionally for 40 years in theater, film and television. Among his 60 film credits, some favorites include Repo Man, Jurassic Park, Three Businessmen, Walker, Get Shorty, Mrs. Winterbourne, Blow, Do the Right Thing, and Clear and Present Danger. In 2015 he will appear in Sun Belt Express and Blood Father. With nearly 100 television titles to his credit, Sandoval's work includes Entourage, Alias, Law & Order, Seinfeld, Frasier, The West Wing, ER, and The X-Files. In 2010, he completed the successful seven-year run of Medium.
"Pilot" (airs Thursday, October 2 at 9:00PM ET/PT)
Rebecca Wright (Kate Walsh) knows how to have a good time, but she also happens to be one of L.A.'s toughest and most respected criminal court judges. She has a reputation for unorthodox behavior in the courtroom, including creative rulings and saying exactly what's on her mind. Her private life, on the other hand, is anything but innocent. While there's no shortage of male admirers who would love to spend time with her, she's not ready to settle down. Chris Parnell, Horatio Sands and Theodore Barnes guest star.
Analysis:
Kate Walsh is back on television and that's always a good thing. Is it me or does she look younger and younger every year? This is Kate's show and after you watch the pilot, you'll know that because she is just about in every scene, if not all. The pilot starts off with a bang with Kate's character Rebecca in a raunchy outfit that will have all men hooked for sure. So don't blink! This show might be aimed more for men I think than women. The show comes from the minds of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, so you know their humor is raunchy and quite funny. This pilot however, is quite not there yet in the funniness department. I know it's just the first episode but by the middle of the episode it seems like it is dragging on a bit and not that funny. Time will tell, though, if this show will turn into the funniness of their other work like the big screen films Anchorman and Talladega Nights.
One good thing going for this series is there is nothing like it on television. The supporting cast didn't really have much to do here so far, which is a shame. I think the guest stars were more featured than them, especially the kid and Chris Parnell. Kate's character is obviously the lead and she is the hook to the show. She is the "bad judge" and not bad meaning horrible, but bad meaning "she is baddddd." Like naughty. Maybe my second favorite character so far after Rebecca is her van. It's like a brown Scooby-Doo van. Odd, but it really fits Rebecca well. I can see a lot of funniness and nautyness happening inside that van in future episodes.
Conclusion:
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Watchability: 3/5
Funniness: 2.5/5
Overall: 2.5/5
Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday, October 2, 2014 at 9:00PM ET/PT on our message board.
Related Links:
Preview:
Turn out the lights and turn on the TV with Antenna TV's spooktacular Halloween programming, as the Tribune Broadcasting multicast network presents its annual "Hitch-O-Ween," an Alfred Hitchcock Presents marathon on Friday, October 31. Beginning at midnight, Antenna TV will celebrate "Hitch-O-Ween" with an Alfred Hitchcock Presents marathon of 56 episodes/28 hours on Halloween. A good evening indeed!
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Monday, January 25
The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Property" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Calvin discovers a member of the community plans to sell to greedy developers, he vows to find a buyer closer to home instead. However, the Butlers and Johnsons soon realize that the dilapidated property will require more work than they expected.
Bob Hearts Abishola - "Honest Yak Prices" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
With Abishola’s husband adamant that he’ll never agree to a divorce, Bob and Abishola grow disheartened that they will never be able to get married.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 25)
Monday, January 25
- Dax Shepard (Bless This Mess) - Watch Dax on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Jane Lynch (Angel from Hell) - Jane appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Kate Flannery (The Office) - Kate is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Nicole Byer (Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole will be on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
- Yara Shahidi (grown-ish/black-ish) and Trevor Jackson (grown-ish) - Yara and Trevor talk about grown-ish on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- Dakota Johnson (Ben and Kate) - Dakota discusses growing up in the spotlight, how she's spent her quarantine and reveals the famous person's name she uses to get reservations on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Rob Lowe (The Grinder/Parks and Recreation - Rob talks about his hit show 9-1-1: Lone Star, and even shares some behind-the-scenes scoop on what it’s like working with his son who is a writer on the show on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
- Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - Stanley talks about Supernova on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Saved by the Bell/mixed-ish/Truth Be Told) and Tika Sumper (mixed-ish/The Game) - Mark-Paul and Tika talk about mixed-ish on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. Mark-Paul will also be on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Daveed Diggs (Central Park/black-ish) - Daveed talks about TNT's Snowpiercer on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie/Malibu Country) - Lily talks about Radium Girls on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (September-January)
09/01 - It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Season 14
09/01 - What We Do in the Shadows - The Complete Second Season
09/01 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray)
09/15 - Mom - The Complete Seventh Season
09/15 - South Side - Season 1
09/22 - Brockmire - The Complete Second Season
09/22 - Brockmire - The Complete Third Season
09/22 - Brockmire - The Complete Fourth Season
09/22 - Man with a Plan - Season Three
09/29 - The Bob Newhart Show - The Complete Series (2020 Release)
10/13 - The Jetsons - The Complete Series (Diamond Collection)
10/13 - Our Cartoon President - Season Two
10/23 - Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - The Complete Collection
10/27 - The Flintstones - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
10/27 - Head of the Class - The Complete Second Season (WBShop.com)
11/10 - Letterkenny - Seasons 5 & 6
11/10 - The Office - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/10 - Schitt's Creek - The Complete Collection
11/17 - Carol's Second Act - The Complete Series
11/17 - Robbie - Season 1
11/24 - Corporate - Season 1
11/26 - Man with a Plan - Season Four
12/01 - The Neighborhood - Season Two
12/15 - Avenue 5 - The Complete First Season
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