''Bad Judge'' is an American legal
sitcom
A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...
television series co-created by
Chad Kultgen and
Anne Heche
Anne Celeste Heche ( ; May 25, 1969August 11, 2022) was an American actress, known for her roles in a variety of genres in film, television, and theater, receiving numerous accolades, including a National Board of Review Award and multiple Emmy ...
. Kultgen and Heche also serve as executive producers, along with
Will Ferrell
John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 20 ...
,
Kate Walsh,
Adam McKay,
Chris Henchy,
Betsy Thomas, and
Jill Sobel Messick for
Universal Television
Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predec ...
.
The series premiered on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
on October 2, 2014. NBC canceled the series on October 31, 2014; however, the network aired the full series 13-episode order. The series finale aired on January 22, 2015.
Plot
The series chronicles the personal life (and wild lifestyle) of Rebecca Wright, a tough-as-nails judge serving on the Los Angeles County Circuit Court, whose time off the bench is spent partying and displaying reckless behavior.
Cast
*
Kate Walsh as Judge Rebecca Wright
*
Ryan Hansen
Ryan Hansen is an American actor, entrepreneur and comedian. He is best known for starring as Dick Casablancas on the noir drama series '' Veronica Mars'' (2004–2019), as Kyle Bradway on the Starz comedy series '' Party Down'' (2009–2010), and ...
as Dr. Gary Boyd
*
John Ducey
John Joseph Ducey (born January 21, 1969) is an American actor who has appeared in over 20 television shows, mainly sitcoms.
Early life
Ducey was born in Endwell, New York and graduated from Seton Catholic Central High School in 1987. He was ...
as Tom Barlow
*
Tone Bell
Michael Anthony Bell II (born August 10, 1983), known professionally as Tone Bell, is an American stand-up comedian and actor.
Early life
Bell was born in Decatur, Georgia. He taught first grade before working on the production of HBO's '' Warm ...
as Tedward Mulray
*
Miguel Sandoval
Miguel Sandoval (born November 16, 1951) is an American actor of film and television.
Biography
Sandoval was born in Washington, D.C. He began working as a professional actor in 1975 when he joined a mime school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. ...
as Judge Hernandez
*Amy Rhodes as Judy
Reception
''Bad Judge'' has received mostly negative reviews. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, the show holds a rating of 20%, based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The site's consensus reads, "A alleged comedy charged with minimal wit, ''Bad Judge'' is benched by stale jokes and a lead performance that lacks conviction." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the show has a score of 38 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
The show also received criticism from the Miami-Dade chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, which asked NBC to cancel the series. Deborah Baker, president of the chapter, was quoted as saying, "The show is not only offensive to the many women judges who serve with the highest levels of integrity but also dangerous to the extent those who hold preconceived notions about women judges will find their sexist beliefs reaffirmed."
Episodes
Ratings
Accolades
''Bad Judge'' was nominated for a
People's Choice Award
The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls unt ...
for Favorite New TV Comedy.
References
External links
*
* {{IMDb title, 2769470, Bad Judge
2014 American television series debuts
2015 American television series endings
2010s American single-camera sitcoms
English-language television shows
2010s American legal television series
2010s American workplace comedy television series
NBC original programming
Television series by Gary Sanchez Productions
Television series by Universal Television
Television shows set in Los Angeles
Court shows