Bad Judge

The "Funny or Die" duo makes this zesty, single-camera comedy speak to adults by letting their lead be one.

Walsh throws herself into the part but Bad Judge so far is falling apart around her. It’s not terrible, and maybe not even a misdemeanor offense. But it’s still guilty of not being all that good.

The show wallows in lowest common denominator jokes that more often than not don't land.

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.

Walsh’s gifts--put to great use recently on “Fargo”--aren’t the only ones going to waste. Ryan Hansen as an expert medical witness and the judge’s booty-call-who-wants-more, and Ryan McPartlin as a dim-witted fireman, are given little to work with. No matter what the crime, no TV viewer should be sentenced to watch Bad Judge.

Walsh is a fantastic actress with a wide range of talents, including comedy, but none of them were on display here. While there is potential in the concept of a respected judge on the bench who is a hard-partying reprobate in her personal life, NBC failed to find it in this dud.

A toxic concoction of smarm and schmaltz. ... Bad Judge is the sort of bad TV show that makes you despair of the future of comedy.