NBC Cancels Kate Walsh’s ‘Bad Judge’ And ‘A To Z’


Looks like NBC is the second network to really drop the hammer on new shows. Following ABC pulling the plug on Manhattan Love Story, NBC makes their first steps to clean up their schedule by taking an ax to Bad Judge starring Kate Walsh and A to Z starring How I Met Your Mother’s Cristin Milioti.

Entertainment Weekly reports, “Bad Judge has shot 10 episodes; A to Z has shot 11. Five episodes each have aired. Both shows will finish production on their 13 episodes and all will air, but NBC has confirmed it will not order episodes beyond that.”

It doesn’t come as a huge surprise that both of these shows were canceled by NBC. Bad Judge, which stars Kate Walsh as a disastrous judge who liked to party hard and sleep with more people than she can count, wasn’t a hit with critics. Even before the show aired critics trashed the show, not only because of its content, but because Walsh, who trained in comedy, deserved a lot better than what Bad Judge was serving up.

Variety called the premise a one-note joke that fails to push the envelope.

“If you’re really going to go that route, it practically requires a pedal-to-the-metal approach that isn’t pursued – or perhaps even possible to the extent necessary, on an ad-supported broadcaster.”

It continues, “Yes, Walsh’s Judge Rebecca Wright is an unapologetic party gal, and a self-described “workaholic freakshow. Yet in the reworked premiere — which has managed to make the show inoffensive, but not good — she’s not even really that bad.”

Couple that with horrible ratings and actual judges taking big offense to the show, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Upon hearing the news, Walsh’s old boss, Shonda Rhimes, who employed her on Grey’s Anatomy before she gave her her own spin-off on Private Practice, tweeted her support.

As for A to Z, the charming romcom that put the obsessive love sick woman on its head by featuring all of those quality in a male lead (played by Ben Feldman), was off-putting and not well received.

A to Z’s major problem wasn’t in its content, even though it needed better execution. Its major hurdle is the fact that it was up against the ABC juggernaut Scandal, which regularly pulls in millions of viewers. It just simply couldn’t compete. We thought maybe NBC would factor that in and give the show a chance, but with little promotion and no huge stars leading off the series, it was doomed.

Did you watch NBC’s Bad Judge and A to Z?

[Image via NBC]

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