Kate Walsh made an indelible impression when she was introduced as Addison Montgomery, McDreamy’s (Patrick Dempsey) estranged wife on “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Lithe, elegant and sophisticated, she was the perfect contrast to needy, moody and twisty intern Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), the woman to whom her soon-to-be ex was so devoted.
Walsh proved so popular with creator Shonda Rhimes that Rhimes gave her a show of her very own — the medical drama “Private Practice,” which lasted six squishy seasons on ABC.
It’s easy to see why Walsh would want to break out of her suffering leading lady role and go for broke on the NBC comedy “Bad Judge.” The part, as Superior Court Judge Rebecca Wright, is one of those “wild child” roles that actresses of a certain age can’t resist.
In a classic pile-on of bad behaviors, Rebecca starts her workday by oversleeping in black sequinned panties, pulling on some cut-offs and then stopping at a pharmacy for some pills to get rid of her hangover and to buy a pregnancy test, which she has time to take and get the results of before changing into her robes and barking at a court officer (Tone Bell) that she needs a Gatorade — pronto.
In between cases, she takes time for a little desk blotter sex (the pregnancy test came back negative) in her chambers with a witness and sometime bedmate, Gary Boyd (Ryan Hansen of “Party Down”).
You get the picture: She’s wild and craaazy, but since this is a network show and not “Nurse Jackie” — the cable series that “Bad Judge” most resembles — the producers have to make sure you also like Rebecca.
None of the character recipes means a damn thing if the show isn’t funny.
The fastest way to do that is to stick her in a scene with a kid, and sure enough, she plays social worker to a boy who’s having some adjustment problems at school after Rebecca sent his parents to prison.
None of the character recipes means a damn thing if the show isn’t funny. Walsh is an appealing actor but she’s not naturally comedic. An attempt by the writers to give Rebecca some street cred — by having her use the slang “word” with her African-American court officer — merits a well-deserved roll of the eye. She sounds ridiculous. When they have her call every guy on the show “dude,” it’s just overdone.
“Bad Judge,” which is already on its second showrunner, is funnier when it’s not trying so hard. “I thought we had plans tonight,” Rebecca whines to Gary, her sometime bedmate. “I Windexed my TV.” That line does more to define the character without all the belching, armpit-spraying and other “wild and crazy” behaviors the producers — and there are seven of them on this series, including Will Ferrell — think we need to “get” her.
If the writers can stop laying it on so thick, maybe Walsh will find her way into the role and “Bad Judge” will have a better shot at entertaining and shocking us.