I feel sorry for people who don't get Matt Walsh's humor. 

Honestly, I do. When I showed "What Is a Woman?" to my Dad--a pretty liberal guy--he guffawed along with me at several points in the movie as Walsh deadpanned some joke that apparently flies over the heads of some people. 

For instance, at one point in the movie, Matt is talking to a nudist walking around San Francisco who explains that he loves hanging out in the city. Matt simply says something along the lines of, "I can see a lot of you hanging out right now."

Total deadpan and the guy didn't even notice. It was better than a lot of standups I have seen. 

Matt's humor is best when people don't get it. I hate to make the comparison--Walsh will no doubt chastise me for it--but his humor reminds me of Alvie Singer in Annie Hall. Woody Allen is a mousy degenerate, while Matt is the opposite, but both can be deadpan while poking fun at absurdities. Unfortunately, Allen quit being funny and became more degenerate. 

I freely admit to desperately wanting Matt's hair and beard, which are more luxuriant and full than mine. Between him and Michael Knowles, I have total hair envy. 

The Daily Wire sent me a screener of a new series called "Judged," which premieres today on Twitter/X. In it, Matt Walsh plays a Judge Judy-type character who resolves disputes while humiliating the disputants. Episode 1 premieres FREE on X, YouTube, and DW+ tonight at 8 pm ET.

He’s always judged, we just gave him a robe and a gavel to make it official. Watch April 9th at 8:00PM ET for the new reality courtroom comedy series “JUDGED by Matt Walsh” on DailyWire+: https://t.co/TgR59ObmdZ pic.twitter.com/4oCWH0wUdp

— DailyWire+ (@dailywireplus) April 3, 2024

I liked it, although I will also provide a critique. I am not above fanboying, but I do have integrity. Some. A bit. I think. 

"Judged" is a Daily Wire clone of Judge Judy, in which the estimable Jurist Matt Walsh resolves ridiculous people's ridiculous disputes. Having not seen a single episode of Judge Judy, I can't comment on how far the similarities go, but the idea is hardly original. 

Matt's shtick is that he is a humorless scold, and he plays that up to the hilt. When the action is Matt's, he can be hilarious. I guffawed several times, and the show's intro was spot on. It had me laughing out loud, not metaphorically but literally. It was that good. 

The disputants, though, are only there for the setups to Matt's comic relief, and I have to say that they were on screen for too long. (Sorry, Matt, but it is true). They aren't that interesting in themselves. You could have cut their screen time in half, lost nothing, and gained quite a bit. 

Of course, the disputes are absurd, and that is to the good. The role of the judge—whether it is Judy or Doug Llewelyn or any of the other TV judges—is to represent common sense, not the law per se. The judge says what you or I would say to the plaintiffs if we were there and dared to. 

This role perfectly suits Matt, who does the grumpy dad shtick well. 

The message is "grow up, people," and many in America need to hear that. Not that those people are watching the Daily Wire, of course. But viewers do get to experience the catharsis that comes from watching. It helps keep us sane in an absurd world.

I could see this becoming a hit with a few tweaks: less from the plaintiffs, more gags from Matt, and single-case episodes that provide comic relief from the steady stream of dispiriting news we are bombarded with daily. 

Overall, I give this three out of four stars.