Head Cases - Low Ratings, Bad Reviews

Low Ratings, Bad Reviews

The show placed fourth in the ratings in its first week against an all-rerun competition. Its second week was even worse against season premieres on the other networks, including Lost and America's Next Top Model. It only outrated a rerun of the pilot episode for the since-cancelled Just Legal on The WB.

Tom Shales of the Washington Post began his review of the pilot as follows:

"Sometimes bad things just happen, and it's nobody's fault," says one of the characters in Head Cases, a new Fox courtroom drama. Unfortunately that sounds an awful lot like the producer of the show attempting to let himself off the hook.

What's sad is that Head Cases, unlike the previous Fox series that have already made their premieres, has real promise and potential, especially in the character of young lawyer Jason Payne, as earnest Chris O'Donnell plays him.

The USA Today review was less kind:

Some shows just make you want to head in the opposite direction. With Head Cases, the driving-away force is equal parts concept and cast. You'd be unlikely to rush toward any show about two recently institutionalized lawyers, forced into partnership by therapist blackmail. But Fox doesn't help its case by hiring Adam Goldberg and Chris O'Donnell, who seem ill-equipped to head this or any series, individually or collectively.