We present an optical study of 2H-TaSe2 along the less conducting c-axis. T
his dichalcogenide compound belongs to a large class of conductors called "
bad metals" (with a mean free path smaller than the lattice constant along
the c-axis), which also includes the superconducting cuprates. The optical
response shows the progressive development of a pseudogaplike feature with
decreasing temperature. The spectral weight lost by the opening of such a p
seudogap goes into the narrow Drude component, developing at low frequency
and temperature. There is no violation of the sum rule in 2H-TaSe2 contrary
to the cuprates.