Too many court shows!!!

[soundsandsports]

We only need "The People's Court". THere's like five or six court shows on nowadays. What's next, The Kids Court with JD Roth?

 

[mr_mark_taylor]

probably.......whats been renewed for next year?

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

Despite the fact that there is a literal dearth of "People's Court"-style shows, they all seem to do well in the ratings, led of course by "Judge Judy" Scheindlin. They're cheap to produce and cheap to buy for the stations willing to put up the money.I'm not particularly a fan of any of them, but it beats the pants off the talk shows we were inundated with just a few years ago and its better filler than paid-for advertising.

 

[marko83]

All of the court shows on now will be back next year plus at least two more. Judge Maria Lopez and Christina's Court.

 

[Markxxx]

For my 2¢ I would say even a bigger problem is, in Chicago, at least they always run at least an hour of each show, in other words two episodes.Some stations they rerun them again later on.So that only adds to the glut

 

[Braves2005]

In the 1980's when the original People's Court with Judge Wapner was on,they had a gamut of court shows then as well such as Superior Court,Divorce Court,and The Judge,but all 3 of these shows were cancelled by the early 90's only leaving The People's Court as the only court show until it was cancelled in 1993. And then there were no more court shows until Judge Judy came on the scene in 1996 and then there has been more than 10 court shows on TV now.

 

[bk77]

In the 1980's when the original People's Court with Judge Wapner was on,they had a gamut of court shows then as well such as Superior Court,Divorce Court,and The Judge,but all 3 of these shows were cancelled by the early 90's only leaving The People's Court as the only court show until it was cancelled in 1993. And then there were no more court shows until Judge Judy came on the scene in 1996 and then there has been more than 10 court shows on TV now.

There was also a court/game show back in the 80s called "Guilty or Innocent". That didn't last one big reason was that it wasn't cleared in many parts of the country. Somewhat was the case with Superior Court.Divorce Court ( the 1980s version ) when that premired in 1984 from what I remember at first it was a hit but once Judge William B. Keene ( wasn't he the judge at the Charlie Manson trial in the early 70s? ) left that show, it didn't last much longer.The Judge I think was at first a local Columbus, Ohio production before it was syndicated in 84/85. But for some reason I think that show was cancelled when the judge died. Robert Sheild? Could be wrong about that one though.

 

[bpatrick]

To the Chicago viewer: didn't WBBM move Guiding Lightto 9 AM in order to get in a couple of episodes of JudgeJudy at 2 PM?I care little for courtroom shows, but I have to admitJudge Marilyn on People's Court is a hoot, and I'd hateto face her in a courtroom. She was a judge in SouthFlorida, and my relatives there tell me she was just astough as she is on television."The Judge," I believe, was fiction; Bob Shield was anactor and not a real judge.

 

[CWRUFan]

Why not a show w/ Harry Anderson? He's not doing anything while they rebuild his magic shop/club. Besides, if an actor can do it, then why not an actor who played a judge on TV?

 

[sfradio]

Why not a show w/ Harry Anderson? He's not doing anything while they rebuild his magic shop/club. Besides, if an actor can do it, then why not an actor who played a judge on TV?

yeah i agree, that whould be great

 

[bpatrick]

Believe it or not, these things used to air on networkdaytime; ABC had "Day In Court" (1958-65), while CBShad "The Verdict Is Yours" (1957-62). The host of thelatter show, until he went to ABC, was a young Jim McKay.And does anyone remember the original, hour-long "DivorceCourt"? Voltaire Perkins was the judge, KTTV's Bill Welsh thehost. I seem to remember more fights among the litigants andtheir witnesses than ever took place on Jerry Springer's show(I'm probably exaggerating there).

 

[bk77]

Believe it or not, these things used to air on networkdaytime; ABC had "Day In Court" (1958-65), while CBShad "The Verdict Is Yours" (1957-62). The host of thelatter show, until he went to ABC, was a young Jim McKay.And does anyone remember the original, hour-long "DivorceCourt"? Voltaire Perkins was the judge, KTTV's Bill Welsh thehost. I seem to remember more fights among the litigants andtheir witnesses than ever took place on Jerry Springer's show(I'm probably exaggerating there).

I always wanted to see a copy of one of the 50s/60s court shows. I have been told they were better than what is out now.I seem to recall the 1980's Judge William B. Keene Divorce Court was 60 minutes in a handful of markets. Last night in conversation this show came up. My friends remember it and for awhile they actually believed they were watching actually divorce cases !! That is until they watched one episode where one of the actors also appeared as a regular on Gimmie A Break. Come to think of it I think I remember seeing Fred Willard on Divorce Court. Not playing himself but playing a role. Kinda odd considering this show wasnt long after America 2 Night, plus he did some movies too prior such as the 1980 hit How To Beat The High Cost Of Living with Jane Curtain, Eddie Albert and Susan Saint James. In other words, hardly an unknown.Yeah, I know in the credits it says that what was presented even though it was based on an actual case what the viewer is seeing isn't the real deal, but it goes to show a lot of people don't bother to read the credits.

 

[bpatrick]

These shows re-enacted real cases, but therewas a catch. The litigants and witnesses wereplayed by actors, while the lawyers and judgeswere real. The actors and lawyers were givenan outline of the facts of the case, then had toad-lib from there (the judges had nothing, sincethey were supposed to render a verdict based onwhat they heard). Sometimesthe verdict was the opposite of that renderedin the real trial; a lawyer on "Day In Court" oncemanaged to destroy his own case with his poorad-libbing skills...and his side had won in the actual trial, with another lawyer!Of course, the parties' names were changed aswell on all these '50s/'60s shows.I don't remember an hour-long version of JudgeKeene's "Divorce Court." Starting in the late '60s,the original show was cut to 30 minutes, and I'mpositive all subsequent versions have been 30 minutesas well.

 

[stdjsb25]

To the Chicago viewer: didn't WBBM move Guiding Lightto 9 AM in order to get in a couple of episodes of JudgeJudy at 2 PM?I care little for courtroom shows, but I have to admitJudge Marilyn on People's Court is a hoot, and I'd hateto face her in a courtroom. She was a judge in SouthFlorida, and my relatives there tell me she was just astough as she is on television."The Judge," I believe, was fiction; Bob Shield was anactor and not a real judge.

I remember "The Judge".....that was the most awful program in the history of TV..........so cheesy. As for the overall opinion on TV Judges.....cancel them all and leave Judge Judy as the only show standing.

 

[johnnyu]

For the life of me, I cannot understand why any human being would want to sit down and watch anything like this.

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

Most of these court shows are becoming more and more Jerry Springer-esque anyway. I can't imagine litigants in real small-claims courtrooms acting like they do on television. A few of the TV "judges" do maintain somewhat of a manner of decorum but the rest (Joe Brown, the Divorce Court lady) just let the "litigants" fight back and forth (I'm sure at the urging of the producers).

But its not like the "litigants" are actually paying out of pocket for the verdicts anyway. Each side is paid an appearance fee and any "judgement" is deducted from the losing party's fee.

 

[RadioFanBoy]

But its not like the "litigants" are actually paying out of pocket for the verdicts anyway. Each side is paid an appearance fee and any "judgement" is deducted from the losing party's fee.

And there's the magic carrott that keeps these court shows alive and kicking! Once your actual court is picked up by one of these shows, and is legally settled "out of court" (legally, all the judge on his or her show can do is rule in a binding arbtration), you don't have to pay a dime! The worst that can happen to you, is you return home with no money, only lovely parting gifts. And you get to be on TV! What A country!

 

[Scoobiedoo30]

if you had to guess how many Court Room Show's are there

 

[raedizzle2008]

We only need "The People's Court". THere's like five or six court shows on nowadays. What's next, The Kids Court with JD Roth?

ROFLMAO!!!!! Well, JD had already hosted a kiddie-bopper "Survivor" type show, "Endurance." (It was actually kinda fun to watch) Why not give him a kids' court show too? Will it be called the "Fun House (as in courthouse)?" Yeah, interesting...certainly a more fun thing to watch than much of the adult fare, no?


But seriously, as far as the proliferation (overabudance) of court shows on TV...welp, I agree, there's too much isn't there? Judge Judy, Hatchett, Mathis, Joe Brown, Cristina, Maria Lopez, Divorce Court, Judge Alex, People's Court...leave any out? Just a true oversaturation. I was fairly content with just Peoples' Court (esp. the original Judge Wapner shows of the 80's), and even Judge Judy. But I'm not even smart (or whatever) enough to try to answer the question, of why there are so many pseudo-judicial shows on TV...besides, isn't there some sort of "disclaimer", or whatever, at the end credits of many of these shows, stating that both parties (plaintiff/defendant) receive their "judgments" from some sort of fund provided by the show, if I read correctly? So when a TV judge orders a party to pay "$5,000" (a typical max. on these shows), then the party in question doesn't *really* have to fork over said amount; the show's got their back? Dang, these "litigants" are just paid actors/actresses (in a sense) to provide a venue for "drama", just to keep many stay-at-home daytimers entertained? I used to be a sucker for court shows, and even talk shows...but in more recent years, I just leave it alone. And notice that there are almost no true "talk" shows, providing serious topical discussion as there used to be? No more shows a la "Donahue", but more like "Maury", and the proud-of-it "worst show on TV", Jerry Springer! Heck even "Oprah" is kinda lame these days...but a little more substantive than many others, I guess. So what if you've fathered (or not) 10 kids, or want a "makeover", or have had extramarital affairs with your cousins, etc.? :

 

[EricStein]

To the Chicago viewer: didn't WBBM move Guiding Lightto 9 AM in order to get in a couple of episodes of JudgeJudy at 2 PM?I care little for courtroom shows, but I have to admitJudge Marilyn on People's Court is a hoot, and I'd hateto face her in a courtroom. She was a judge in SouthFlorida, and my relatives there tell me she was just astough as she is on television."The Judge," I believe, was fiction; Bob Shield was anactor and not a real judge.

I remember "The Judge".....that was the most awful program in the history of TV..........so cheesy. As for the overall opinion on TV Judges.....cancel them all and leave Judge Judy as the only show standing.

You certainly don't remember 2002's "We The Jury," or the current bottom-of-the-barrel syndicated programs, "Eye For An Eye" and "Jury Duty." These shows make "The Judge" look like classy TV.