J K Sheindlin Popular Books

J K Sheindlin Biography & Facts

Judge Judy is an American arbitration-based reality court show presided over by former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judith Sheindlin. The show featured Sheindlin as she adjudicated real-life small-claims disputes within a simulated courtroom set. Prior to the proceedings, all involved parties signed arbitration contracts agreeing to Sheindlin's ruling. The show aired in first-run syndication. As it was during its active years in production, it continues to be distributed by CBS Media Ventures in syndication, now in reruns that still draw notably high ratings. The series premiered on September 16, 1996, and concluded on July 23, 2021. The court show ended with its 25th season after Sheindlin and CBS renewed their contract for the final time in 2017. During its run in new episodes, the show did not release airings in the order they were taped. Thus the final filmed case of the series aired on June 8, 2021. While latter seasons of the show currently rerun in syndication, the first and second seasons stream on Paramount Global's Pluto TV "Courtroom" channel as well as the "Judge Judy" channel. Judge Judy had an impact on courtroom programming, reviving the genre as a whole. It was the highest Nielsen-rated court show for the entirety of its 25-year run in original episodes, also frequently ranking as highest-rated television broadcast in daytime television and syndication. Of the court shows with a single series run (without on-and-off production from cancellation turned series revivals/recasting), Judge Judy had the most seasons. The series also won three Emmy Awards; earned Sheindlin a Guinness World Records recognition for longest serving television arbitrator; and originated many courtroom programming trends, from use of eponymous show titles to cold open trailers. Two court spin-offs have been generated from Judge Judy: Judy Justice, starring Sheindlin as judge; and Tribunal Justice, featuring Byrd as bailiff. Like Judy Justice, Tribunal Justice is created by Sheindlin and will stream on Amazon Freevee. Background Origins and development After Joseph Wapner was released from The People's Court on May 21, 1993, Sheindlin called up the program's producers, Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Productions and Warner Bros. Television, and offered to do the show in his place. The receptionist who answered the phone responded "Are you crazy, lady?" before directly hanging up on Sheindlin. Earlier that same year in February 1993, a Los Angeles Times article on Sheindlin's reputation as one of the toughest family court judges in the country, written by Josh Getlin (inspired by his wife, Heidi, both of whom Sheindlin credits with her stardom) caught the attention of 60 Minutes, which aired a segment on her on October 24, 1993. The segment brought her national recognition, and days later from its airing, led to Sheindlin receiving an offer from a literary agent to write her first book. Sheindlin accepted the offer, writing Don't Pee On My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining, published on February 7, 1996. Its publisher, HarperCollins, expressed disapproval of her book title, claiming no one would promote it under that kind of name. Sheindlin stood her ground on the use of the title and ended up selling 216,709 copies. In March 1995, two talent scouts (before that, former People's Court producers) from a talent agency that was later entitled "Rebel Entertainment", Kaye Switzer and Sandi Spreckman, asked Sheindlin if she would like to preside over her own courtroom series. Sheindlin eventually accepted, and the "Rebel" talent agency used a pilot episode to pitch to then-Big Ticket Television president Larry Lyttle in 1995. Switzer, Spreckman, along with Rebel Entertainment Owner Richard Lawrence later sued CBS and Sheindlin numerous times over allegedly owed profit shares for their part in commencing the program and introducing the two parties. Sheindlin originally desired the show title to be "Hot Bench", and the network and various news publications even promoted it as Hot Bench for some time prior to débuting, but Big Ticket Television ultimately decided on "Judge Judy". The Hot Bench title was eventually used by Sheindlin, however, for a different court show she later created (2014–present), which does not feature Sheindlin herself, but rather a panel of judges she cast for the series. Petri Hawkins-Byrd, referred to on the program simply as Byrd or Officer Byrd, was the bailiff on Judge Judy for the show's entire 25-season run, making him the longest-serving bailiff in court television history. Byrd's professional relationship with Sheindlin predates Judge Judy as he was her bailiff throughout her career in the Manhattan family court system. When Byrd found out about Sheindlin's show, he sent her a congratulatory letter, stating, "If you ever need a bailiff, I still look good in uniform." She phoned Byrd at his home in California to accept his offer, and he ended up replacing the unaired pilot episode bailiff. Sheindlin has stated that the show's producers desired different individuals for the role of bailiff, but she refused. Sheindlin has revealed that from the start, she only envisioned her courtroom program lasting 2 to 3 seasons, rationalizing that most TV ventures fail. Sheindlin appeared again on 60 Minutes on April 30, 2003. During the interview, Sheindlin stated: I have a contract with the company to do the program through the 2006 season. At that point, we will have produced this program for 10 years. Right now, I would be satisfied with a good 10-year run. I think that would really be phenomenal. It would be lovely if we could end on a high note and for me to say "10 years and I still had people watching and I had a second career that was a blast." On September 14, 2015, Sheindlin began celebrating her 20th season anniversary presiding on Judge Judy. The program is the first in the court show genre to make it to 20 seasons without cancellation, as well as the first to make it to this extent under one arbitrator. Three years later by September 2018, the Judge Mathis court show entered its 20th season and became the second and only other court show to accomplish this feat. Sheindlin's distinction as television's longest-serving judge or arbitrator won her a place in the Guinness World Records on September 14, 2015. Judge Judy completed its series run at 25 seasons. In honor of the 25th and final season of the program, Josh Getlin published another article on Sheindlin. The Los Angeles Times article, published on June 8, 2021 (the same day as the airing of the final filmed case), shared background details about the 1993 article that catapulted Sheindlin's television career and his relationship with Sheindlin. On-air format Each episode of Judge Judy began with a cold open trailer of the main case, sensationalizing various moments of the case with brief soundbites accompanied with dramatic music, voice-over commentary, graphics, etc. This was followed by the show's title sequ.... Discover the J K Sheindlin popular books. Find the top 100 most popular J K Sheindlin books.