We've watched her reality courtroom dramas on daytime TV since 1996.
And now Judge Judy is signing off the air.
Judy Sheindlin, the eponymous star of the long-running hit TV show, made the announcement Monday in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, saying the 2021 season of “Judge Judy” will mark the end of the road after 25 seasons.
Sheindlin also announced on Ellen that she has another show already in production.
“I've had a 25-year-long marriage with CBS, and it's been successful,” she said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Next year will be our 25th season, silver anniversary, and CBS sort of felt, I think, they wanted to optimally utilize the repeats of my program,” she said. “Because now they have 25 years of reruns. So what they decided to do was to sell a couple of years’ worth of reruns. But I'm not tired, so Judy Justice will be coming out a year later.”
TMZ reported Monday that Sheindlin decided to leave the show because of ongoing disputes and disagreements with the network’s front office, which took over for former chairman Les Moonves, who stepped down in 2018 amid sexual misconduct allegations. TMZ reports that the management team was essentially handcuffing any new shows that Sheindlin tried to develop.
On Monday, Sheindlin said she could not reveal many specifics about her new show, like whether it will be syndicated or appear on a network, but she did drop the hint “a full year, all new shows.” TMZ reports the show will not air on CBS.
Sheindlin is the highest-paid personality on television, and brings home a whopping $47 million a year, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Judge Judy became popular with TV audiences for her no-nonsense approach on the bench.
She’s known for scolding court witnesses with quips like: “Baloney,” “I’m speaking!” and “Do I look like I need help from you?”
In a 2017 case, she ordered a dog to be unleashed in the courtroom to determine its rightful owner. When the dog immediately walked over to the plaintiff, the defendant pleaded with the judge that the dog does that to everyone. That’s when Sheindlin glared at the woman and disagreed, “That’s his dog.”
Judge Judy also has fans in the unlikeliest of places.
In 2016, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh urged then-President Barack Obama to nominate her to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Reports say Sheindlin was contacted in the mid-1990s by CBS producers seeking to revamp the first popular court TV drama The People’s Court, which had been cancelled in 1993 due to slumping ratings. They reached out to her after the Manhattan family court judge appeared on a recent 60 Minutes segment. Sheindlin, who had already considered a career in television, quickly accepted a deal.
The early producers of “Judge Judy” initially wanted to call the show “Her Honor.”
CBS Television Distribution changed that title to “Hot Bench with Judge Judy” and later shortened the name to what we know today.
The program, now in its 24th season, has won three Emmy awards.
In the year’s before Sheindlin’s show, The People’s Court was quite popular and ran for 12 seasons from 1981 to 1993. The show featured Judge Joseph Wapner, host Doug Llewelyn, and bailiff Rusty Burrell. The show has since been revived several times and still runs on daytime TV with retired Florida State Circuit Court Judge Marilyn Milian.
Former New York City mayor Ed Koch also presided over The People's Court from September 8, 1997 to June 25, 1999.
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