Judge Judy calls time on screen after 30 years
Judy Sheindlin is retiring from on-screen work after 30 years of deciding cases on television.
Her final appearance will come with the series finale of Judy Justice on Oct. 22, according to Variety. It closes a continuous run in television courtrooms that stretched across two shows. The Oct. 22 date lands just over a month after the mid-September announcement.
She talked through the decision on Good Morning America. People was first to report the retirement news.
The story started with Judge Judy. The programme premiered in 1996 and ran for 25 seasons until 2021. It was distributed in syndication, meaning episodes were sold station by station to local channels rather than shown on one national network, by CBS Media Ventures.
Judy Justice picked up the gavel later in 2021. It launched on Freevee, Amazon's free streaming service where viewers watch advertising instead of paying a monthly fee, and it now airs on Amazon Prime Video. A series finale, the last episode made for a show, will now end that second chapter.
What makes this stand out is the straight line. The same presiding judge stayed at the centre for three decades, first in daytime syndication and then on streaming. The format moved homes. She did not.
Sheindlin is 83, according to WBALTV. Her full name is Judith B. Sheindlin, according to The New York Times. She presided over television court cases for 30 years across the two titles.
She is not leaving television altogether. She is stepping away from on-camera work to focus on working behind the camera. Behind the camera means developing and overseeing shows rather than appearing in them. Producing is the next act.
One project on that producing slate is Adam's Law. It is a court show led by her son, Judge Adam Levy. Judy Justice itself lists Randy Douthit, Amy Freisleben and Scott Koondel among its executive producers, the senior team that organises the creative and business calls on a series.
For viewers, this means Oct. 22 is the date to remember. It is the last chance to watch Sheindlin hear a case on screen before her work moves off screen.
