Judge Judy marks 30 years with CBS special as son takes daytime slot
Judith Sheindlin is putting 30-plus years on television back in the spotlight with a two-hour special on 22 September. Judge Judy: Unfiltered, Unforgettable premieres on CBS and Paramount+, Sheindlin confirmed in an interview with Variety published 17 September.
The special arrives one week after her son stepped into daytime. Adam Levy, a former district attorney for Putnam County in New York and a former defence attorney, launched his daytime court show Adam's Law with CBS on 14 September. He had previously been a regular on Tribunal Justice.
Sheindlin reached television by an unlikely route. 60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer profiled her work as a family court judge in a 1993 segment. TV producer Larry Lyttle saw it and persuaded her to try television through his Big Ticket Television imprint.
Big Ticket was owned by Spelling Entertainment, which Paramount Pictures acquired in 1999. Her syndicated court show, meaning it was sold station by station across the United States rather than airing on one national network, premiered in 1996 as Judge Judy. At her peak she earned more than $45 million a year from the show, according to the same Variety interview.
Earlier in September, the Los Angeles Times reported that the 83-year-old would step back from on-camera work after 30 years and pass the gavel to Levy. She told People she would move away from on-camera work to focus on other endeavours. KCRA reported that Judy Justice will wrap in October.
Sheindlin remains active behind the camera as a producer. Her credits include Adam's Law, Hot Bench and vintage Judge Judy episodes, alongside Judy Justice, Tribunal Justice and Justice on Trial available via Amazon Prime Video. She is also developing an animated series dubbed Baby Judy through her Queen Bee Productions banner.
Baby Judy is based on internet memes that place a baby's head on her black robe with lace collar. She said she would have stayed in family court and retired at 72 if television had not intervened. The pay matched the reach.
For fans, this means two dates to note. Levy's new show is already in the daytime schedule, and the retrospective follows on 22 September with the longer career story in one place.
