Judge Judy concludes after 25 seasons, says Host Judy Sheindlin.
Yet she is not prepared to hang up her gavel at the same time.
On Monday’s edition of Ellen the TV personality, 77, says that her Judge Judy show would end after her 25th season, at which time she will focus her positive energy on what appears to be a relaunched version of the show called Judy Justice.
The host of the syndicated court show appears on Monday’s The Ellen DeGeneres where she told DeGeneres that Judge Judy’s 2020-21 season will also be its last one. The Hollywood Reporter reported that after next season, which will be the 25th season of the show on the air, Judge Judy will end production.
“I had a 25-year marriage with CBS, and it was a pleasure,” she said. “Next year’s going to be our 25th season, silver anniversary, and CBS kind of thought, I think they wanted to make optimal use of my program’s repeats,” she said.
“Since they have 25 years of reruns now, so what they wanted to do was to sell reruns worth a few years, but I’m not done, and Judy Justice will come out a year later.”
The show premiered on syndicated TV for the first time on September 16, 1996, and has since stayed on the air, rendering the dynamic court leader the highest-paid celebrity on TV with a $47 million annual salary.
Two years later, she signed an agreement with CBS in which the corporation bought Judge Judy’s entire library, paying close to $100 million for more than 5,200 hours of programming.
Judge Judy ranks among the highest-rated syndicated shows, attracting nearly 9 million viewers a day, and is the most-watched court show on television.
She somewhat expanded on the news: “Judge Judy, you’re going to be able to see next year — a whole year, all the new shows. … The next few years, you should be able to catch all the reruns that CBS has sold to the stations that currently carry Judge Judy, and Judy Justice will go somewhere else. Isn’t that fun?”
David Michaels, senior vice president and executive producer of the Daytime Emmy Awards, added: “Without Judy Sheindlin, daytime TV wouldn’t be what it is today.
“Judy Judy reshaped and revitalized the format of the courtroom which propelled the genre to new heights.”