Judge Judy Sheindlin has worked in the TV courtroom drama industry for more than 25 years and says she knows the secret to keeping viewers hooked on a show.
“First of all, for a court show to be sustainable, it has to be entertaining,” Sheindlin told Fox News Digital. “We’re in the entertainment industry, after all, so court cases have to be entertaining, and that means the people who administer whatever justice is being meted out each day have to be entertaining to watch.”
“And actually, I think part of the interest is the entertainment value and the fact that people are watching other people’s suffering,” she added with a laugh. “The trial is a storytelling process. Once upon a time, it’s over.”
Sheindlin starred on “Judge Judy” for 25 years before moving on to “Judy Justice,” which streams on Amazon Freevee.
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LR (Sarah Rose, Judge Judy Sheindlin, Whitney Kumar, Kevin Lasco) (Michael Becker/Amazon Freevee)
Sheindlin said it doesn’t matter how interesting a case is if the judge who hands it down is boring.
“And you have to be able to tell a story and bring the audience along with you so they can trust that not only have you entertained them during that time period, but that they’ve been treated fairly,” Sheindlin said.
“And I think that’s why people watch trials. I think people watch trials for a variety of reasons. I think they watch for the person who’s running the trial… and I like that there’s a beginning and a middle and an end. They can finish the trial and move on to the next project so there’s no ‘to be continued’ next week. They don’t have to remember from one day to the next,” she added.
“In the nearly 30 years since I started in the industry, a lot of courtroom shows have come and gone. The more entertaining ones have lasted longer, and the less entertaining ones have disappeared.”
Judges who try cases on “Tribunal Justice,” another Amazon Freebie show that Sheindlin created and executive produces, also point out that viewers love the courtroom drama because it brings finality.
“They sentence them quickly, and I think that’s important,” Judge Patricia DiMango told Fox News Digital about the televised trial. “I think people want to see cases resolved. We live in a society where people are not held accountable for their actions.”
Judge Judy Sheindlin starred on “Judge Judy” for 25 years.
Sheindlin’s son, Adam Levy, a fellow judge on “Justice for All,” agreed.
“People want justice,” he told Fox Digital. “People want the right thing to happen. And unfortunately, we’re seeing that now, maybe more than ever before. People have lost faith in the institution of the judiciary. People have lost faith in the courts because, unfortunately, as I’ve seen in my 25-year career, judges don’t always do the right thing. Lawyers don’t always do the right thing. Politicians don’t always do the right thing.”
In preparation for each episode, Sheindlin explains, he receives the complaints and answers written by the parties in the lawsuit.
“I expect there will be some corrections of English by staff,” she said, “but it’s their language. It’s the deposition format. I use that to prepare. I don’t review evidence in advance.”
Citing the old adage, “the more things change, the more things stay the same,” Sheindlin said he’s no longer surprised by what litigants get away with in court.
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“Judy Justice” stars Judge Judy. (Michael Becker of Amazon Freevee)
Technology may have evolved, but the sentiment has remained largely the same, she noted.
“But emotions don’t change,” she told Fox News Digital. “A lot of the cases I see are about people who are emotionally entangled. Ex-girlfriends, ex-boyfriends, ex-husbands, cousins, brothers. And the emotions between people don’t change. The way they dress might change, their hairstyle might change, the type of computer they use, the type of phone they use might change.”
Here are some scenarios she’s seen many times.
“But I often say it’s not a happy thing when my ex-husband brings my kids over for a weekend visit with his new boyfriend who’s 20 years younger than him,” she said. “And that doesn’t change over the decades. It doesn’t change even if a parent sues their child and the child is cut out of the parent’s life, or vice versa. Of course, there’s always something new out there and I’m always up for something fresh and unique, so I’m always up for that. But a lot of the stories remain the same.”
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“Judy Justice” will premiere a new episode on Monday, August 5th.
Sheindlin has earned a passionate following over the years in part because of her outspoken courtroom manner and knack for spotting when her opponents are lying, and in a recent interview with Fox News Digital, she outlined some of the quirks she looks out for when presiding over a judge.
“First, when someone is lying, they won’t look you in the eye,” she says. “You can tell the truth by looking at their eyes, so they try to explain it away.”
“When women are lying, they also get red around here,” she continued, pointing to her chest area, “and this is very simple. Men start to sweat and get a little glow from side to side.”
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“Judy Justice,” which recently won its second Daytime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Court Program,” will premiere four new episodes on Prime Video and Amazon Freebie on Monday. All-new episodes will premiere every weekday through October 25. Episodes of “Judy Justice” season 2 will also begin streaming on Amazon Freebie. Amazon has not yet announced a date.
