Those two producers, Kaye Switzer and Sandi Spreckman, who offered Judge Judy her show, well they are currently involved in a real life lawsuit against their star, Judge Judy, and the CBS network. It all began in 2018 with compensation claims. The two producers say they were never paid for discovering her back in the 90’s.
The pair wants $4.75 million and adds that they never received their share of the sale of the Judge Judy’s show library sale back in 2017. Real life imitating art it seems. Much less fun for the woman on the bench though.
The Joy Of Success
Judy's success has continued. Another 10 years has come and gone. In 2015 the show and the judge celebrated not one decade, but two decades of success. It's the first court genre program that has reached the two-decade milestone without being cancelled.
The show is also well known for lasting two decades without having to replace its star.
Real World Real Jobs
Who else on set is as real as Judy herself? Officer Byrd is both a bailiff on the show and a bailiff in real life. He earned his BSc from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 1989. He started his career in Brooklyn Family Court before moving to the Manhattan Family Court where he first met the woman we all know as Judge Judy.
“We [the court officers] used to call her the Joan Rivers of the judicial system,” he mentioned in an interview in 2004. “She was just hilarious.”
A War Of Words
Wapner would not let her more famous counterpart have the last word. It didn’t stop there though, “She is a disgrace to the profession. She does things I don’t think a judge should do. She tells people to shut up. She’s rude. She’s arrogant. She demeans people. If she does this on purpose, then that’s even worse. Judges need to observe certain standards of conduct. She just doesn’t do it and I resent that.
The public is apt to gain the impression that this is how actual judges conduct themselves. It says ‘judge’ on the nameplate on the bench and she’s wearing a robe," Wapner said.
Stranger Than Fiction
There's no way to make up the cases you see on Judge Judy's TV show because they are all read. More than 60 researches scour lawsuits from across the globe, from small claims courts from across the country. The Freedom of Information Act has made it possible for all the researchers to photocopy cases they think will play well on television. These copies are then sent off to producers.
3% of the cases suggested go on to be contacted by the show to see if they may be interested in skipping a civil court hearing, and instead take a free trip to L.A. along with $850 for their appearance and $40 per day during filming.