The New Format for Judge Judy Reality Court TV Show

Judge Judy Reality Court TV Show

Judge Judy is one of my favorite reality TV shows, and I like the fact that it is not scripted. I watch it regularly, and about the beginning of June 2014 or shortly after, I noticed that there is a new format to the court show. There are now three cases shown instead of two.

Old Format to the Judge Judy Reality Court TV Show

The old format was they showed two courtroom cases edited down to within a 30 minute slot, which is about 8 minutes worth of commercials. So two cases to fit within 22 minutes is 11 minutes given to each case.

After each individual case, they would allow the Plaintiff and Defendant to make comments on the ruling of the case.

The New Format to Judge Judy Reality Court TV Show

The new format that started in June 2014 on Judge Judy is to fit three cases within the 22 minutes of show. The new format does not show what the Plaintiff and Defendant says after case #1 and case #2, which they previously showed. They do show what the Plaintiff and Defendant say after the 3rd case.

I have also noticed that it seems that Judge Judy seems to be telling the Plaintiff and Defendant to "work it out" among themselves more, and giving them the option to work it out on their own. I think that it's probably really good advice too, since taking someone to small claims court can end a friendship or relationship with a family member.

Is the New Format Better?

I am not ready to make a judgment on whether the new format to Judge Judy reality court TV show is better or worse. The main issue is whether the content is still there. People in general want to watch interesting people, and interesting cases.

The typical case on Judge Judy is over failure to pay rent, or damages to a rental home. If there is an interesting person on, you want to see more air time with this interesting person on the show. So in that sense, squeezing 3 cases into 22 minutes could affect the content due to editing the cases down.

Overall, I still enjoy watching Judge Judy reality court TV show, despite the new format that has taken place. Judge Judy reality court TV show gets Z.Love's "Stamp of Approval."

Judge Joe Brown Arrested After Courtroom Argument with Magistrate in Shelby County

Judge Joe Brown speaking

Even courtroom TV personalities can be arrested and thrown in jail. This is the case for former Judge Joe Brown on Monday, who has had his own courtroom TV show for 15 years before it was cancelled.

Judge Joe Brown Arrested After Courtroom Argument with Magistrate Harold Horne

Judge Joe Brown was arrested on March 24, 2014 after being found in contempt of court in Shelby County (Memphis, TN).

Judge Joe Brown came to court to represent a person in a child-support case. Judge Joe Brown got a little upset when Shelby County Juvenile Court Magistrate Harold Horne told his courtroom that the case would not happen that afternoon. That's when Judge Joe Brown was ticked off. He went on a tirade in front of everyone in the courtroom, and was then arrested.

Judge Joe Brown back in Shelby County...to see the Jail

Magistrate Harold Horne found Judge Joe Brown in contempt of court five times, yes five times, before they were able to drag Judge Joe Brown out of the courtroom in handcuffs. He was booked in the Shelby County jail after being arrested.

Yahoo! Celebrity points out that Judge Joe Brown was a former Shelby County criminal judge. So who knows, maybe Judge Joe Brown will run into someone he put in jail many years ago.

Chief Magistrate Dan Michael was in the courtroom with Judge Joe Brown went off on Magistrate Harold Horne. He said that everyone was "kind of floored" by Judge Joe Brown's behavior in the courtroom.

Judge Joe Brown Explains his Outbursts

In this article, Judge Joe Brown says:  "I was not happy to have my liberty detained even for 30 seconds. That's precious. It's not about the conditions of incarceration; it's about the loss of liberty."

His outbursts, resulting in five counts of contempt of court, took place when Judge Joe Brown was only observing the juvenile court in the building when approached by a woman that asked for his help. Judge Joe Brown then went before a judge (Magistrate Harold Horne) on her behalf, but resulted in a less than favorable outcome for the former TV Judge.

Judge Joe Brown was only asking for the woman's charges to be dismissed, and that's when Magistrate Harold Horne told Judge Joe Brown that he was not an attorney.

Judge Joe Brown feels that he was unjustly arrested, but he stay in the Shelby County jail was not that bad. 

Read about Judge Joe Brown's TV courtroom show 2013 cancellation here.

Image credit: Flickr CC; by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District