Judge Judy is coming to an end after 25 seasons, host Judy Sheindlin says. At the same time, she isn’t ready to hang up her gavel just yet.
The syndicated court show host appears on Monday’s The Ellen DeGeneres, where she told DeGeneres that the 2020-21 season of Judge Judy will also be its last. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Judge Judy will end production after next season, which will be the show’s 25th season on the air.
“I’ve had a 25-year-long marriage with CBS [Television Distribution, which distributes the show], and it’s been successful,” she said. “Next year will be our 25th season, silver anniversary, and CBS sort of felt, I think, they wanted to optimally utilize the repeats of my program,” she said. “Because now they have 25 years of reruns. So what they decided to do was to sell a couple of years’ worth of reruns. But I’m not tired, so Judy Justice will be coming out a year later.”
It’s unclear whether this will be another syndicated program or for a network or other outlet.
Asked by DeGeneres where viewers will be able to watch the new show, Sheindlin replied: “I can’t tell you yet.”
She expanded upon the news slightly: “Judge Judy, you’ll be able to see next year — a full year, all new shows. … The following couple of years, you should be able to catch all the reruns that CBS has sold to the stations that are currently carrying Judge Judy, and Judy Justice will be going elsewhere. Isn’t that fun?”
Sheindlin is the highest-paid personality on TV, earning $47 million a year. She signed her current contract with CBS in 2015. That deal took the host through three more seasons, through 2020, and also included a first-look production deal with Queen Bee Productions, which is owned by Sheindlin.
Two years later, she signed a deal with CBS in which the company acquired the complete library to Judge Judy, paying close to $100 million for more than 5,200 hours of programming.
Judge Judy ranks as one of the top-rated syndicated programs, averaging roughly 9 million viewers a day, and is TV’s most-watched court show.
Sheindlin and CBS have been hit with lawsuits over the sale of her library to CBS and over the profits from her show.
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Hollywood Reporter