Warner Bros. cancels Judge Mathis and burns down The People's Court
The two long-running court shows will end after 24 and 26 seasons on the air, respectively
Justice has been dealt a serious blow tonight—at least, the small-claims, ready-for-TV version of it, as THR reports that both Judge Mathis and The People’s Court have just been canceled at Warner Bros.
For those keeping track at home, this is, of course, the second People’s Court, after the first version of the show, the one with Judge Wapner, ended all the way back in 1993. Starting in 1997, the new People’s Court ran for a massive 26 seasons in total, including tenures by former New York mayor Ed Koch, Judge Judy’s husband, Jerry Sheindlin, and, most prominently, that of Judge Marilyn Milian, who presided over the series from 2001 to now. Judge Mathis has been going for nearly as long, with former Michigan judge Greg Mathis having ruled over his TV courtroom since 1999.
Both series live (or lived) in syndication, that magical wonderland that never met a $300 legal dispute it couldn’t turn into solid trash TV. And each series was distributed by Warner Bros., which has now pulled the plug. This, despite still offering up fairly strong ratings: The People’s Court, for instance, ranks third in ratings out of all the judge shows, trailing only behind Judy Sheindlin (Present) and Judy Sheindlin (Past), in the form of Sheindlin’s current series, Hot Bench, and reruns of Judge Judy, which continues to dominate the genre and probably always will. (God only knows what Judy Sheindlin (Future) will someday deliver unto this sinful Earth.)
According to THR, the decision to eliminate the two shows has less to do with their own individual merits, and more with the changing realities of daytime TV syndication, which has seen massive collapses across the board over the last year (“Where were you,” we’ll all ask each other years down the line, “When you first heard that Dr. Phil was canceled?”) And now two of the oldest dominoes have fallen, suggesting that someday the whole world of daytime TV may transform into a total wasteland—where only Future Judy Sheindlin reigns supreme.