A gavel’s a gavel, and a robe is a robe, so don’t look for Judy Sheindlin’s upcoming IMDb TV (now Amazon Freevee) courtroom reality series, Judy Justice, to be too different than Judge Judy, the CBS-syndicated “court strip” she produced and starred in for the last 25 years.
“Look, I do what I do,” the 78-year-old Sheindlin said in a wide-ranging Hollywood Reporter interview, “So within the confines of me doing what I do, we’ll be changing some of the things around me. But I’m not becoming a ballet dancer.”
Sheindlin said she’ll start shooting new episodes of Judy Justice for Amazon’s ad-supported VOD platform, IMDb, starting this summer. The show will wrap in December, and then Amazon will figure out a premiere date, she said.
Notably, Sheindlin explained to THR her reasons for bolting CBS: “The People’s Court, they’ve had several judges. The Tonight Show has had several hosts,” she said. “But I Love Lucy only had one Lucille Ball. So, almost 20 years ago, I told the company that I worked for this: “I want to be more of a partner. Don’t treat me as a paid employee. I could make this show without you — I created a deal where I could do that — but you can’t make it without me. I can take Judy Sheindlin anywhere else. And good luck with you if you can find somebody else. Otherwise, let’s share the gift that this program has brought to both of us.” I don’t think that there’s anything unreasonable about that.”
Keeping in character, the former Manhattan family court judge also confirmed that she didn’t cry while filming the final episode of Judge Judy.
“I didn’t feel all that emotional,” she said. “I wasn’t teary. I felt gratified that I had completed that part of my journey and done it respectably. It was just the end of the day, the end of the job. I cleaned the bathroom, and the bathroom is sparkling.”
