How is it that every public place I've been in with the kids recently has Judge Judy on the TV? The break shop, department stores, the doctor's office... My daughters become quite entranced by the feisty judge and the bickering complainants within moments as we wait. She has now become a household name at our house. My five-year-old likes to compare her sisters to "those people on Judge Judy" now whenever a disagreement breaks out. Hilarious.
Of course, one reason that Judge Judy seems to follow me everywhere I go lately, is that she is quite popular. In an article written earlier this year, the New York Post dubbed Judge Judy the "new Sasan Lucci of the Daytime Emmys," relating that she has been nominated for a whopping 13 Emmys, but despite the fact that her ratings top Oprah's (wow!), she has never won. Poor Judge Judy. Well, although I've never once turned her show on on my own TV, she'd win at my house!
Judge Judy definitely has a commanding presence, but it's true that kids are just plain fascinated with the idea of judges and a "fair" resolution to conflicts in general. Maybe there should be a kids' version of Judge Judy -- that sounds like something Nickelodeon would do. Oh wait, they already did that. Anyone remember Kid's Court? The show aired on Nick in the '80s. Kid actors would represent real grievances that kids would send in, and the studio audience got to decide the verdict and the sentence.
I think it's time for a remake -- not with a show that just lets kids complain about petty problems to hook viewing kids in with a bunch of drama, but a smart kids' court show that provides an entertaining look at how the legal system operates. Although, it should definitely include a strong message about the importance of solving problems outside a courtroom as well. The last thing we need is for society to become any more litigious.
Family Films
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