AND JUSTICE FOR ALL
Judge shows dominate fall syndication entries; jury still out on whether genre is gaining ground or losing its appeal
By Susanne Ault -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/13/2000 8:00:00 PM
Here ye! Here ye! The ramp up to the fall season is now in session, with court shows dominating the docket. All rise? Probably not, but that's not stopping syndicators from trying.
They are bringing out five new court series for fall 2000. To succeed, they must rise not only above the din of their own banging gavels, but also those of the six returning TV judges.
Not surprisingly, all the studios bringing out fresh offerings say they've discovered the best thing that's happened to court, since.well, Judge Judy. And most are quick to distance their shows from the pack. But there is clearly some "imitation as the sincerest form of television" at work as well.
New on the docket for fall: Twentieth Television is following up Divorce Court (last season's top-rated freshman syndicated series) with Power of Attorney. King World is offering Curtis Court. Stu Billett, the creator of the original People's Court and its Warner Bros.-distributed revival by the same name, is at it again with Moral Court, also for Warner Bros. Columbia Tri-Star is angling for a piece of the action with Judge Hatchett. Red Apple Entertainment, based in Toronto, has Singles Court, which will have its work cut out for it with clearance levels of 60%.
Opening arguments
First up, Blackstone on law.
"What we have to offer on Power of Attorney is something that no one else has: the opportunity to be represented by an amazing attorney," says Jill Blackstone, executive producer of both Twentieth's Power and Divorce Court. "At the end of the day, that's worth a lot."
Arguably Blackstone is telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Currently, all the court shows revolve around a judge who wasn't a household name when he or she debuted. The half-hour Power, in contrast, focuses on attorneys and has the built-in cachet of some big names, most notably former O.J. Simpson prosecutor Christopher Darden and past Jack Kervorkian-defender Geoffrey Fieger.
First out of the blocks (Aug. 28), the show may prove a barometer of whether or not the court genre has reached its saturation point. Boosting its chances for success is that it has been cleared in markets reaching 98% of the viewing audience, the highest clearances of any new court show.
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Executive Vice President Dan Greenblatt insists, "that the only thing 'court' about [Moral Court] is that there is a judge wearing a robe and it's in a set with a bailiff and two people with an issue. It's not grounded in law, it's a court of common sense, compassion."
Moral Court's claim to differentiation is that, unlike the current shows, it won't pluck out small-claims cases. Instead, the hour strip, debuting Oct. 2, will present ethical problems that can't be solved by legal precedent.
Columbia TriStar Television Distribution's spin on the genre in the half-hour Judge Hatchett (debuting Sept. 11) is that it is targeted to a younger demo. "We're always wondering, with whatever show we make, is there room for another one," admits Melanie Chilek, CTTD's senior vice president of reality programming. "But I do believe that what we have is different enough; that we will not only be an entertaining show to watch but impactful as well." CTTD is betting that Judge Glenda Hatchett, an expert in juvenile court, will strike a chord with younger viewers. Currently, Judge Judy's biggest draw is women 25 to 54 years old.
Mary L. Duffy, the executive producer of Curtis Court (cleared in 82% of the country), says: "The difference is going to be James Curtis. He wants to find out why [plaintiffs and defendants] are in court in the first place. There are a lot of emotions in court, and I don't think they are explored all the way in daytime." A key selling point of the half-hour Curtis, debuting Sept. 11, is that he'll add a "touchy-feely" dimension to the court circuit, which is presently dominated by the bold and the brash.
Red Apple Managing Partner Tim O'Brien also says his judge's personality will set it apart. "[Single Court Judge] Angela Segal will be a star in 2001. There's nothing out there close to what we're doing."
Not everyone is adding a court show, of course.
"The syndication business is such a business of lemmings, and it's been going on for so long that you just sort of shrug your shoulders. But, they never work as well, because they just don't," asserts one such skeptic, Steve Rosenberg, president of Studios USA Domestic Television. "I'd rather be in the business of trying to create hits."
Rosenberg is adamant that his Arrest & Trial, which fleshes out real crimes (combining re-enactments and real archived footage) from the suspect's arrest to the courtroom verdict is "definitely not a court show," even though it does explore court cases within its half-hour format. "But that's not to say that, if tomorrow we came across a really, really good idea for a court show, that we wouldn't do it..The sincerest form of flattery, I guess, is that Arrest & Trial works very well, and then next year everyone tries to do something like it."
Larry Little, president of Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown production company Big Ticket Television, says he welcomes his new rivals, believing a beefed-up court arena will make the genre more attractive to viewers than talk and game alternatives. "I think the competition is good."
Witness testimony
But how to judge the new shows? What say rep firm executives, who advise stations on which shows to buy?
"The industry thrives on imitation," says Dick Kurlander, longtime executive with Petry TV, who is leaving that post and is thus, arguably, the most impartial judge of all. "It is an irresistible human trait to seize on the success of Judge Judy and some of the others."
But in defense of court shows, which are the bulk of syndication's freshman class, Kurlander at least didn't pick on any one show.
"Each of them has a twist. There's no doubt about that. I think all of them have a legitimate shot," he says.
Kurlander threw in a good word for Moral Court, "which has a really good judge"; Power, with "its easily identifiable attorneys"; Curtis, "who is as good a judge as any of the others"; and Hatchett, "who will hopefully skew a little younger."
Singles Court with its weak clearances, however, "is just not in the league of any of the others," says Kurlander.
That said, "I don't see how all of them can succeed." Plus, Kurlander adds, "The whole genre has the potential of getting dragged down."
It may already be slipping. Only one court series, Judge Joe Brown (3.7, up 9%), scored year-to-year gains between the May sweeps and the same period the year before, according to Nielsen Media Research. Judge Judy dipped 4% to a 6.5 May to May. Among other returnees, People's Court (2.4) was flat and Judge Mills Lane (getting touched up next season with a new set) slipped 26% to a 2.0.
Still, the two top-rated new strips of this past season were Divorce Court (2.9) and Warner Bros.' Judge Greg Mathis (2.2), which tied for second with Pearson's game show Family Feud. And Judge Judy is typically among the top three shows in syndication, besting Oprah.
"Will some of the new entries have the possibility of achieving success?" asks Katz TV's Bill Carroll. "Yes, I certainly think there's that possibility. Each of them has their own different take."
Carroll's ones to watch: Power of Attorney "which will likely get paired [similar to Paramount's one-two punch of Judy and Joe Brown] with Divorce Court." And "the sleeper of the group is Curtis Court-it may be able to find its voice as others fall away."
In summation
It is, "of course, not" the best strategy for every studio to haul out a court series, concedes Billett, executive producer on both People's Court and Moral Court. "That's what they did with cowboy shows-there were so many of them in the '60s that they killed the genre." Billett laughs, "I'm just glad that no one tried to rip off People's Court in its first run. I had 12 years to myself. But you can't stop people from copying, that's what they do."
Power's Blackstone says, "my company would like me to say something very confident and promising and powerful. I really think we have a good show, but I can't promise that people will sit here and watch."
So, says Columbia TriStar's Chilek, "We'll let the viewers be the judge."
Court-related shows
| Returning Show | Studio | Launch | Clearance | Barter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Judge Judy |
Paramount |
Sept. 11 |
99% |
1.5/5.5 |
|
Joe Brown |
Paramount |
Sept. 11 |
96% |
1.5/5.5 |
|
Divorce Court |
Twentieth |
Aug. 28 |
98% |
1.5/5.5 |
|
People's Court |
Warner Bros. |
Sept. 4 |
93% |
3.5/10.5 |
|
Greg Mathis |
Warner Bros. |
Sept. 18 |
88% |
3.5/10.5 |
|
Mills Lane |
Paramount |
Sept. 11 |
92% |
1.5/5.5 |
|
New |
||||
|
Arrest and Trial |
Studios USA |
Oct. 2 |
96% |
1.5/5.5 |
|
Curtis Court |
King World |
Sept. 11 |
82% |
1.5/5.5 |
|
Judge Hatchett |
Columbia TriStar |
Sept. 11 |
92% |
1.5/5.5 |
|
Moral Court |
Warner Bros. |
Oct. 2 |
86% |
3.5/10.5 |
|
Power of Attorney |
Twentieth |
Aug. 28 |
98% |
1.5/5.5 |
|
Singles Court |
Red Apple |
Oct. 2 |
60% |
3.5/3.5 |
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