Program Partners Called Into Family Court

Half-Hour Strip to Feature Georgia State Judge Penny Brown Reynolds

By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/5/2007 3:02:00 AM

Program Partners is selling half-hour strip Family Court, featuring Georgia State Judge Penny Brown Reynolds, to TV stations for fall 2008.

The distributor said it decided to pick up the show based on the strength of the judge: "When she walks into a room, everybody notices. She commands attention," said Josh Raphaelson, Program Partners' co-principal. "She deals with these life-and-death issues with great authenticity, and when we saw her on camera, we instantly knew she could carry a show on television."

The show will be produced by 44 Blue, which also produces Split Ends for Style and prison documentary series Lockup for MSNBC.

Although court is a crowded genre, syndicators are predicting that several of the lower-rated shows will go off the air after this season, making room for new entries. Stations also are hoping to improve their daytime performances by running more original, first-run programming and less double-runs, which also is opening up time periods.

"We are targeting vertical court rotations with this show," said Ritch Colbert, Program Partners' co-principal. "We are producing 200 episodes of the series to ensure more originals. Part of our game plan is to refresh and liven up these court rotations to have fewer repeats."

As the name suggests, Family Court will deal with relationship issues, struggles between parents and children, family fights and the like, although Reynolds' decisions will not be legally binding, Raphaelson said.