'Judge Judy' to be replaced by 'Judy Justice' after a 25-year run, fans ask what's going to happen to Byrd?
If you are a fan of 'Judge Judy', get set to be heartbroken as the CBS show is coming to an end after 25 long years. Confirming the news, host Judy Sheindlin said on Monday's 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show that the 2020-21 season will be the last one and that she will work on a new reboot called 'Judy Justice'.
"I've had a 25-year-long marriage with CBS, and it's been successful," she said. "Next year will be our 25th season, silver anniversary, and CBS sort of felt, I think, they wanted to optimally utilize the repeats of my program," she added. "Because now they have 25 years of reruns. So what they decided to do was to sell a couple of years' worth of reruns. But I'm not tired, so Judy Justice will be coming out a year later."
The 77-year-old prosecution lawyer also created quite a mystery around the network or outlet the program will air on. When DeGeneres asked where viewers will be able to watch the new show, Sheindlin replied: "I can't tell you yet."
Debuting in 1996, the arbitration-based reality court show was extended for the 25th season and CBS has rights to the complete library, paying close to $100 million for more than 5,200 hours of programming, according to The Hollywood Reporter. On Ellen's show, she added, "Judge Judy, you'll be able to see next year — a full year, all new shows. ... The following couple of years, you should be able to catch all the reruns that CBS has sold to the stations that are currently carrying Judge Judy, and Judy Justice will be going elsewhere. Isn't that fun?"
Fans are taken aback by the news. "#JudgeJudy ending?!? What’s going to happen to Bird [Petri Hawkins-Byrd, the court show's bailiff]. Those two best onscreen duos," one viewer wrote and another said, "While I have no insider information, one must wonder why would #JudgeJudy announce her upcoming 25th Season be the last for CBS and already announce a new show “Judy Justice” for Fall 2021 unless new show is with Warner Bros. which distributes “Ellen” and co-owns The CW with CBS."
Moreover, Judy is also one of the highest-paid television personalities. Reportedly, she has an annual salary of $47 million. In 2018, she also earned $100 million from the sale of the video library of her show to CBS. One fan was particularly shocked by her salary.
"Wait. What. You're telling me the @judgejudy earns $47 million a year. Now that's a crime!" One of TV's most-watched court show, it has roughly nine million viewers a day.