The People's Court

The People's Court
Created by	John Masterson
Presented by	Doug Llewelyn (1981-1993) Carol Martin (1997-1998) Harvey Levin (1997-Present)
Starring	Judges Joseph A. Wapner (1981-1993) Ed Koch (1997-1999) Jerry Sheindlin (1999-2001) Marilyn Milian (2001-Present) Bailiffs Rusty Burrell (1932-1993) Josephine Ann Longobardi (1997-2001) Davy Jones (2001) Douglas MacIntosh (2001-Present)
Narrated by	Jack Harrell (1981-1993) Curt Chaplin (1997-Present)
Country of origin	United States
Production
Executive producers	Ralph Edwards Stu Billett
Producer	Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Productions
Running time	30 min per episode (1981-1993) 1 hour per episode (1997-Present)
Original release
Network	First-run syndication
Release	1981 – present

The People's Court is an American judge show in which actual small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown on television is actually a binding arbitration. It first ran in syndication from 1981 to 1993 for 2,484 episodes. Reruns continued to air in syndication until 1994. It has run in its present format since September 1997. It aired its 3,000th episode on November 16, 2000. The new version aired its 1,000th episode in 2003. It tapes in New York City. Reruns of the original series were later aired on USA Network and can currently be found on AOL's In2TV service.

When John Masterson devised the concept in 1975, he first pitched it to Monty Hall, the producer and host of the popular game show, Let's Make a Deal, and his partner, producer-writer Stefan Hatos. The series was executive produced by Ralph Edwards, who also created and hosted the popular documentary show This Is Your Life, and Stu Billett, who later went on to create Moral Court.

Overview

Original version

File:Judgewapner.jpg

Judge Joseph Wapner, who presided over cases from 1981 to 1993.

The judge from the show's first twelve years was Joseph Wapner. Rusty Burrell was his bailiff, Jack Harrell was the announcer, and Doug Llewelyn was the host and court reporter, who would announce the matter of the dispute at the beginning of each "trial". He would also interview the plaintiff and the defendant after the court ruling, to gauge their responses to the verdict. Llewelyn would often end each episode with a jaunty "Don't take the law into your own hands: you take 'em to court," which became something of a 1980s catch phrase. If a case ended with a verdict for the defendant, however, Llewelyn would end the episode by saying, "If someone files a lawsuit against you and you're convinced you've done nothing wrong, don't be intimidated. The best policy is to go to court and stand up for your rights."

The cases often had witty, pun-related names, such as "The case of the Overdone Underthings" and "A Head with a Beer on It."

Occasionally, if an episode wrapped up a few minutes early, Judge Wapner would field questions from the courtroom observers, or there would be commentary from legal consultant Harvey Levin, in which Levin would explain the legal reasoning behind Judge Wapner's decisions.

File:Dougllewelyn.jpg

Doug Llewelyn, the court reporter from 1981 to 1993.

The People's Court deals in small claims matters. When the show premiered in 1981, litigants could not sue for more than $1,500 (which was at the time California law in small-claims matters) As the laws in California changed, so did this amount. By the end of the original run in 1993, litigants could sue for no more than $5,000, which is now the law in most states.

Researchers for the show would examine small claims filings in Southern California and approach the plaintiff and defendant in interesting cases. The producers would offer to have Judge Wapner mediate the dispute if they would agree to dismiss their action and be bound by Judge Wapner's decision. Through this approach, the show could get real people with real cases. However, even though the show is decorated and run like a real courtroom, it is not a real court or part of any judicial system, but instead a form of binding arbitration.

Interestingly, the losing party does not actually need to pay the judgment as such. Instead (as is often stated in the disclaimer at the end of show) both parties are paid from a fund (set up by Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Productions) for their appearance on the show. If a monetary judgment is ordered, the losing party will have the amount of their appearance fee reduced by that amount. However, to prevent anyone from getting "easy money", both the plaintiff and defendant must have a legitimate case.

Opening Monologue

In the 1981 run had this opening with:

"What you are witnessing is real. The participants are not actors. They are actual litigants in a case pending in a California Municipal court. Both parties have agreed to dismiss our court cases and have their disputes settled here..in our forum, The Peoples Court."

In the 1997 revival in the line was: "What you are witnessing is real. The participants are not actors. They are actual litigants in a case pending in a New York Metropolitan area court (later it was "in civil court"). Both parties have agreed to drop their claims and have their disputes settled here..in our forum, The Peoples Court."

New version

Today, the small claims court deals with matters up to $7,500 (depending on the statutory maximum in the claimant's state), although the show did have a case where all four plaintiffs each sued the defendant for $5,000 each; this case was dismissed. The new version of the show has been headed by three judges since its premiere: former New York City mayor Ed Koch presided over the court from 1997 to 1999, and judge Jerry Sheindlin (husband of "Judge Judy" Judith Sheindlin) sat on the bench from 1999 to 2001. Since then, the judge on the program has been Marilyn Milian. Marilyn Milian's bailiff on the show is Douglas MacIntosh, whom she has a friendly relationship with. She even starts out every case with, "Thank You Douglas!" Curt Chaplin is the court reporter, as well as the show's announcer. Attorney Harvey Levin takes comments about each case from onlookers in Times Square and explains the legal reasons behind Judge Milian's rulings. During the first season, there was additional commentary from Carol Martin, a former news anchor for WCBS-TV in New York.

Marilyn Milian

In 2001, the lively Marilyn Milian replaced Jerry Sheindlin as judge of The People's Court. She is currently in her seventh season on the show. In a recent season, she changed her hairstyle. Judge Marilyn Milian sometimes gets up out of her seat and walks over to her litigants, usually to understand things better. On occasion, when Milian leaves her bench, it can be seen that she wears comfortable jeans and tennis shoes under her robe. One scene in an earlier version of the opening credits showed Judge Milian, in civilian clothes, dancing in a party setting. She often leaves for a recess in order to examine the facts more closely and returns to let the litigants know why she's making her decision.

Milian is known to make smart remarks and backtalk for the last word, in heated discussions with her litigants. Though Marilyn can have a smart mouth and become very furious, it's often for a good reason, such as when a litigant's behavior is rude, or they've done something inappropriate in regards to their case. For example, a clip of one case, that was featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live, shows Marilyn smart-talking back and forth with a litigant, before angrily having her baliff escort him out of the courtroom . [1]

Though not as tough as Judge Judy overall, Milian is more smart-mouthed than her judicial competitor and always has a comeback. For instance, she's made comments such as:

• Pay the man/lady!
• Watch this... (says before she debunks a litigants claim)
• I wouldn't believe you if your tongue came notarized!
• Who am I gonna believe, you or my lying eyes?
• I am so done! Stick a fork in me, I am done!
• What part of "Stop" didn't you understand?
• Not here, not today, and not in my courtroom!
• Did I breathe and give you the impression that I was done speaking?
• You redefine chutzpah!
• Is my English not as good as I think it is?
• This is the part of The People's Court where we do a little rough justice.
• Have you confused this with your opportunity to continue to talk?
• What part is this, Douglas? This is the part where I rule and they have to shut up and listen. I LOVE this part.

Judge Milian also occasionally tosses a Spanish saying or proverb into her cross-examination, sayings (or, in Spanish, "dichos") she learned from her mother and grandmother. (Examples: "Un clavo saca el otro" ("One nail drives out the other"), "Donde tú vas, yo ya fui, me senté, me tomé una soda, y regresé” (“Where you’re going I already went, sat down, had a soda and returned”), "Sabe nadar sin mojarse la ropa" ("He knows how to swim without getting his clothes wet"), "Ni tu mismo te lo crees" ("Not even you believe what you're saying"),"El golpe avisa" (the bump/hit announces) and "Jugando al quien es mas macho" ("Playing the game who is more macho").

British version

A British version of the show was produced by SMG Productions (STV) to replace Trisha Goddard's talk show on ITV in 2005. The court reporter was Carol Smilie, the male judge was Jerome Lynch and the female judge was Rhonda Anderson. The show failed and wasn't re-commissioned.

Production

The 1981-93 version was initially taped at Metromedia and, later, Golden West Broadcasters in Los Angeles, before moving to The Production Group. The People's Court taped episodes at MTI Television City on the 8th Floor in New York City from 1997-2006. The show is now taped at the NEP/Image Studios where ESPN's 2 Minute Drill was taped from 2000-2001, and where Maury Povich currently tapes his talk show.

The aired episodes are sometimes spliced together in a different order from which they are taped. This is why the judge's blouse color may change and why there may be fewer courtroom observers during the second half of the show than there are during the first half.

The People's Court is "A Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Production". Telepictures Corporation was the original distributor of the series. Through a series of transactions, the distribution rights to The People's Court now rest with Warner Bros. Television Distribution.

Parodies

In 1995, Judge Wapner appeared on the Fox Network's science fiction show Sliders as himself in the parallel world version of this program where, as a Soviet judge, he sentences Rembrandt Brown to 15 years in the Alaskan gulag for being a subversive. The parody show's logo uses a faux Cyrillic "Я" in place of the "R" in "Court".

The show's opening, where the announcer introduces the litigants in a dramatic fashion, is commonly imitated. Judge Milian's mannerisms and catchphrases have also been the subjects of comedy sketches on shows such as MADtv.

Trivia

• Comedian Andy Kaufman once invited Alan Spencer, best known as a creator of the cult hit TV series Sledge Hammer!, over to his home and subjected him to a marathon of forty-eight hours of The People's Court, a series that Kaufman religiously recorded.

• The show was referenced repeatedly in the 1988 film Rain Man. In the movie, autistic Raymond Babbit (Dustin Hoffman) compulsively watches the show and often recites the entire opening monologue. He referred to the show often as "Wapner", in reference to the presiding judge, Joseph Wapner, during the time it was filmed.

• The theme music was composed by Alan Stanley Tew (British PRS, affil. BMI)

• The theme music was used in an episode of Spongebob Squarepants and in the 1977 movie Barbara Broadcast. Also it was used in Blue Harvest, a Family Guy season premiere after John Williams' cameo appearance.

• People appearing on the People's Court generally received a $100 fee for appearing on the show, plus money for two nights hotel accommodations, and money for six meals.

• Harvey Levin is also the creator of TMZ celebrity news reporting and TV show.

See also

• Judge Hatchett
• Judge Judy

External links

• Official People's Court Website
• Doug Llewelyn at IMDb
• Jump The Shark » Forums » Shark Discussions » TV Shows: A - Z » P » The People's Court