It gives us great pleasure to announce that Oprah’s personal ass-kicker will be back for many more years to come to dish out justice to hillbillies, dirtbags who don’t pay money back to the stupid women that loan it to them, deadbeats who don’t pay child-support, bad credit risks that dumbasses co-sign on car loans for, criminals who don’t pay back bail money because they claim they never asked the lender for it, teenagers who get drunk and wreck someone’s car, roommates that bail on the rent, and every moron who claims that the $5,000.00 loaned to them by a McDonald’s employee who makes $12 per week was a gift.
We love Judge Judy. It’s so bad that we’ve been scheming with Dad on how to make up a bogus case where he sues us just to get on the show. Then we realized that she’d see right through our bullsh*t like she does with everyone. We just want to get yelled at by Judge Judy… is that so wrong?
Via Press Release:
JUDGE JUDY SHEINDLIN, HOST OF DAYTIME’S #1 RATED SHOW ‘JUDGE JUDY,’ SIGNS MULTIYEAR DEAL THROUGH 2015
LOS ANGELES (May 2, 2011) – Judge Judy Sheindlin has signed a new multiyear deal with CBS Television Distribution to continue presiding over her top-rated show, JUDGE JUDY, through 2015, it was announced today by John Nogawski, President of CTD.
“Judy is in a class by herself,” Nogawski said. “For 15 years, she’s delivered one of the highest-rated shows in all of syndication. She’s at the top of her game, and we’re excited to be in business with daytime’s #1 star.”
“I am thrilled with the opportunity to continue this exciting second career,” Judge Judy Sheindlin said. “The confidence and support CBS has shown in our program has been steadfast and very much appreciated.”
JUDGE JUDY, now in its 15th season, averages 10 million viewers, more than any other show in daytime television. For the 2009-2010 season, JUDGE JUDY finished as the #1 rated show in daytime, beating “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” the first time any daytime program had surpassed “Oprah” in a decade when JUDGE JUDY held that distinction as well. Additionally, JUDGE JUDY has been the top-rated half-hour syndicated court show since its debut nearly 15 years ago on Sept. 16, 1996.
JUDGE JUDY is distributed by CBS Television Distribution. Randy Douthit is executive producer and director. Timothy Regler is executive producer. CTD is a unit of CBS Corp.
This unique legal drama chronicles the way a case is built from the perspective of both the defense and prosecution. Showing each side equally keeps the audience guessing, shifting allegiances and opinions on guilt or innocence until the very final scene.
Kathryn Peale, the product of a New England background and a sheriff father, is the Deputy Bureau Chief in the New York State District Attorney’s office. Jimmy Brogan, born and raised in Hell’s Kitchen and a friend of Kathryn’s since their days at Yale Law School, is one of New York’s rising criminal attorney stars. Buoyed by their respective teams, these evenly matched lawyers—each with a strong streak of competitiveness, a fervent belief in their clients and an equally intense passion for the law go about creating two different stories from the same set of facts. As this up-close, behind-the-scenes look at the legal process mirrors the excitement of a championship match, it becomes evident that truth has nothing to do with innocence or guilt—at the end of every trial, the only thing that matters is what the jury believes. – ABC
Shawn: “A totally new kind of legal drama!” Really, ABC? Sorry, but not quite.
So, yeah, I admit it. Occasionally I read other reviews before I post if for no other reason than to see if the pros caught the same thing about a particular show that I did. This certainly was the “case” with The Whole Truth, because this time, I knew that I had seen this show before but I just couldn’t put my finger on where and I was hoping that someone’s review would ring the proverbial bell for me. That’s when I came across this from Paige Wiser from the The Chicago Sun and it all fell into place:
There’s no skimping on the sordid and blunt evidence, but the cases are absorbing. And unlike “Law & Order,” which had a way of leaving us hanging, we do learn the “whole truth” by the end of each episode. You can’t put a price on closure.
That’s it! The multiple perspectives AND the big reveal at the end of the episode explaining what really happened… it’s Jerry Bruckheimer’s 2006 flop, Justice! So, apparently, Jerry is just recycling old projects and hoping that no one will notice. Regardless, I was one of the folks who really did like Justice, despite it lasting only 13 episodes. Like Justice, The Whole Truth has a very strong ensemble cast and appears to be pretty compelling. That being said, I am a little irked by the main premise of this show which is going to stick in my craw every episode: are we really supposed to believe that the same defense attorney and A.D.A. are going to be adversaries EVERY week in EVERY case… in New York City ??? Seriously, are these the only two lawyers in town? Jerry Bruckheimer plus the fact that it’s Justice recycled are the only two reasons that I am in the category of “reluctantly” watching the pilot.
The Review:
5 out of 10
I hate doing this but… meh. TWT was exactly what thought it would be: a Jerry Bruckheimer production of a former Jerry Bruckheimer production, namely, Justice. The two shows are nearly identical to each other in structure and formula. The only real difference is the added perspective of the prosecution and the bitterly annoying main characters who, as noted, are long-time friends and it’s implied that they had a romantic relationship at one point. They threw that in for tension at the end of the pilot and quite frankly I really don’t care about that aspect of the storyline because it is about as compelling as the past romantic relationship between Jerry and Elaine mentioned every now and then on Seinfeld.
TWT is nothing more than a typical formulaic procedural and to make matters worse, as noted, it’s a recycled show that didn’t work the first time and what really is a bad harbinger for TWT is that it’s nowhere near as good as its predecessor.
None of the characters are particularly interesting and they all are “roll-your-eyes” clichéd. Brogan is the stereotypical, “man-of-the-people,” working-class defense lawyer who, when he’s not discussing pro basketball with transexuals while standing in line to get a pastrami sandwich in a deli, he’s shooting hoops in his office to while going over case strategy with his associates. Oh… I almost forgot… he’s so hip that he wears $1,200.00 suits to court with red tennis shows…. *sigh.*
Peale is the polar opposite of her long-time friend. She’s a conservative, tough as nails, hard-nosed prosecutor who only wears sensible shoes and would never be caught in red tennis shoes… or talking basketball with transsexuals in delis. In order to clear her mind and figure out case-strategy, she likes to drag her colleagues down to the pistol range to fire off a few rounds… *sigh.*
I must say that as boring and contrived as these characters are, what makes them far more annoying is that they are calling each other every five minutes to taunt each other with whatever new piece of evidence or information they have that hurts the other’s case.
Wha… are you kidding me?
What the producers are doing is trying to capitalize on the fact that all evidence has to be shared with both sides. The are playing fast and loose with discovery and it’s just ridiculous. Despite what’s portrayed on TWT, there IS a legal process for discovery spelled out in every jurisdiction’s rules of procedure. You don’t just start calling the opposition and give them a heads-up on every new piece evidence or witness you just were made aware of and you sure as hell don’t tip your hand on strategy. The whole thing is just nonsense.
All in all, despite how weak TWT is, it’s not a horrible show by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s just not very good either. If you like this kind of safe, semi-compelling legal procedural, you’ll probably be pretty comfortable with TWT (and you’ll probably hate my review of Law & Order: Los Angeles, as well).
But if that’s the case you’re going to be pretty disappointed because it’s unlikely that TWT is long for the prime-time lineup. It is currently the lowest rated show on ABC and it’s not getting better.
The truth is that I wouldn’t recommending committing to The Whole Truth.
“Somebody saaaaave me!” Boy, Remy Zero said it accurately, indeed. The Superman Mythos after the explosive Death of Superman and The Return of Superman Comic Book storylines needed a shot in the arm. Waning book sales and iffy stories combined with the disinterest of Superman as a whole had thrown a huge red flag up for DC and Warner Brothers combined. After numerous failed attempts at re-igniting that elusive spark, DC and Warner Bros. had much egg on their face that included an omelet made of Nicolas Cage as Superman…ugh… I shudder to think.
Then in comes Alfred Gough and Miles Millar with a brilliant premise: how about a restart (I despise using the term “reboot”) to this iconic superhero? Let’s start way back but not so far back as to not have Clark Kent, our powerful protagonist, involved in a journey to his destiny of becoming the world’s most renowned hero. Let us begin in Smallville, Kansas and do an origin story that will take us on a great and revealing trip. And with Smallville heading into its final season in just a few weeks, I think back excitedly on what a ride it’s been!
The WB show was touted as a Sci-Fi, fantasy tale but at times does play out like a soap opera. That’s OK, though, because we always know what is to eventually come which no basic Soap on TV can do for its viewers. When particular characters like Lex Luthor and Clark Kent interact we can’t help having that small grin on our face and that thought on our minds that these two guys are going to totally throw down and kick each other’s asses in the future. It’s this aspect that makes Smallville so appealing.
Season One begins, well… in the beginning. In the Smallville pilot we are introduced to the Kents played by the hot Annette O’Toole (Sorry, ever since Paul Schrader’sCat People I have always had a crush on her) as Martha and John Schneider (Hee Haw!, Dukes of Hazzard) as Jonathan. These are the salt-of-the-earth farmers who will (thanks to the meteor shower that brings that most-famous of all aliens) raise Clark Kent (Tom Welling). It is not easy as we are a witness, too, as the season advances. After the 14 year-old Clark discovers the spaceship that brought him to earth buried in the barn, he begins to question his destiny, and refuses to immediately accept it.
We are soon introduced to Jeremy Creek (Adrian McMorran), our first of many “meteor freaks” who are usually just normal people who are or were infected adversely by the kryptonite.
Clark, of course, becomes enamored with Lana Lang played with plucky enthusiasm by the oh-so cute Kristen Krueck.
Clark then saves Lex Luthor, portrayed by Micheal Rosenbaum (who steals just about every scene he is in) from an almost fatal car accident. Needless to say, Clark stays busy even as he discovers he’s the newest alien on the block. This is just the beginning of where this great ride begins and there is definitely more to come…
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