‘Judge Judy’ Ending After 25 Seasons

Judge Judy is coming to an end after 25 seasons, Judy Sheindlin announced on Monday’s upcoming episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She broke the news herself, adding that she will still be hosting a new show called Judy Justice. However, she could not give DeGeneres any details about the new series, which will debut after Judge Judy’s 2020-2021 season.

“CBS [Television Distribution, which distributes the show] sort of felt, I think, they wanted to optimally utilize the repeats of my program,” Sheindlin told DeGeneres in a preview clip released late Sunday, reports The Hollywood Reporter. “Now they have 25 years of my reruns. What they decided to do is sell a couple of years’ worth of reruns. But I’m not tired, so Judy Justice will be coming out a year later.”

Sheindlin did not give further details of the new show, including where it will air. DeGeneres asked that, but Sheindlin coyly replied, “I can’t tell you yet.”

“Judge Judy, you’ll be able to see next year — a full year, all new shows,” the television legend said. “The following couple of years, you should be able to get all the reruns that CBS has sold on the stations currently carrying Judge Judy, and Judy Justice will be going elsewhere. Isn’t that fun?”

Sheindlin, a former New York City judge, is the highest-paid television personality and makes $47 million a year. The 77-year-old signed her most recent CBS contract in 2015, and it is set to end this year. The deal also included a first-look production deal with Sheindlin’s Queen Bee Productions. CBS also picked up the complete Judge Judy library for $100 million. That deal includes covers than 5,200 hours of programming.

Judge Judy launched in 1996 and has been one of the most-watched syndicated programs ever since. It is still the most-watched court show on television, averaging 9 million viewers a day. The show won Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Drama at the Daytime Emmys in 2013, 2016 and 2017. In 2019, Sheindlin received the Daytime Emmys’ Lifetime Achievement Award.

In a previous appearance on Ellen in 2018, she explained why she had no plans to retire.

“What would you do every day?” she said. “This job, believe it or not, it’s an anchor because it gives you someplace to go. I work every other week. So that’s my anchor, and it gives me plenty of downtime to get bored, and when I get bored I usually harass people.”

CBS has not commented on Sheindlin’s announcement, which is featured in Monday’s Ellen episode.

Photo credit: CBS