'Judy Justice' Season 2 Renewal Fate Revealed
Judge Judy Sheindlin is not done banging that gavel. In an announcement on Tuesday, Amazon's IMDb TV renewed Judy Justice for a second season. The series, which follows a format similar to Sheindlin's iconic CBS Studios syndicated series Judge Judy, launched in November 2021 and has since been an instant success for the free streaming service. The new season will begin later this year, while the second half of Season 1 will debut on April 15, both on-demand and on the streaming Judy Justice channel.
Judy Justice quickly became IMDb TV's top original program, with customers watching over 25 million hours to date. "I am over the moon and couldn't be happier with the Judy Justice reception in streaming," Sheindlin said in a statement. "Amazon has been a terrific partner and I look forward to our continued collaboration."
"With Judy Justice, we saw a bold opportunity to reinforce our vision of a modern television network, by embracing daytime television programming and uniquely offering IMDb TV customers new episodes every weekday," Lauren Anderson and Ryan Pirozzi, co-heads of content and programming at IMDb TV, said in a statement. "For more than 25 years, Judge Sheindlin has been a staple of daytime TV."
"Through her no-nonsense approach to adjudicating real cases, Judge Sheindlin has educated millions about the legal process and real-life decision-making," Anderson and Pirozzi continued. "We look forward to delivering another season of binge-worthy justice as Judge Judy Sheindlin continues her unprecedented reign as one of the most iconic and esteemed personalities in entertainment."
Like the original Judge Judy series, Judy Justice features arbitration cases presided over Sheindlin, a retired Manhattan family court judge. The show also stars retired Los Angeles probation officer Kevin Raco as the bailiff. Stenographer Whitney Kumar and law clerk Sarah Rose were added to differentiate the show a little bit from the Judge Judy format. Rose is a law student and Sheindlin's granddaughter. The executive producers on the new show include Scott Koondel, Amy Freisleben, and director Randy Douthit.
Before the show premiered in November, Judy Justice attracted attention because of who wasn't in the cast. Judge Judy bailiff Petri Hawkins Byrd was not invited back. Byrd said Sheindlin never even approached him about joining the show. When he eventually spoke with her, she claimed he was too expensive. "My salary would have been too much. I was curious: How would she know? She didn't ask me," Byrd told Entertainment Weekly. "She didn't give me an opportunity to have accepted a lower salary."
In another interview with the Associated Press, Byrd said he was never really close friends with Sheindlin outside the TV courtroom. He was not bitter about the decision not to bring him back and was instead focusing on new acting opportunities. "I'm not angry. I'm not bitter," he said in October 2021. "I wish Judge Judy the best and you know, I hope things work out for her."