Judge Judy Sheindlein has been a prominent name on television ever since her daytime TV series Judge Judy started airing back in 1996. That show is as viable as ever, but Sheindlin has really worked to expand her presence with CBS TV, which produces Judge Judy. Reports this week indicate that Judge Judy really wants to go down a different path with he next project. In fact, it's going to be a scripted drama.
The project, which is rolling with the title Her Honor, won't be entirely fictional, however. In fact, reports indicate that the project will be inspired by Judge Judy Sheindlein's own life. It will feature a young judge living and working in New York---the youngest judge in town, in fact---who works in Family Court. While at work, she absolutely dominates, but she hasn't figured out how to keep the balance between her career and her home life.
While the project is currently only in the early stages of development, Judy Sheindlin has hired on a pretty big name to pen the pilot. Variety reports that Chicago Justice and Law & Order showrunner Michael Chernuchin is co-writing with Judge Judy herself. Chernuchin should have the TV know-it-all to come up with a good script for the law-oriented drama.
Honestly, this could be a good fit for Judge Judy Sheindlin. While she still makes a whopping amount of money for hosting her courtroom series and is still the #1 syndicated show on television. Although Judge Judy is clearly going nowhere, it's nice for unscripted TV personalities to branch out and try new projects. The judge clearly also has the money to produce scripted content. Two times ago when she made a deal it was for $47 million dollars per year. When her contract was re-upped, she reportedly started making even more money, so she has plenty of change in the bank.
Plus, there aren't a ton of lawyer-oriented programs on TV right now. Law & Order: SVU and the upcoming Chicago Justice both have court stuff going on, but CBS' huge legal drama The Good Wife just ended last spring. It's easy to see why the Eye Network in particular might be looking for another project to fit into the primetime lineup. I personally wouldn't mind getting a replacement law-oriented drama on Sunday nights.
It should still be some time before we learn whether or not Her Honor will be moving forward at CBS or another network, but we'll update you as soon as we know what is going on with the drama project. In the meantime, you can see which brand new shows will be hitting the schedule this fall, courtesy of our TV premiere schedule.
