‘Judge Judy’ to End After 25 Years, Host Says

Lifetime achievement award winner Judge Judy Sheindlin poses in the press room at the 46th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at the Pasadena Civic Center in Pasadena, Calif., on May 5, 2019. Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

Daytime TV staple Judge Judy Sheindlin said her longtime CBS show “Judge Judy” will be coming to an end after 25 seasons, but added that she will start hosting another program.

“I’ve had a 25-year-long marriage with CBS [Television Distribution, which distributes the show], and it’s been successful,” she said in a Monday appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

“Next year will be our 25th season, silver anniversary, and CBS sort of felt, I think, they wanted to optimally utilize the repeats of my program,” she said. “Because now they have 25 years of reruns. So what they decided to do was to sell a couple of years’ worth of reruns. But I’m not tired, so ‘Judy Justice’ will be coming out a year later.”

It’s not clear whether it will be another syndicated program for another TV network or elsewhere. Sheindlin, 77, said she “can’t tell you yet” when she was questioned on where viewers can watch the program.

She also did not elaborate on the premise of the new show.

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

According to Deadline Hollywood, Sheindlin is one of the highest-paid TV personalities, earning about $47 million per year after she signed her current CBS contract in 2015.

Forbes noted “Judge Judy” is the No. 1 syndicated show on television, averaging more than 10 million viewers per day since 2009. It’s also been the top courtroom program in the United States since 1996.