Who Died And Made You Judge Judy?

Lately my mom has been spewing forth "Judge Judy-isms" like they are common law. She watches the female curmudgeon regularly in the afternoon and has even watched the show together with my children. What cracks me up is that mom thinks that what Judge Judy says is law. Evidently more than a few people agree with my mom, because the Judge Judy show is the afternoon TV ratings leader. She has even beat the Queen of Daytime, Oprah in the ratings and since it's inception, the show been nominated for 13 Daytime Emmys.

So what makes this woman tick and who the hell does she think she is treating people the way that she does?

According to Wiki, Judith Sheindlin was a former family court judge with the reputation as one of the most outspoken court judges in the country. The domino effect of fame began for Judge Judy when she was featured in an article in the Los Angeles Times in February 1993. The article led to a feature on the TV show 60 Minutes and after the success of that appearance she was approached to host her now titled show; Judge Judy. During the 14 year tenure of the Judge Judy American court show, Judith Sheindlin has become the 13th richest woman in entertainment in our country, beating out celebs like Ellen Degeneres, Giselle Bunchden, Christina Aguilera and Cameron Diaz to name a few. She even has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

I'm sure you've all seen and heard Judge Judy's tirade's on a plaintiff or defendant in her courtroom, as nobody can reduce a human being to a paltry commoner like Judge Judy. And don't you dare lie to her...the response to one she conceived to be lying, "You mess around with me young lady, I'll wipe the floor with you. We follow each other?" She's regularly throwing out some of her famous wisdom, my favorite being, "Beauty fades, dumb is forever." The message here is Judge Judy will whoop your ass iffin she thinks you a liar. Plain and simple.

As beloved for her strict no nonsense approach as she is, Judge Judy is not without critics. Surprisingly one of her most vocal critics is Judge Joseph Wapner who starred in the original American court show, The People's Court. Judge Wapner presided over cases for TV from 1981 to 1993. The two have previously waged a battle of words in the papers with he most recently saying, "She is a disgrace to the profession. She does things I don't think a judge should do. She tells people to shut up. She's rude. She's arrogant. She demeans people. If she does this on purpose, then that's even worse. Judges need to observe certain standards of conduct. She just doesn't do it and I resent that. The public is apt to gain the impression that this is how actual judges conduct themselves. It says 'judge' on the nameplate on the bench and she's wearing a robe."

Judge Judy's response to Wapner was, "I refuse to engage in similar mud slinging. I don't know where or by whom Judge Wapner was raised. But my parents taught me when you don't have something nice to say about someone, say nothing. Clearly, Judge Wapner was absent on the day that lesson was taught." Which is ironic...

Because Judy gets paid to do just that.
Maybe she should take her own advice. Or, maybe not.