Judge Judy makes shock announcement

The highest-paid personalty on TV, Judge Judy, has announced her iconic courtroom reality show will come to an end after 25 years on air.

But days off sick from work or school will still feature the straight-talking judge, with the re-runs having sold for a staggering amount, and a new show featuring Judy Sheindlin and her gavel set to air in the coming years.

The host appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres show this week, where she told DeGeneres that the 2020-21 season of Judge Judy — the show’s 25th — will be its last.

“CBS sort of felt, I think, they wanted to optimally utilise the repeats of my program,” she said.

“Now they have 25 years of my re-runs,” she added.

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In 2017, Judge Judy’s entire catalogue of episodes sold for more than $150 million, a collection of more than 5,200 hours of programming.

The 77 year old has remained the highest-paid personality on TV, earning $72 million a year according to a contract inked in 2015.

But she won’t be hanging up her judge’s robes just yet.
 

“I’m not tired, so Judy Justice will be coming out a year later,” she said of her new venture.
 

“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 re-runs that CBS has sold to the stations that are currently carrying Judge Judy, and Judy Justice will be going elsewhere. Isn’t that fun?”

In the US, Judge Judy ranks as one of the top-rated syndicated programs, averaging roughly 9 million viewers a day, and is TV’s most-watched court show.

Sheindlin also owns TV production company Queen Bee Productions.
 

The beloved firecracker TV judge was named the highest-grossing television host on the planet by Forbes in 2018.

Each season of Judge Judy features an impressive 260 new episodes, and she’s estimated to have brought in $$337 million for the network in 2016 alone, according to TV trade publication SNL Kagan.

Sheindlin packs those 260 episodes into just 52 days of filming each year, spread through three days a week every other week, USA Today reports.