By Michael Starr (New York Post)
“Judy Justice” is back for Season 2 — with law clerk Sarah Rose as a newly minted lawyer after passing the bar.
Rose, 25, is, as fans know, the granddaughter of “Judy Justice” creator/host Judy Sheindlin. She added a jolt to the show’s first season on Amazon Freevee along with stenographer Whitney Kumar and bailiff Kevin Rasco.
“We did something in LA five or six years ago, a place where there were journalists and somebody just stick a mic under [Sarah’s] nose and started asking her questions,” Sheindlin, 80, told The Post in a wide-ranging chat about the new season.
“I think it was her first or second semester in college, and I hear this person responding in a cogent, well-thought-out and yet extemporaneous statement and I said, ‘Oh my God, this kid who couldn’t make her own bed is really terrific.’ She thinks on her feet, weaves and bobs … I always knew she had a good sense of humor and was a little bit cranky for a young person, which I’ve always liked.
“So that whole package has been a joy for me,” Sheindlin said. “What can I tell you? I’m a smiling girl.”
Sheindlin is also smiling over the fact that “Judy Justice,” her digital sequel to the iconic daytime court show “Judge Judy,” generated over 75 million streaming hours in the US and the UK (and via on-demand episode viewing and the series’ FAST channel). Four new episodes drop Nov. 7; a new episode will be released each weekday through Dec. 16 (a second installment of episodes will be released in 2023).
“I’m happy I made the transition [to streaming] and grateful for the 25 years I enjoyed in broadcasting,” Sheindlin said. “But it’s no secret among business people that broadcasting is not what it was 25 years ago. Life is about moving forward — and notice I didn’t use the word ‘progress’ — but you’re supposed to put one foot in front of the other and sometimes it’s a leap of faith … gone are the days of ‘West Wing’ and ‘The Sopranos’ where it was appointment television … because you had to see the next episode. Now you don’t have to wait until next week to see if someone is dead or alive or pregnant or not.
“So I think I made into streaming at a perfect time.”
While Sheindlin focuses on “Judy Justice” and “Tribunal” — her upcoming Amazon Freevee court show — it’s hard to ignore how “Judge Judy” remains daytime’s top-rated court show, averaging over 6 million daily viewers for the week ending Oct. 23.
“I didn’t leave broadcasting because I got my 25-year watch, so to speak,” Sheindlin said. “Everybody made out fine, financially, and CBS is making out fine with my reruns. My mind is still blown away by the fact, that in the second year of its afterlife, ‘Judge Judy’ is still number one in daytime.”
Sheindlin said she’s not putting a timetable on any talk of retirement. “You know, I don’t know,” she said. “We’re piloting a new program other than ‘Tribunal’ … that I have high hopes for and if I can get that — and I think that Freevee is more than interested — them I’m ready to stay with the adventure but in another capacity. Right now I still don’t feel as if I’m in any way embarrassing myself in front of the camera and I keep saying this: ‘You have to know when to say goodbye,’ and if you don’t know then someone boots you in the behind and tell you it’s time to go. So far I haven’t seen that decline.
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