Cynopsis Media presents:
The Daytime Emmy® Awards 2012
04.19.12

Good morning. It’s Thursday, April 19, 2012. This is the first of two editions focusing on the Daytime Emmy® Awards.

In the category of “Legal/Courtroom”
by Daisy Whitney

The Emmy Award for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program was virtually started for Judge Judy. But for fourteen seasons and running, Judith Sheindlin has been the Susan Lucci of daytime TV’s courtroom genre. The star attraction, to be sure. But always a bridesmaid and never a bride when the gold is handed out.

The big question hanging over the courtroom category this year is whether she will finally collect the trophy that many prognosticators think is her rightful due. Even though the courtroom category itself is only four years old, Sheindlin has been denied an Emmy fourteen times. She’s been nominated four times in the Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program category created in 2008, and before than ten times in the Outstanding Special Class category, in which she never won.

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Judy’s Chances

When the courtroom category was created to pull court shows out of the special class category that often went to harder hitting new specials or softer shows like the Thanksgiving Day Parade, most industry observers saw it as a deliberate move to secure an Emmy for the proven ratings getter and anchor of daytime court TV. Judge Judy usually lands as the top-rated daytime legal show, and has even been the top rated daytime show overall at times.

But ratings alone don’t guarantee a win. Even after the category was launched, Judge Christina took home the trophy for the first three years, even the year the show was cancelled. Judge Pirro nabbed it last year, and the show was cancelled in the fall. 

Judge Judy, in many ways, can be a guilty pleasure show, explained Aphrodite Jones, host of True Crime with Aphrodite Jones on Investigation Discovery, author and former crime reporter. “Still, Judy offers important life lessons to all of us, and she has more personality than all the other TV judges combined. If she doesn’t get an Emmy again this year, she can laugh all the way to the bank.”

Some programming observers feel it’s Sheindlin’s year, and that just as Lucci eventually won, the pendulum, or perhaps the gavel, will swing in Judge Judy’s favor come May.

Court Category Going Strong

In women 18 to 49, the court genre is up 8% in March, according to the Syndicated Network Television Association. “TV court shows have become important to us because we live in a society where the real court system seems broken, at times,” Jones said. “The TV courtroom allows us to observe people’s squabbles and see them resolved in a way that cuts through the red tape and all the BS that goes on in our bogged-down judicial system.”

And with court programming being a staple of daytime, Emmy voters have many shows to pick from for potential nominees. They include Divorce Court, Judge Alex, Judge Joe Brown, Judge Mathis, The People’s Court, Swift Justice with Jackie Glass, and others. Last year the five nominees were Divorce Court, Judge Judy, Judge Pirro, The People’s Court, and Swift Justice with Nancy Grace.

Some observers aren’t even considering Judge Judy as the top contender this year. “I have had the privilege of meeting both Judge Alex Ferrer and Judge Jackie Glass on my show,” said Nikki Boyer, host of Yahoo’s series Daytime in No Time. “Personally, I think it’s a coin toss between the two.They both bring a huge amount of credibility as well as great personality.”

Judge Alex has strong ratings, boosted by his increasing visibility as a news commentator, and that can’t hurt. It would be the show’s first nomination. Swift Justice is well regarded, but could be at a disadvantage since Glass is a newcomer, having replaced Nancy Grace.

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Look for Divorce Court to make a good showing. It’s the longest running court show on TV and it dates back to the 1950s. It’s also reinvented itself at least three times and there’s something to be said for being nimble. The show has been nominated once before.

Jones thinks Judge Joe Brown is worthy of an Emmy. “He’s original. They broke the mold when they made him. In a genre where newer TV judges want to emulate Judge Judy, Judge Joe relates to his courtroom participants with a down-to-earth style while maintaining ultimate authority. Like Judy, he’s the real deal,” Jones said.

Later- Daisy
Daisy Whitney
04/19/12

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