The Judge

My sister and I used to see this show on late at night. I guess it was late-night time filler but even though it was not meant to be a "comedy", the acting alone made this show one of the funniest things I ever saw! One show even had a story line about a fat boy who ate too much and his mom was taking him to court to force him to have surgery! Bob Shield was "the judge" in a courtroom that very much replicated the ever popular "divorce court", all the way down to the acting. The judge would give practical advice before and after his ruling. It was actually good advice, better than I've heard in most REAL courtrooms. The judge himself was not a bad actor but the "guests" on each show were obviously reading Q cards as they spoke and the acting was so bad my sides hurt from laughter.

You had family court cases that were unbelieveable. There was one case in which an elderly man is caught in a undercover vice sting with an explaination he was there for a legitimate massage while another defendant a district attorney has an lame excuse. The attorney was played by the actor who played Elizabeth Shue's father in the Karate Kid. Well the parlor was bugged and you hear the elderly man complaing about his condition while the attorney brags why he's there. Another case had a pizza delivery person accuse an African Amercan youth of robbing him. It turns out he was playing pool and was hustled. He remarks to the Judge: "Well I won the first game I thought I had a chance to win my money back."

Of course the cherry on the top was a child custody case where the father filed suit for custody of his daughter because his ex-spouse and her husband is taking her to Elvis conventions claiming she has the ability to "channel" the "King". If you looked up the definiton of "Trailor Park People" you'd see their picture. As for the "channeler" it was sooo fake. My father really enjoyed it though.

I almost forgot about this show until I heard clips of Ralph Garman on the Kevin & Bean show on KROQ! I used to watch this show almost religiously after school on Channel 9 Los Angeles (back when it was KHJ-TV) along with the other court dramatization shows like Divorce Court and Superior Court. For a while, I thought these were actual court cases (hey, I was really young!). But soon came to realize they were only actors, and many times not very good ones. Some of the episodes I sorta recall was the one about an interracial couple. I think the Korean wife's parents shunned the couple and their kid, but in the end they accept her and her African-America husband. Another involved a defendant taking the courtroom hostage. I would love to see some of these shows released on DVD just for old time sakes!

I used to watch this show as a kid and I really enjoyed it. The judge, Robert J Franklin isn't your typical powertripping judge. He is a man that tries to enforce justice with mercy. This show didn't have the sleeze that other shows would have, it was just good stories handled in a very diligent manner. It showed what society should be like; descent, truthful, honest, and courageous. True, they are all fake, but it provided plenty of enjoyment while I was growing up. I truly miss this show and hope that reruns will come back.

I saw this show a lot when I was 7 years old and thought that it was very entertaining. I remember one episode it was about this boy I think his name was Wally I think he was suppose retarted or something like that, no offence and when he got called to the stand I thought it was funny when he was threating to beat up everyone in the court room including the judge if anybody knows where I can find that episode click on my email address above to let me know. if you like court shows than this is the show for you even though it is fake but very entertaining.