I have watched these shows since Judge Wapner, but I have had to stop watching her episodes--there is no reason for the rudeness and often poor judgment she displays. I realized that some of the people in the cases she hears aren't wrapped too tight, but when she looks someone in the eye and calls them a liar with no grounds other than instinct, she's just plain wrong. What ever happened to a "body of evidence?"
Two specific cases come to mind--the owner of a limo service who was accused of switching vehicles and stated that he never carried that vehicle and had a brochure to prove it, and a landlord who stated that it cost over $4000 to restore a house when a tenant left it, but the person who evaluated it wasn't present. However, he DID have both the bills and the before and after photos, which she absolutely refused to look at! I'm sorry, but I have participated in one way or another in a number of hearings, and this is NOT the behavior I have ever seen in a legitimate judge.
It certainly isn't entertainment--that's for sure!