Are the cases we see on TV court shows real? Are the participants paid? Are these even real judges? Insider visited the set of "The People's Court" and spoke to Judge Marilyn Milian to find out how these shows actually work.
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#ThePeoplesCourt #JudgeMilian
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The Truth Behind TV Court Shows
Narrator: One of the best things about staying home from school as a kid was watching daytime court shows. My personal favorite?
"The People's Court." Judge Milian is electric, and the cases are always so ridiculous. Judge Milian: Where was your cart? By the watermelons, with
you, or where the opening is? Okay, no, no. Narrator: But what if I
told you that this is not an actual courtroom? And when a person loses a case, they don't even have
to pay the settlement. So what's actually going on? Cou
rt shows have long been a
staple of American television, but they didn't start on TV. The first court shows popped
up in radio's golden age. The early programs were
typically reenactments of real court cases. Radio: There's no telling what would happen to him or his life if he resists the authorities. Narrator: But "The People's
Court," which began in 1981, started a whole new era: arbitration-based reality shows. Presiding since 2001, Judge Marilyn Milian is the show's longest serving host and
the first Latina judge to host a nationally
syndicated court show. Before "The People's Court," Milian was an assistant state attorney in Florida and was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to the Miami Circuit Court, working in the criminal division. Judge Milian: I had a
gubernatorial appointment, and it was a sure thing. And I had crossed every
T and dotted every I to make sure that I had
an upward trajectory in the judiciary. And I was giving all that up if I decided to join what many in the law
see as the frivolity of television. Of course, now that it's
been on the air 20 years, I'm a genius. But back then, people were worried about what it is that was
gonna happen in my career. Narrator: What you see on the show are real small claims cases. They're lifted directly
out of the courthouse to be arbitrated by Judge Milian. David Scott: If you get
your case in small claims, there's one judge, and there's three or
400 cases that show up on any given day. And it's very hard,
impossible, for
that one judge to get through those cases, so they offer you something
called binding arbitration. And that is, you can go to a lawyer, plead your case to the lawyer with the person you're suing, and that lawyer will decide the case. It's binding arbitration, there's no room for appeal, and you have agreed, and the defendant has agreed to allow this arbitrator to hear your case. And that's basically exactly what we do. Narrator: So how do they pick the cases? This is like panning for gold. We g
o out, and we go to all these courts, and we get all of these cases, and we sift through them. We love a relationship case. We love where an ex-wife
is suing their ex-husband. We love cases where there's a
lot of personal kind of stuff along with the legal stuff. So it's the personalities
that we're looking for. We're looking for a good argument, we're looking for a good defense. That's how we select our cases. We shoot to bring the public the juiciest cases we can get. They were juicy then, the
y're juicy now, and hopefully they'll
continue to be juicy. Narrator: The show covers travel expenses for the participants and will pay the settlement if the case is ruled in your favor. But for most cases, it's
not really about the money. Judge Milian: We once had a
guy who paid $40 to file a case over a $5 lottery card. And it was a thing of beauty, because what it shows you is that small claims is
never about the money. It's always about the principle. Narrator: So you've got a case. How do y
ou get the judge on your side? Absolutely the biggest mistake people make is coming unprepared. If you want a judge to
rule against somebody and believe you, you
have to bring evidence. You can't just show up
with your flapping gums. People will just walk it in there, they're insulted that you didn't just take their word for it. It's insanity. I think people think
that because they believe their story so much, all they have to do is
come forward and say it, and everyone else is
gonna see it thei
r way. But when there's two sides involved, you have to prove what
it is you're saying. A hot dog is a sandwich. If it's essentially two pieces of bread, with some kind of meat
or salad on the inside, it's a sandwich. Next case.
Comments
Judge Judy has left the chat
You know you're getting old when a narrator talks about watching The People's Court "as a kid," and the clip shows Judge Milian and NOT Judge Wapner.
I was on the People's Court and my boss lost! They fly you in and sit you in a warehouse and lunch means "cold pizza" then you are told to push the doors open like your mad when you walk in. They edit the heck out of it (all the good stuff) and you completely lose the real meat of the cases. Our case was about Red Sox play off tickets that my boss decided not to buy, the ticket agents SOLD HIS tickets because the ones they brought to court were for a different game!! They didn;t show that on TV, There are tons of people in the lobby to be in the audience lol
The hot dog 🌭 part at the end was so random?? What the hell?!? 😂
At least we know it's real ridiculous cases
Shows like these have taught me better life lessons than any teacher would also, I have applied these life lessons to real life and put most teachers back in their place
I’ve always wondered why people would go on national TV to make fools of themselves but if the show pays the settlement then that makes sense lol
Judge Judy has been on longer
Judge mathis for me! Watching it now btw lol
I was asked to be on people’s court one time due to a law suit i had against someone. They really do go to every court house and send you letters.
I was in an episode of Hot Bench in 2017. Tenant was suing me in a court in Southern California. I got a call from a producer telling me that through the freedom of information act they got a hold of the case and what they offered me is this; the case gets dropped legally from record, meaning it doesn't show up at all. Now, he was suing me for $350 and she said they'd pay that to the guy and they'd compensate me for my time at the rate of $500. I said no. We kept going back and forth so we settled on $800 plus transportation from my home to the studios which are in downtown Los Angeles adjacent to the Netflix studios. All in all, I was there for 2 1/2 hours. Lost the case but it was an interesting experience. They don't tell you the air date. I spoke with the guy who was suing me and he told me all he got was $350 and a meal voucher.oh and I forgot to mention, they tell you not to disclose what the verdict is or talk about it or share pics on social media or any other sources or they'll sue you. I didn't.
basically; they are all paid, its all for entertainment and Judge Judy is hands down the boss of the lot..
The peoples court is real, I don’t know if all of them are real. But I know my episode was, I got paid my settlement and extra money for being on the show. Nothing was staged I didn’t have a script or any of that. How it happened was I submitted my case to small claims court and randomly got a call from someone from peoples court asking if I wanted my case on the show. Previously watching the show I definitely wanted my case on there, I love judge milian. My episode was called “losing it on his sister” it was taken off YouTube and privated but it still plays on tv.
Hey INSIDER, just wanted to thank you for your editing style. You allow for a pause in between sentences. So many youtubers do not do this and it's hard to focus on speech when 'the natural pause' is removed 100% of the time.
So you watch The Peoples court while Im over here watching Caso Cerrado
Anyone else remember watching Judge Wapner? That was the og court show.
Judge Judy is a mediator. I submitted to sue someone and I got an offer in the mail from her show to have her mediate rather than go to court.
I was on People's Court. The only reason I went was because the show pays the ruling. It was fun though. The judge was cool.
I never purposely watched these shows. These daytime shows and drama shows like springer and Maury shows remind me that I’m poor
I’m like a lot of people here… Love me some Judge Judy but I would not want to go on her show unless I knew I was right and had my stuff together😆