It was Judge Judy who came first, her show premiered in national syndication on September 16, 1996, while Judge Joe Brown first premiered on September 14, 1998.
The Judge Judy show rapidly established itself as a roaring success. In February 1999, it won the No. 1 slot for syndicated shows. And just by August 1999, the show already averaged some 7 million viewers per week.
The success of the show spawned the creation of numerous other daytime court shows, including Judge Joe Brown, Judge Hatchett and Judge Mathis. In 2000, ratings for these programs started to decline and by the 2007-08 season, Judge Judy had fallen to fourth among daytime TV shows. However, despite this relative drop in popularity, the show continues to be watched by some 10 million viewers daily.
From TMZ.com, Judge Judy seems to think Judge Joe Brown's arrest last month had nothing to do with politics ... but more about hitting the bottle. Find out more here.
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