‘Judge Mathis’ & ‘The People’s Court’ to End with Seasons 24 & 26, Respectively

Judge Mathis and The People’s Court are ending their long TV runs, both victims of challenging market conditions within the daytime syndication landscape.

Judge Mathis has been on the air for 24 seasons, winning a 2018 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program. It was the first court show featuring an African American jurist to win.

Judge Greg Mathis is the longest-running Black male host on television and the second-longest-reigning arbitrator in courtroom television history, behind Judith Sheindlin. 

The People’s Court won four Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program in 2014, 2015, 2020 and 2021, which is the most wins for a court show in this category, and received 12 nominations.

The People’s Court is the first court show to use binding arbitration, introducing the format into the genre in 1981, and it is the first popular, long-running reality series in the judicial genre. 

The show ranks as the longest-running traditional court show and second-longest running court show in general, having a total of 39 overall seasons as of the 2022-23 television year, behind Divorce Court by 1 season. 

Judge Marilyn Milian is the show’s longest-running arbiter, presiding for 22 years beginning in 2001. The original series ran from 1981-93 with Judge Joseph Wapner. The current show was revived in 1997.