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Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎07-26-2014

👀 TV Court Shows 👀

For those who watch, I found this article which I found interesting.

 

Do People Get Paid to be on TV Court Shows?

 

The reality-based court show first came to fame in the 1980s. Judge Wapner presided over the people’s court for 12 seasons, before the show was canceled and revamped three years later. Wapner’s appearance and subsequent seasons of The People’s Court gave way to a myriad of reality-based arbitration shows. Judge Judy, currently the reigning queen of daytime reality television is the highest paid daytime television personality. Her no-nonsense attitude, witty catchphrases, and penchant for calling things as she sees them has led to the immense popularity of the genre and has made way for several different court-based shows featuring different judges.

 

If you love watching these shows, you have probably wondered exactly how the casting process works and whether or not the plaintiff and defendant are in a real dispute. You may also question whether or not they are paid for their time. The simple answer is, yes, they are real, and they are paid for their time, but it gets a bit more complicated than that.

 

Do people get paid to be on TV court shows?
Anyone appearing on a television court show is paid an appearance fee. These fees are generally small, ranging from $100 to $300. Each court shows appearance fee is a little bit different, and additional perks might be included to entice people to appear. For example, a show may offer to pay for travel expenses, including hotel and flights, for guests who are not from the area where the show is being filmed.

Those who appear in the background as the court audience are also paid. Generally speaking, the audiences are comprised of aspiring actors or actresses who work as extras. Extras are people who are used to make the background of a show or movie look full. Extras on shows are paid a nominal fee for their time. The standard rate for an extra is $100 to $150 per day. Extras may be paid a bonus if they have a particularly striking feature that the production company wants to include in the show. Smiley Surprised

 

Who pays the verdict?
Arbitration court shows are responsible for awarding the winner of the case with the monetary judgment passed down by the judge. Settlements are paid directly to the winner through a fund set up for the show. The defendant is not required to pay the award, and this is considered one of the significant perks of appearing on a show like Judge Judy or The People’s Court. The winning party is ensured to collect the verdict amount, and the defendant can walk away from the case knowing that it has been handled. The show’s production company does not pay any legal fees that were accrued before the plaintiff and defendant appeared on the show.

 

What are the requirements to appear on a TV court show?
TV court shows don’t just pick anyone up off the street, and the cases are real. To appear on a TV court show, an actual lawsuit must have been filed in a court of law. The claim must be active, and there must not be a judgment already in place for the case to appear on the show. Additionally, TV court shows have the same claim threshold as traditional small claims courts. The lawsuit cannot exceed $5,000.

Those who appear on the show must also agree to withdraw their lawsuit from the traditional court system before appearing on the show. The presiding judge also has the ability to dismiss a case without prejudice if they feel the case is without merit, or that the plaintiff and defendant are working together for monetary gain. Judge Judy has been known to dismiss claims without prejudice when she feels the parties appearing are in cahoots.

 

copy/paste link---> cheatsheet.com/entertainment/do-people-get-paid-to-be-on-tv-court-shows.html/

 

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I watch this channel called Justice Channel.  Court cases 24/7.  It seems that the "participants" who lose must make some type of $$$ arraingement themselves to satisfy the judgement(s).  They are always directed to "go downstairs" to sign some papers.  The "winners" are never directed to "downstairs."  Some actually have the $$$ already on them to pay as if they expected to lose! Smiley Surprised

 

Also, on this channel I found out that not all states have a $5k limit for small claim cases as mentioned above.  Some states go as high as $25k.faint.gif The limit chart for small claims in all 50 states can be found here:  copy/paste link--->nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/small-claims-suits-how-much-30031.html

"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."


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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,095
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Re: 👀 TV Court Shows 👀

Guilty as charged! I love the court shows!

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Re: 👀 TV Court Shows 👀

I miss actual Court TV. I got really into this one murder trial. Can't remember the name of the murderess but the whole thing was really scandalous. It was all in Utah and the killer was an obsessed scorned ex girlfriend. My husband hated hearing about it and said he was glad when I couldn't watch that stuff anymore. lol

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Respected Contributor
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Re: 👀 TV Court Shows 👀

DH enjoys these shows.  I don't care for the yelling, especially Judge Judy's harshness so I created for myself my "Running Away From Judge Judy Room".  When he sits down for his shows, I retire to my peaceful space.  Win Win.  I will pass on to him the details here but we knew defendants didn't have to pay.  I thought most anyone could board the bus that drives the gallery people to the courtroom/TV studio as long as they looked okay and passed a brief interview.

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Re: 👀 TV Court Shows 👀

[ Edited ]

@Porcelain 

 

Surprise!  Court TV is baaaaaack...look for it - it has been back on-air for a couple of months.  A few of the same people on still there. 

 

This week they are covering the case in FL where a cheerleader (Brooke Skylar Richardson) buried her baby (Annabelle) in the backyard.  She says it was still born, some say it was alive.  It was found in an advanced stage of decay making it difficult to tell.  Jury has been selected, trial starts Tuesday.  

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Respected Contributor
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Re: 👀 TV Court Shows 👀


@Porcelain wrote:

I miss actual Court TV. I got really into this one murder trial. Can't remember the name of the murderess but the whole thing was really scandalous. It was all in Utah and the killer was an obsessed scorned ex girlfriend. My husband hated hearing about it and said he was glad when I couldn't watch that stuff anymore. lol


You sure that wasn't Jodi Arias in Arizona.  The guy was from Utah and moved to AZ.

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Registered: ‎03-21-2010

Re: 👀 TV Court Shows 👀

[ Edited ]

@Porcelain  Think you're talking about Jodi Arias who killed ex boyfriend Travis Alexander in Arizona.  Found guilty and was sentenced to life.  Very gruesome story.  I also miss Court TV and their gavel to gavel coverage of trials.

 

ETA sorry didn't see post above.

 

2nd edit -- checked when it may be on our cable system, Xfinity, and it's suppose to start Nov. 1.  Cannot wait.  Always some wack-a-doodle doing something wrong.  

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Re: 👀 TV Court Shows 👀

 

@Havarti 

 

I watched all the Jodi Arias trial via DVR. It was televised on HLN and titled "In Session".  You say Court TV is back, is it real trials live as was the Arias trial, and if so what network is televising it? For me live trials are very interesting. Thank you for your post and hopefully we are talking the same types of trials.

 

 

 

hckynut

 

 

hckynut(john)
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Re: 👀 TV Court Shows 👀

I love Hot Bench.  That's my daily tea break when I work from home.

 

I've seen Judge Joe Brown double the verdict to $10k because the defendant is an a$$.

 

 

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Re: 👀 TV Court Shows 👀

[ Edited ]

@hckynut 

 

Yes, we are talking about live trials - watching it as it happens (although Court TV has so many commercials that you miss some of the action).  The station is actually called Court TV on my cable system.  They repeat a lot of the same info when the trial is on break and is frustrating to those who watch the whole trial, but people who work really appreciate being able to be gone all day and still get caught up on all the little details.

 

The trial I mentioned for this week - the Brooke Skylar Richardson cheeleader trial in Ohio (I thought it was FL) - is on now live and is just picking the jury today.  I thought they picked the jury last week and the trial was starting today, but the trial may start late today or tomorrow - depending upon how fast they get the right number of potential jurors.  

 

You might also enjoy Googling these sites, too (they are all dot com):

 

theverge

crimeandjustice

worldjusticenews

courttv

lawandcrime

 

Court TV also has a Facebook page where they pull questions and talk about them (usually on Vinnie Politan's show in the evening).

 

You can stream some interesting cases from some of these sites and/or pick up some interesting news on current or upcoming trials.  Enjoy!

 

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