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{{quote| ''"What you are about to witness is real. The participants are not actors. They are the actual people who have already either filed suit or been served a summons to appear in a California (or New York Metropolitan) Municipal Court. Both parties in the suit have agreed to dismiss their court cases and have their disputes settled here, in our forum — '''The People's Court'''." [Current version: "...They are actual litigants with a case pending in civil court. Both parties have agreed to drop their claims, and have their cases settled here..."]''}}
The [[Ur Example]] of the judge talk show, ''The People's Court'' had its pilot episode taped in October of 1980 and premiered on September 14, 1981 when Judge Joseph Wapner took the court to the TV. The premise is that two parties, a plaintiff and a defendant, that would otherwise take their cases to small claims court would instead agree to have their case settled on television by Judge Wapner. After the verdict was given, each side would be interviewed by host and court reporter Doug Llewelyn, who would often end the show with the [[Catch Phrase]] "Don't take the law into your own hands: you take 'em to court."<ref>(If a case ended with a verdict for the defendant, however, Llewelyn would instead end the episode by saying, "If someone files a lawsuit against you and yet you're convinced you've done nothing wrong, don't be intimidated. Just be sure to stand up for your rights: go to court.")</ref> The show's other two regulars were bailiff Rusty Burrell and announcer Jack Harrell. The show was created by John Masterson, who previously created and produced ''[[Queen for
After ''[[Judge Judy]]'' started the judge show revival in the mid-1990s, one of the first shows on the block was a [[Revival]] of ''The People's Court''. Former New York City mayor Ed Koch initially took the bench for the first two years, then was replaced by Jerry Sheindlin (husband of Judge Judy). He was replaced by Marilyn Milian in 2001, who presides over the court today. The bailiff during the Koch-Sheindlin years was Josephine Ann Longobardi. After Milian took the bench, she was replaced by Davy Jones, who only lasted relatively briefly and was in turn replaced by Douglas MacIntosh. Curt Chaplin took over the interview duties and became the new announcer, while host Harvey Levin, who worked on the Wapner version as the show's legal consultant, explains the legalese behind the judges' decisions while polling fans gathered outdoors.
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