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Why in the world do we have so many judge shows on TV lately? In case you're one of our readers who doesn't watch trash TV during the day, there are a million judge shows out there now. It seems like every two-bit wannabe TV personality who missed out on the talk show glut now has a judge show. Damn Judge Judy for starting this wave, anyway. It makes you wonder what credentials half of these people have to sit in judgement...then again, most people do it every day, and don't even pretend to have any credentials.
From Judge Mathis to Moral Court, we're in a rush to judge others. Perhaps we derive some kind of satisfaction from it, the way people watch Jerry Springer and say, "at least my life isn't THAT screwed up". Or perhaps we're subconsciously wanting the kind of judicial system we don't really have, where a speedy trial and resolution always occurs (within a 30-minute time span, no less) and the result is never in dispute. That could explain a lot of our favorite shows...we don't trust our police, so we want shows that present the police in an idealized version and assuage our fears...or, conversely, that show them as the corrupt blighted souls we really think they are, and confirm them.
Speaking of popular shows nowadays, perhaps the solution to our current judge show excess can be found in another type of show where we have a horrendous excess....reality shows like "Survivor" or "Weakest Link". Or maybe "Celebrity Deathmatch". Imagine Judge Mathis and Judge Judy squaring off in a winner take all battle royal. Or the people behind "Moral Court" taking on the ones behind "Divorce Court". Now THAT would be justice. It brings up one question though....would Judge Mills Lane be a contestant or the referree, or both?
While we're at it, let's make all the other shows we have too many of weed each other out. Make "The Real World" (which is as unreal as any world we have ever seen, incidentally) take on "Survivor" and "The Mole" and "Weakest Link" in a huge fight and see who wins. (Our money would be on the bitchy British woman, she's quite vicious.) And then make all the stupid dating/slutting around shows line "Change of Heart" and "Temptation Island" screw each other into oblivion. Or better yet, send the cast of "Boot Camp" into the Middle East as a peacekeeping force between the Israelis and Palestinians....now *that* would be a short series indeed.
Somehow we doubt the TV megacorporations will embrace our suggestions....but hey, we can dream, can't we?
