''Judge Mills Lane'' is a syndicated
American television series
Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. , household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. ...
and
arbitration-based reality court show
A court show (also known as a judge show, legal/courtroom program, courtroom series, or judicial show) is a broadcast programming subgenre of either legal dramas or reality legal programming. Court shows present content mainly in the form of lega ...
that ran in
first-run syndication
Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...
from August 17, 1998 to September 7, 2001. Reruns later aired on
The National Network (TNN) and currently on
Pluto TV
Pluto TV is a free, ad-supported video streaming service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global. Co-founded by Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and based in Los Angeles, California, in the United Sta ...
. The show was produced by John Tomlin and Bob Young for Hurricane Entertainment Group. ''Judge Mills Lane'' was distributed by
Rysher Entertainment (until 1999) for its first season and
Paramount Domestic Television
Paramount Domestic Television (PDT) was the television distribution arm of American television production company Paramount Television, once the TV arm of Paramount Pictures. It was formed in 1982 originally as Paramount Domestic Television and V ...
for its last two.
Synopsis
The show was presided over by former Nevada district court judge
Mills Lane
Mills Bee Lane III (November 12, 1937 – December 6, 2022) was an American boxing referee and professional boxer, a two-term Washoe County, Nevada district court judge, and television personality.
Lane was best known for having officiated sev ...
, who is more widely known for being a professional
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
referee
A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...
. The introduction to the series' first season mentioned Lane's connection to both boxing and the law. Lane's catchphrase "let's get it on" was used to open each case and if he found one of the litigants to be out of line, he would tell them that if they didn't stop, "your case is gone."
''Judge Mills Lane'' premiered at a time when court shows were starting to see a large revival. The show could not find secure enough footing in an increasingly crowded market and was cancelled after three seasons.
Television series by CBS Studios
Court shows
First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
1998 American television series debuts
2001 American television series endings
2000s American reality television series
1990s American reality television series
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