''Jury Duty'' is an American syndicated nontraditional/ arbitration-based reality court show that premiered on September 17, 2007. Initial market clearances, according to ''Broadcasting & Cable'', were at least 60 percent of the nation's television markets. The show was produced and distributed by Radar Entertainment.

Format

While the show's general concept shared that of most court shows, where two litigants in a civil case present their interpretation of a dispute before a "judge" (in this case, former defense attorney

Bruce Cutler Bruce Cutler (born April 29, 1948) is an American criminal defense lawyer best known for having defended John Gotti, and for media appearances as a legal commentator. Life and career Cutler's father, Murray Cutler, was a New York City detect ...

), ''Jury Duty'' differed drastically in format. As opposed to the

bench trial A bench trial is a trial by judge, as opposed to a trial by jury. The term applies most appropriately to any administrative hearing in relation to a summary offense to distinguish the type of trial. Many legal systems (Roman, Islamic) use bench ...

format used in most court shows, ''Jury Duty'' used a

jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significan ...

to arrive at a verdict. To boot, the show used a panel of three

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

that served as the show's titular "jury," and who were given their notices at the beginning of each episode. The presentation of the case was divided into two segments. The first segment was conducted as normal court shows, with Cutler hearing the litigants' arguments. The second segment involved the three jurors cross-examining the litigants, after which Cutler gave the jury their instructions and reminded them what they must do to determine a verdict. After the commercial break following the presentation of the case, the litigants were taken out of the courtroom and the home audience was shown the panel's deliberations. Whatever they decided was revealed to the litigants in the next segment. As in a regular criminal case, the three jurors must come to a unanimous verdict. If they couldn't do that, then Cutler rendered his own verdict (just like in most small claims cases and TV court shows). After the verdict was presented, the show closed with the jurors giving their reactions to the case.

References

External links

''Jury Duty'' official website
* 2007 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings 2000s American reality television series English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Arbitration courts and tribunals Court shows {{US-reality-tv-stub