''Hot Bench'' is a nontraditional panel-based

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 made its debut in first-run syndication on September 15, 2014. The series is produced by ''

Judge Judy ''Judge Judy'' is an American Court show#Arbitration-based reality court show, arbitration-based reality court show presided over by former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judy Sheindlin, Judith Sheindlin. The show featured Sheindlin as she adjudi ...

''s

Judge Judy Sheindlin Judith Susan Sheindlin (''née'' Blum; born October 21, 1942), known professionally as Judge Judy, is an American court show arbitrator, media personality, television producer, author, women's advancement philanthropist and former prosecutor an ...

, who also created the program and concept with executive producers Randy Douthit, Maureen FitzPatrick and David Theodosopoulos and supervising producer James Glover for

CBS Media Ventures CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Television Distribution, Inc. and CBS Paramount Domestic Television, Inc.) is an American television distribution company owned by CBS Studios, part of CBS Entertainment Group, a division of Paramount Glob ...

Production and international airings

On December 11, 2014, ''Hot Bench'' was renewed for a second season. The show airs in the UK on

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that focu ...

, and in Canada on

Yes TV Yes TV (stylized as yes TV) is an independently owned Canadian nonprofit and CRTC-licensed religious broadcasting television system in Canada. It consists of three conventional over-the-air television stations (located in the Greater Toronto Area ...

and in syndication. The show has produced 1,535 episodes as of September 8,2022.

Format

The series features a panel of three judges. The current panel consists of Michael Corriero, Rachel Juarez, and Yodit Tewolde, who preside over small-claims cases, and then argue the merits of the case amongst themselves in the chamber room before rendering a verdict (under the format, only a majority – two of the three panel members – need to agree on the verdict). Prior to them, the panel consisted of attorneys Tanya Acker and

Larry Bakman Larry Bakman, is an American attorney and television personality, who was a judge on Judge Judith Sheindlin's TV series Hot Bench from 2014 to 2016 Education Bakman graduated ''cum laude'' from The University of California Los Angeles with a ...

along with former Brooklyn New York Supreme Court judge,

Patricia DiMango Patricia Mafalda DiMango (born May 19, 1953) is a retired American justice of the Supreme Court of Kings County, New York and television personality. DiMango recently starred as one of three judges along with Judge Tanya Acker, Judge Michael Corrie ...

. The panel acts as an

arbitral tribunal An arbitral tribunal or arbitration tribunal, also arbitration commission, arbitration committee or arbitration council is a panel of unbiased adjudicators which is convened and sits to resolve a dispute by way of arbitration. The tribunal may co ...

, and as with most televised court shows, the cases are a form of binding

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...

in which the litigants forgo their actual lawsuit in favor of appearing on the program. In October 2016, Bakman announced that he was leaving ''Hot Bench'' to focus on his law practice. Bakman's final episodes originally aired on October 28, 2016, and Corriero's first episode was scheduled to originally air on November 1, 2016, with series creator Judge Judy Sheindlin and her husband, former ''

The People's Court ''The People's Court'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show, featuring an arbitrator handling small claims disputes in a simulated courtroom set. Within the court show genre, it is the first of all arbitration-based reality sty ...

'' judge

Jerry Sheindlin Gerald "Jerry" Sheindlin (born November 19, 1933) is an American author, television personality, jurist and attorney. He spent many years as a trial judge serving the New York Supreme Court. After serving in the Army during the Korean War, Shei ...

, serving as guest judges on the

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

2016 original broadcasts. In the fall of 2022, DiMango and Acker were replaced on the show by Juarez and Tewolde, while Corriero assumed the chief judge position.

Conception

The concept was inspired by Judy's vacation to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, a country which occasionally uses panels of three judges to handle one case: "When my husband Jerry and I were in Ireland recently, we visited the

courts A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

and watched a three-judge bench, which I found both fascinating and compelling." She added, "I immediately thought what a terrific and unique idea for a television program that brings the court genre to the next level. We have assembled three individuals with extremely varied backgrounds to serve as the judges. They are smart and talented, with terrific instincts and great chemistry, and are sure to create a 'hot bench'." The bailiff is Sonia Montejano, who was also the bailiff for ''

Judge Joe Brown ''Judge Joe Brown'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show starring former Shelby County, Tennessee criminal court judge Joseph B. Brown. It premiered on September 14, 1998 and ran through the 2012–13 television season for a ...

'' from 2006 to its end in 2013.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hot Bench 2010s American legal television series 2010s American reality television series 2014 American television series debuts 2020s American legal television series 2020s American reality television series Television shows filmed in Los Angeles Arbitration courts and tribunals Court shows English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television series by CBS Studios