The People's Court

Before judge shows were about personality and appearance, "The People's Court," was the show where people went to settle disputes. Judge Wapner was not the most attractive guy, but he was fair, gave detail explanations, and he was witty. He somehow had a court TV show that still earned respect in the legal community. Now with Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown, Judge Mathis, Divorce Court, Judge Hatchett, Judge Alex, Judge David, The People's Court with Judge Judy, and all the other judges out there, no one can forget that it all started with this show. This show was always accurate, he only heard information about the case, and he never let the courtroom turn into a circus. Now the court shows are a joke, and most of the judges are not even judges, just lawyers. Hats off to Judge Wapner.

When I watched "The People's Court" from 1993 through 1994, and again from 1995 through 1996, I tuned in not especially for Judge Joe Wapner, reporter Doug Llewelyn, or bailiff Rusty Burrell. I tuned in because I really liked its theme song. Okay, you don't have to like the theme song to like this show. Wapner was a tough judge, Llewelyn was not too rowdy when interviewing the litigants, and Burrell was not much of a distraction. I really like the show's theme music, composed by Allan Tew, especially when the piccolo played when the camera zoomed in on the show's logo at the beginning to finish off the "What you are witnessing is real..." spiel. If only this show would be rerun again, and if it was, it would most likely be on Court TV; but for now, I'll have to settle for "Judge Judy". Give kudos to Ralph Edwards and Stu Billett for this show, the talent, and, of course, great theme music.

This show started all the other court shows. They have judge Judy, the black guy, and the bald white guy court show. The origional is better, because of Judge Wopner. The other judges play up for the camra, and I found Wopner less dramatic. I did learn how the US small claims court system works. I remember the episode with the the boy friend who took his fridge back, the dog bite women, and the guy who faked wiplash. After a while the show became redundant. The shows seems to have more problem people. I bet the court system is full of problem people or they probably wound not be there. I hope they don't make anymore court shows.

I just finished watching an episode where Judge MM ruled that the moving of a fridge (laying it down) ruined it. It is true that it is not recommended to move any appliance with a coolant compressor in any other position than the position that it was intended to be used. The reason for this is that compressor fluid moves into areas of the compressor that it is not meant to be in. When you are done moving the appliance it must be placed into either a horizontal or upright position depending on the way that the appliance is normally meant to be used. You "MUST NOT" plug it in for several hours or overnight, and the reason for this is so that the compressor fluid has time to run down into the sump where it belongs.