All Rise for the Best Courtroom Shows of All Time

By Paige Strout Jun 08, 2022 3:00 PMTags
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Watch: Mathis Family Matters OFFICIAL Trailer

The honorable Mathis family is headed to E!.

Get ready to see a new side of Judge Greg Mathis, as the iconic TV personality is giving fans a look at his life off-camera in the new E! reality series Mathis Family Matters, premiering June 19.

Having not lived in the same city together in 15 years, the show will follow Judge Mathis and his family—wife Linda Mathis, and kids Jade Mathis, Camara Mathis Webb, Greg Mathis Jr. and Amir Mathis—as they explore new relationships and new careers, along with other hilarious shenanigans that come with being a famous reality TV family.

A mainstay of the genre for many years, Judge Mathis isn't the only arbitrator to make their mark on the small screen. From big names such as Judge Judy Sheindlin and Jerry Springer to long-running and recently-premiered series, courtroom TV has kept fans fed for several decades.

Before the Mathis family leaves the courtroom and hits the small screen, we're looking back at some of the best courtroom shows, past and present.

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2022 TV Premiere Dates

Check out which shows made our list in the gallery below.

Mathis Family Matters premieres with back-to-back episodes on Sunday, June 19 at 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.  ET/PT on E!.

Judge Mathis

Who else to kick off this list than Judge Greg Mathis Sr. himself? Premiering in 1999, Judge Mathis has been on air for 23 seasons with over 3,000 episodes to date.

 

Judge Judy

Perhaps the "queen of courtroom TV," the original Judge Judy series—starring arbitrator Judy Sheindlin—ran for 25 seasons from 1997 to 2021, and lives on with the Amazon Freevee series Judy Justice.

Court Cam

What better way to watch courtroom action than seeing it go down IRL? Court Cam—which premiered in 2019—gives viewers a look into some of the craziest courtroom proceedings happening around the country.

Judge Jerry

After his titular talk show wrapped up in 2018, TV host Jerry Springer continues to help people work out their messy disputes on Judge Jerry, which premiered in 2019.

Divorce Court

One of the longest-running courtroom shows on TV, Divorce Court has seen nearly a dozen judges help couples over the years. The series first premiered back in 1957.

Hot Bench

Created by Judge Judy, Hot Bench features not one, but three judges presiding over cases together before reaching a joint verdict.

The People's Court

Another of TV's longest-running courtroom series, The People's Court has been on air for a combined total of 37 seasons, having been revived in 1997 after the original series ran from 1981 to 1993.

Couples Court With the Cutlers

One of the newest shows on this list, husband and wife duo Keith and Dana Cutler made history as the first married couple to star in a courtroom TV series together upon Couples Court's premiere in 2017.

Lauren Lakes’ Paternity Court

Lauren Lake's Paternity Court focuses on family-related hearings and is filled with plenty of "You are the father" moments. The series' most recent season wrapped up in 2020.

Honorable Mentions: How to Get Away with Murder, Suits, Damages, Night Court

While these aren't explicitly court shows, they each have featured many memorable courtroom moments over the years, from Annalise's (Viola Davis) powerful closing argument speech in the How to Get Away with Murder series finale, to Mike's (Patrick J. Adams) first case in Suits.

Catch up on season one anytime.