Several television courtrooms currently frequent major networks: Judge Judy, People’s Court, Judge Mathis, and Judge Hatchett are the ones I can recall at this moment.
I hardly spend time watching these shows so my knowledge of them is limited to only a handful of episodes.
My questions:
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I believe the plaintiffs and defendants are paid for their appearance, but how much? These small claims courts have a max limit of $5,000 settlement (i think). If the defendant is ordered to pay $5000 to the plaintiff, then does the defendant break even, profit, or lose overall after his/her compensation from the TV program. I imagine the money must be a hearty amount since people make such fools of themselves on television in order to obtain it.
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Has anyone ever filed a lawsuit specifically for the purpose of being on one of these shows? If two people on friendly terms sue each other for fictitious and possibly bizarre reasons (something juicy for TV) for the sake of the TV money, then what are their chances of actually appearing on one of these shows? I realize such chances cannot be precisely measured, but are there long waiting lists and other red tape getting in the way?
No, I am not thinking of attempting to file a lawsuit for the sake of appearing on one of these shows. However, I have wondered about the legitimacy of some of the cases.
- I once saw a Judge Judy episode where a man stated that his source of income was working odd jobs for people (mostly yard work and car work for his neighbors) and he tried to dodge Judge Judy’s question about him reporting taxes to the IRS. Has the IRS ever followed up on suspicious characters appearing in these shows? I also recall a guy from another epsode (also on Judy) who blatantly admitted to working while receiving disability compensation. Would the proper authorites chase after him?
Much thanks in advance to my fellow Doperland chums.