According to Variety, Warner Bros. has just confirmed that they are cancelling both Judge Mathis and The People’s Court. Both reality shows ran for more than two decades, with Judge Mathis premiering in September of 1999 and The People’s Court (revival series) debuting in September of 1997.
Judge Mathis will finish its run after twenty-four seasons, with the latest iteration of The People’s Court wrapping up after twenty-six seasons. The two arbitration-based reality court shows come from Warner Bros. Unscripted Television department in association with Telepictures Productions and are both distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.
As reported by Variety, Warner Bros. insiders claim that the decision to cancel the two programs was made due to the declining popularity and landscape of daytime syndication shows. With local TV stations downsizing their syndication dollars and the advertising marketplace for these kinds of programs at an all time low, first-run syndication has become an increasingly more difficult format to navigate. Simultaneously, station brackets have been exponentially growing their local news broadcasts in an effort to cut back on spending, which only heightens the glaring problem facing shows like Judge Mathis and The People’s Court.
Judge Mathis was the second-longest running court show in continuous production with the same host, behind the iconic Judge Judy. Over the course of his twenty-four years on the show, Judge Greg Mathis presided over 13,000 different cases; Mathis is also the longest-running Black male host on television and the second-longest-reigning-adjudicator in courtroom television history. His series won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Legal/ Courtroom Program in 2018 and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding News, Talk, or Information Series in 2004.
The People’s Court is the longest running traditional court show and the second-longest running court show in general when including all of its iterations. The series ran for a grand total of thirty-nine seasons and won four Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Legal/ Courtroom Program in 2014, 2015, 2020, and 2021.