The People’s Court & Judge Mathis Have Been Cancelled

The People’s Court & Judge Mathis Cancelled After More Than 2 Decades On Daytime TV

The People’s Court and Judge Mathis have both been canceled after more than two decades of being on the air!

According to Variety, Unscripted Television and Telepictures Productions, who cited “the declining nature of the daytime syndication landscape” in making their decision.

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 style programs, which has overwhelmingly become the convention of the genre.

 

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The original series ran from 1981 to 1993, and the current revival debuted in 1997. Both versions have run in first-run syndication. The show ranks as the longest running traditional court show and second-longest running court show in general, having a total of 38 overall seasons as of the 2022-23 television year, behind only niche court show Divorce Court by 2 seasons.

The program is the third highest rated of court shows after only Judge Judy reruns (ended original run in July 2021) and Hot Bench (produced by Judy Sheindlin), respectively.

With Judge Judy’s end at 25 seasons in 2021, The People’s Court’s revival now boasts the genre’s longest single production continuance having entered its 26th season in the 2022-23 television year (albeit having gone through 3 arbitrators).

In June 2021, The People’s Court won its 4th Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program, which officially gives it the most Daytime Emmy wins in the court show genre. In February 2023, the revival was canceled after twenty-six seasons.