Judge Judy - Court Show Background - Alterations

Alterations

In the past, the show changed very little from season to season. The show's music and graphics are the only aspects that have changed repeatedly over its past fourteen years. The ninth season (2004–05) is one of the few seasons in which the show made a major alteration; the Judge Judy intro was changed drastically. A jazzed version of a theme from Beethoven's 5th Symphony was adopted as the new theme music. For its scenes, Sheindlin is shown in a different courtroom from her own (part of a proposed renovation to the courtroom that was rejected by Sheindlin for being too dark & possibly fellow show Judge Joe Brown took), approaching the camera, followed by folding her arms, and smiling at the camera. This is followed by showing various scenes of her presiding over different cases. An alternate version of this opening showed Sheindlin in her regular courtroom, smiling as she folds her arms in a slightly different way & clips of her presiding over different cases over the years of the show, at one point, clips of Sheindiln presiding over cases from the previous intro (see below) were used.

Before the ninth season, the show used an original synth tune for its theme music. Various versions of this original tune were used, as the song was altered every few seasons. Used as the scenes for the theme song before the ninth season, was a computer animated approaching scene towards a courthouse, up until that scene entered into the courthouse. From there, several shots of Sheindlin presiding over different cases were displayed, moving from one side to the other. Those shots developed into the courthouse logo that represents her program (this symbol is always displayed inside of the letter D, in Judy), by the end of the theme music. Before these scenes, there was a scene of the courthouse symbol that represents her program, over a green background. Shots of Sheindlin, presiding over different cases, flew into the scene and moved into each of the square-shaped designs of the courthouse, correspondingly. Each show is introduced by announcer Jerry Bishop with the statement: "You are about to enter the courtroom of Judge Judith Sheindlin. The people are real. The cases are real. The rulings are final. This is Judge Judy." Between "The Rulings are final." and 'This is Judge Judy.", there was the sentence "This is her courtroom." This was removed in 2004.

The colors that represent the show have altered several times over the years. The first four seasons of Judge Judy were represented by the colors sea green and saffron. Blue and saffron represented the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth seasons. Since the ninth season, the various graphics on the show have been falu red and saffron. As of the twelfth season, prussian blue had been added to the show's color scheme for the opening previews of each episode. Season thirteen saw the Judge Judy logo's colors change from what they once were just before the case began.

Beginning in September 2012, the show made the switch to high definition with its 17th season. The bumpers between commercials are also in HD, although most on-screen graphics such as plaintiff and defendant descriptions are framed to fit a 4x3 aspect ratio.