The People's Court - Current Run

Current Run

Today, the small claims court deals with matters up to US$7,500 (depending on the statutory maximum in the claimant's state), although the show did have a case where all four plaintiffs each sued the defendant for US$5,000 each; this case was dismissed. Another case during the Koch run (the second-season premiere) featured a US$15,000 lawsuit based upon the laws of the state of Florida. One case on the Marilyn Milian version featured a case where the plaintiff had four separate lawsuits against the defendant for a total of US$20,000.

When the new People's Court premiered in 1997 former New York newscaster Carol Martin of WCBS-TV hosted from a studio with Harvey Levin, who was involved with the prior edition of the series as a legal consultant, serving as a co-host in the field taking questions and opinions from people at the Manhattan Mall, then returning to the studio at the end of the show for a wrap-up. Curt Chaplin was hired to serve as the show's announcer and court reporter, which he still does to this day.

Several months into the run Martin departed the series for reasons that were never explained and Levin became the series' sole host. The studio segments were done away with and Levin hosted the entire episodes from the viewing area, which eventually moved from the Manhattan Mall to the Times Square visitors' center. Since Levin is now based in Los Angeles with TMZ, the viewing area has moved to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California while production of The People's Court remains in New York. The opening outlines of the taped cases are shown to people in the outdoor viewing area on a monitor. Their responses are edited into the program.

The new version of the show has been headed by three judges since its premiere.