Court TV shows provide entertainment

Editor's note: While Bob was enjoying his vacation last week, we decided to revisit one of his past columns. This one still rings true today.

Americans have a hyper-appetite for unbundled entertainment. Television channels are filled with so-called reality shows.

Life is an ongoing story and we humans seem to have a craving for meaning, for the rest of the story. We need to know what's going on, because we won't feel so lost and we want to feel oriented in our world.

When we turn on the news or open up the pages of our newspapers we are turning to a world of stories. Not just facts, but stories.

Our interest goes beyond entertainment. Stories tend to nourish us; they provide food the soul craves.

Hollywood screenwriting teacher Bob McKee says "stories are equipment for living." We watch television and go to the movies because we are hoping to find in someone else's story something that will help us understand our own. That definitely is something I've discovered while on a search for answers about my own life.

Stories tell us who we are, why we are here and what we are to do. They provide answers to life's big questions and some of the small ones, too.

That is a reason for the popularity of the plethora of "court" shows airing each day. These shows provide us with some insight into our life's own questions.

These shows include:

*Judge Alex

*Judge Judy (Sheindlin)

Judge Judy is a courtroom reality show with studios in Los Angeles, right across the hall from the Judge Joe Brown show studio. Presided over by Judge Judy Sheindlin and guarded by bailiff Petri Hawkins-Byrd, it is the most popular court show, and in the top ten syndicated shows of all genres. The jurisdictional limit for the show is $5,000, meaning that litigants on the show cannot sue (or counter sue) for more than that. Judge Judy is a no-nonsense judge who can see through the baloney pretty fast. She is not the strictest judge, but she does have an attitude, hence the show's slogan "Judge Judy - Justice With an Attitude"

*Judge Joe Brown

The Judge Joe Brown show has proven to be a ratings winner. It is the number two court show on television, after Judge Judy. The half-hour syndicated courtroom reality show deals with small-claims cases, and has a jurisdictional limit of $5,000 (meaning you can't sue for more than $5,000 on the Judge Joe Brown show.) The show has weird cases on a pretty regular basis. Judge Brown has a sense of chivalry and enjoys telling moocher guys to stop living off their girlfriends. The show also stresses common sense: Don't lend money to someone you barely know!

*Judge (Greg) Mathis

*Divorce Court (with Judge Mablean Ephriam)

*Judge (Glenda) Hackett

*The Peoples' Court

*Animal Court

* Divorce Court

Divorce Court has been around, in one format or another, since the 1950s. It's the original television courtroom drama.

*CourtTV

This is an entire cable network committed to high profile trials or unusual cases.

Americans have a fascination with the law, lawyers, lawsuits and the outlandish relationships and sometimes even bizarre financial arrangements these shows' participants tend to entrap themselves in.

Those who appear don't seem the least bit bothered airing their dirty laundry in public... no matter how embarrassing, humiliating or foolish it makes them look. Most of them, frankly, never seem all that bright - their mental elevators seemed stalled on the first floor.

Most of the plaintiffs and defendants who appear try to pass on responsibility for their actions... they do a lot of finger pointing. Their defensive arguments are seen more and more often and are a definite reflection of American culture these days, or so some will argue.

Each show employs a team of producers, whose job it is to seek out and find the most unusual people and situations. They bring us the crazies, because it's all about the number of viewers to the networks.

But, these shows actually do provide a service.

After all, there is hardly anything in our personal lives that can be as nutty as what we see on these shows. And sometimes, these shows offer insight into what we need to do in our own lives.

One of the interesting aspects of the court shows is the lack of attorneys. Plaintiffs and defendants plead their own cases, similar to what happens in our local small claims courts. We end this column on a lighter note.

A very successful lawyer parked his brand new Lexus in front of the office, ready to show it off to his colleagues. As he got out, a truck came along, too close to the curb, and completely tore off the driver's door of the Lexus.

The counselor immediately grabbed his cell phone, dialed 911, and it wasn't more then five minutes before a policeman pulled up. Before the officer had a chance to ask any questions, the lawyer started screaming hysterically.

His Lexus, which he had just picked up the day before, was now completely ruined and would never be the same, no matter how the body shop tried to make it new again. After the lawyer finally wound down from his rant, the cop shook his head in disgust and disbelief.

"I can't believe how materialistic you lawyers are," he said. "You are so focused on your possessions that you neglect the most important things in life."

"How can you say such a thing?" asked the lawyer.

The cop replied, "Good grief man, don't you even realize that your left arm is missing? It got ripped off when the truck hit you!"

"Oh my!" screamed the lawyer, looking down at his missing arm. "Where's my Rolex?"