Judge Wapner

Judge Wapner lived to be 97! He'd been a real judge in Los Angeles for 20 years, & Rusty Burrell had been his bailiff for a number of those years.

Rusty had escorted Charles Manson from jail to court, & back to jail once. He said he could see how Manson was able to get others to perform evil acts for him, as he'd almost persuaded Rusty to remove his restraints, telling him he was just a small, unarmed guy who'd have no chance against a big, armed guy like Rusty. And he said Manson was unfailingly polite. But manson didn't appear in Wapner's courtroom.

IMO, Wapner was the greatest TV judge, ever. Next was Judge William Keene of Divorce Court., a fictional show about real cases, where all the litigants were actors, except for Keene, who'd been a real judge. Next on my list was Mills Lane, the former boxing referee, who'd also been a real judge in Nevada. His show also had actual litigants who'd agreed to have their cases heard & settled on his show. 4th is Judge Judy.

But all those court shows with real litigants were spawned by Wapner's People's Court. While it goes on, & Judge Milan's not bad it's just not the same.