Judge Judy, Not Oprah, Owns Daytime TV

Think Oprah Winfrey is the queen of daytime television? Think again. Judith Sheindlin, otherwise known as Judge Judy, routinely beats Winfrey in the ratings—and she does it with a distinctively different style from the feel-good talk show host. “If I call someone an idiot, they're an idiot,” the no-nonsense judge tells the Daily Beast. “I don't care if they're a boy or a girl or black or white or green or chartreuse.”

The 67-year-old grandmother of 11 found herself on TV in 1996—an idea she herself had had years before—after a 60 Minutes profile on her unconventional style brought her to the attention of a producer, and she plans to continue her show until at least 2013. One person who’s not a fan: Judge Joseph Wapner, former host of The People’s Court, who called her “a disgrace to the profession.” That doesn’t faze Sheindlin. “Bottom line is,” she says, “I'm here and he's not.”
(More Judge Judy stories.)