Former DA joins flashy TV bench

Jeanine Pirro is the new kid on court show block

By David Bauder | The Associated Press • Published September 20, 2008

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John Roberts, Clarence Thomas or Ruth Bader Ginsburg don't immediately come to mind when many daytime TV viewers rate their favorite jurists. Think Judy Sheindlin, Joe Brown or Marilyn Milian.

For that audience, Jeanine Pirro is an important appointment.

The former suburban New York district attorney will join the crowded field of TV justice shows Monday, when "Judge Jeanine Pirro" premieres on the CW network. She'll settle small claims disputes in an entertaining fashion for an hour each weekday.

Her debut in photogenic robes was nearly two years in the making. Pirro was contacted by Hilary Estey McLoughlin, president of Telepictures Productions, within a week after losing a bid for New York attorney general to Andrew Cuomo in 2006. McLoughlin had been scouting her for a while, not only in her job as Westchester County district attorney but also as a TV commentator on the O.J. Simpson trial and at Fox News Channel.

"I just found her to be really compelling," McLoughlin said. "She had a tremendous presence. I had always had her in the back of my mind."

A big future in New York Republican politics had seemed Pirro's destiny, but she was handicapped by a husband convicted of tax fraud. (They have separated.)

Before losing to Cuomo, her brief bid to challenge Sen. Hillary Clinton went up in flames.

While the suddenness of McLoughlin's call took her by surprise, Pirro said television always was in the back of her mind if politics reached a dead end.

"For everything there is a season, and I think that season is over," she said. "We'll see. I'm very happy now. Not to say I wasn't happy as a DA or a judge, but this is a very nice life. It's a different mountain for me. I love learning about it."

Do well, and it can be a nice life. "Judge Judy" Sheindlin, who dominates this genre the way Oprah Winfrey dominates hers, was estimated by Forbes magazine to have a net worth of $95 million.

There were shows such as "The People's Court" with Judge Wapner and "Divorce Court" in television's past, but Sheindlin made it a category of its own.