Judge Maria Lopez

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the TV series. For the person, see Maria Lopez.

See also Maria Lopez (disambiguation).

Judge Maria Lopez is a U.S. syndicated courtroom television program in which guests themselves present and argue small claims civil actions before the presiding judge Maria Lopez. The half-hour series, produced and distributed by Sony Pictures Television, debuted in the United States and Canada on September 11, 2006. Prior to joining the series, Lopez was a judge in the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Judge Maria Lopez debuted in the same week as another syndicated courtroom show featuring a Latina judge, Cristina's Court. Lopez and Cristina Perez are the third and fourth Hispanic-American judges to preside over a television court show, following The People's Court's Judge Marilyn Milian and Judge Alex.^{[citation needed]} In January 2007, Sony Pictures renewed the series for a second season despite being the lowest rated court show of the 2006-07 season, averaging a 0.9 rating.^[1] However, in February of 2008 reports indicated that after two seasons of low ratings, Sony Pictures Television is cancelling the series.^[2]

[edit] Show Outline

Judge Maria Lopez was renewed for season 2 on September 11, 2007. The outline of her show goes as follows: 1. Her introduction and "catchphrase" 2. Naming the case and briefing of why everyone is suing. 3. Getting to the case, spainsh,and questions. 4. Testimony. 5. Verdict. 6. Her feelings and opinions at the end of the case. 7. Begins again.