Court ing Disaster

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published

Twentieth Television’s Divorce Court
postponed its planned tapings last week because Joe Catalano, the show’s bailiff, was spending 14-hour days fighting raging fires in Crestline, Calif., near his family’s home.

Besides the show, Catalano works in law enforcement in San Bernadino County. Although the fire was threatening his own home, he had been too busy helping to evacuate the area and helping fire fighters to return home to see if his house was still standing.

"I have to worry about my family and home, but, on a professional level, we have to take care of the public," he said in an e-mail to producers.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.