Twentieth Developing Court Show

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

In what has so far been a light syndie development season, Twentieth Television said Tuesday that it is developing a new first-run court strip, tentatively titled Judge Alex.

The show will be hosted by Florida Circuit Court Judge Alex E. Ferrer and executive produced by Burt Wheeler and Sharon Sussman.

Planned for fall 2005, the half-hour court strip is the first new court show to enter syndication since Twentieth’s Texas Justice in January 2002. In addition to announcing Judge Alex, Twentieth also renewed Divorce Court, featuring Judge Mablean Ephriam, for its seventh season. Divorce Court has been renewed in 64 markets covering 65% of the country.

Ferrer currently serves as a judge in the Criminal and Family Divisions of Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami. He  was appointed judge in 1995 at the age of 34, making him the youngest Circuit Court Judge in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. He has handled thousands of cases during his tenure, ranging from first-degree murder cases to drug-related offenses to adoptions and paternity suits. 

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.