Judith B. Sheindlin, the judge widely known for her sharp wit and no-nonsense rulings on the long-running television program “Judge Judy,” will step away from her role as an on-screen arbiter after more than two decades. The original series, which debuted in 1996 and aired on CBS for over 20 years, concluded in 2021 with new episodes replaced by reruns. Its spinoff streaming show, “Judy Justice,” available on Amazon Prime, is scheduled to air its final episode on October 22, according to her representative, Gary Rosen.

At 83 years old, Sheindlin is ending a television career marked by her plain-spoken style and incisive commentary, which became a hallmark of her courtroom approach, often delivered through memorable one-liners. On “Judge Judy,” she presided over small claims cases involving disputes such as rent disagreements, overdue payments, and property issues. The show maintained a strong viewership, attracting between nine and ten million daily audiences for many years, and received multiple Emmy Awards over its run.

Though Sheindlin is retiring from courtroom television, she is not departing the entertainment industry entirely. She will serve as an executive producer on “Adam’s Law,” a new program starring her son, Adam Levy, a lawyer and former Putnam County district attorney. This series premiered recently on CBS Media Ventures. Additionally, Sheindlin has another project in development titled “Judyverse,” an adult animated series featuring a baby version of herself as judge. Her representative emphasized that instead of retiring, Sheindlin is “rewiring” her career.

Before her television tenure, Sheindlin had a career in law that began in corporate legal work for a cosmetics company, followed by a transition to the New York Family Court system as a prosecutor handling juvenile delinquency and child support cases. Appointed to the bench by then–New York City Mayor Ed Koch in 1982, she eventually became supervising judge of the Manhattan Family Court. Sheindlin gained wider media attention after a 1993 “60 Minutes” profile, which highlighted her assertive personality and distinctive courtroom demeanor.

Following her family court retirement in the late 1990s, Sheindlin was approached to lead a new court show after the cancellation of “The People’s Court.” Within a few years, “Judge Judy” became the top-rated daytime television program, surpassing notable shows, including “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” In 2018, Forbes named her the highest-paid television host in the United States, with an annual salary of $47 million for hosting and producing other courtroom content.

Her career has been marked by various accolades, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. As streaming services evolve—Amazon recently integrated its ad-supported Freevee platform into Prime Video, affecting some of Sheindlin’s spinoffs—the judge continues to adapt, expanding her presence beyond traditional courtroom programming.